This blog was begun Thursday night May 7th, and completed the following day :
Tonight's film hasn't much plot for me to describe because it isn't a conventional drama. Instead, it is a brutal depiction of what World War Three would look like, from the pov of civilians as well as combatants, and the simulation is all too realistic, thanks to the filmmakers' use of graphic stock footage which makes up most of the movie. We see bombing raids, aerial combat, anti-aircraft fire and finally, the dropping of atomic bombs on American soil. The name of the movie is "Invasion USA"(1952). It was made during the most paranoid point of the Cold War, known as the Red Scare, when McCarthyism was ramping up. A director named Alfred E. Green stitched all of this war footage together and turned it into a Communist takeover. If his idea was to scare the living daylights out of his audience, it worked.
Several people are sitting in a New York bar when news comes over the television saying that America has just been invaded by foreign troops. That they are Commies is implied but no country is mentioned. Shortly thereafter, the anchorman breaks in again to report that bombs are now falling on West Coast targets, Air Force bases mostly, but also factories. Some of the bar patrons are from out of state. One man, a cattle rancher from Colorado, leaves for the airport. He tries to get a flight home but they're all booked solid. Another man owns a tractor manufacturing plant in San Francisco. He wants to get home also. The two men end up sharing a cab to the West Coast, not knowing if their cities still exist. Reports coming in are still sketchy.
The plant owner leaves his wife behind at the bar in New York, telling her it's not safe to travel. "I wouldn't be going myself but I have to check on my workers. I'll come back for you as soon as I can, honey". In a ridiculous move by the screenwriter, he has the wife immediately fall for a suave newsman who enters the bar just before her husband departs. The newsman is played by Gerald Mohr, a Bogart lookalike we've seen in many films. He's usually a good performer, but here, director Green has him play The Suitor with casual aplomb, as if a nuclear attack was a simple inconvenience. "Can I get you another drink, my darling"? Why sure, and while you're at it, bring her an umbrella for the fallout. :)
This part of the story, the romance between Mohr and the wife (Peggy Castle), is absurd. There are literally bombs exploding next door while the couple trade Wry Observations over a bottle of champagne. Thankfully their affair is cut into brief slices, inserted at select intervals. I must interject here to acknowledge that I've complained about a romantic sidebar in two consecutive films, including last night's "Planet X", but that's because in both cases, they were totally out of place in the story. On my behalf, I'm normally all for romance as you know. :):)
Subplots aside, Green mostly sticks to his concept : "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming"! One shot that he uses repeatedly shows three Soviet crewmen inside a bomber. Their dark leather helmets reflect the soft glow from the instrument lights as the camera closes in on the bombardier. We see his thumb pressing away on the release lever - once, twice, three times - after which he utters the infamous words "Bombs A-vey" with Great Finality. We are shown this scene again and again, as if Green is force-feeding us his message : Commies are Evil.
Make no mistake, though - it's effective. Because right after Green shows us this scene, he follows up every time with shots of cities getting blown to smithereens. The stock footage shows a rain of ordnance falling from bomb bay doors, and then the edit cuts to WHAMMO! Total devastation on the ground. Then he'll show us a dramatised scene from Communist Headquarters, where a Diabolical General stands before a wall map, using a pointer to order up another round of blasts. Finally the guy decides to go Atomic and the nukes start falling. KA-BLAMM!
By the time the American President gets around to retaliating, there is little left to save. Gerald Mohr and Peggy Castle eventually decide to high-tail it, but they've waited too long. New York is now being hit; The End is near.
A lot of reviewers over at IMDB have taken to mocking this movie, calling it "paranoid crap" or "right-wing propaganda", i.e "poorly made trash", etc. Most of the naysayers mention the "overuse" of the war footage, and it is relentless (which is why I said it's like watching World War Three). But what the critics won't admit - I feel - is that the movie scared the s*%# out of them. How could it not; the stock footage is real, showing what war actually looks like, which is nothing short of overwhelming. That the filmmakers are suggesting it could happen on our turf, right here in the good old USA, is doubly frightening to the folks who wish to belittle the movie. Even the smart alecs at MST3K have apparently make their own version of it, complete with jokey commentary. As for myself, I can't decide whether it was a right-wing nightmare scenario or the greatest anti-war film ever made (or both!), but I can tell you one thing : the movie is no joke. It really is as terrifying as I've described. And it's well made, too. The critics won't admit that because it goes against their political views, but as I say, they were no doubt as pinned to their seats as I was. I give "Invasion USA" Two Big Thumbs Up, but I'll make no recommendation one way or the other. Watch it only as a "what if" scenario, like a "Twilight Zone" episode. There might be a twist in that regard, too. You can find out for yourself. //////
That's all for the moment. Tonight I will try to get us back on the Sci-Fi track. Bring on the Mad Scientists and Monsters, please. See you in a while at the Usual Time.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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