Not of this Earth (1957)

Roger Corman’s Not of this Earth (1957) starring Beverly Garland, Paul Birch

In Not of this Earth, a humanoid alien comes to Earth. His people are dying after a nuclear war, and they need a source of blood for treatment. He quietly kidnaps, and kills, people while trying to find out. He makes the mistake of hiring a young nurse to stay at his home for his treatments …

Review

Not of the Earth is a surprisingly enjoyable Roger Corman film. A mysterious man comes to see a doctor, requesting a blood transfusion — but he won’t tell why. He clearly has some kind of mind controlling ability, since he uses it on the doctor, and gets his transfusion. He hires the doctor’s nurse, Nadine, to stay at his home and monitor his blood and give regular infusions as necessary. She becomes the center of the story, since she’s an intelligent young woman, and notices multiple oddities during her stay.

What the audience sees — but she doesn’t, at least at first — is that he’s an alien, come from a world ravaged by atomic fallout. And his mission is to find out if his species can live on Earth, overcome their radiation sickness with the blood of humans — and eventually they can conquer the Earth.

Positives

Not of this Earth is well acted, with fairly fleshed out characters. The chief antagonist, Paul Johnson, is very intelligent, with a high degree of scientific knowledge. But he’s woefully ignorant about other things. For instance, a female from hi planet comes to him — and he gives her dog’s blood. And if that’s not bad enough, the dog had rabies!

Negatives

• The umbrella monster! So ridiculous as to pull the audience out of the picture.

Cast

• Paul Birch (Day the World Ended, The Queen of Outer Space) … Paul Johnson. Our alien, which a strange anatomy and unusual abilities. He has a weakness to loud noises.
• Beverly Garland (Twice Told Tales, Alligator People) … Nadine Storey. Our protagonist. The nurse, hired by Johnson, for his daily blood transfusion. She initially doesn’t want to go, until the mind-controlled Dr. Rochelle asks. She lives at Johnson’s estate, where she slowly learns more than Johnson would like.
• Morgan Jones (Forbidden Planet) … Harry Sherbourne. The police officer, who’s sweet on Nadine, and keeps an eye on her. He’s aware of Jeremy’s background, once he sees him as Johnson’s home. And, keeps a closer eye on the place. Crucial in the conclusion as well.
• William Roerick (The Wasp Woman) … Dr. F.W. Rochelle. The poor doctor whom Johnson initially sees for his blood issue. And, becomes somewhat mind-controlled by the alien. He continues his work and research, however. Only to be eventually attacked by the “horrific” umbrella monster.
• Jonathan Haze (Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror) … Jeremy Perrin. Johnson’s employee, who does whatever tasks Johnson needs done. A small-time criminal. Despite being rude, and obnoxious to Nadine, he’s not all bad. He covers for Nadine, and when they realize Johnson’s extraterrestrial origin, stands against him.
• Dick Miller (The Howling,A Bucket of Blood) … Joe Piper. The poor vacuum cleaner salesman that Johnson murders. And disposes of his body in the furnace.
• Anna Lee Carroll … Davanna Woman. Another alien, who’s come to Earth for refuge. She’s also in dire need of blood. And Johnson, not knowing what he’s doing, breaks into Rochelle’s office, and gives her canine blood! With rabies, as well. She doesn’t survive.
• Harold Fong … Specimen. Unfortunate person kidnapped by Johnson, used in a test of his matter transportation device.

Trivia

• Paul Birch walked off the film before shooting was completed after having a physical confrontation with Roger Corman. According to co-star Beverly Garland, Birch objected to the fast pace of the film, the old-fashioned, uncomfortable hard plastic contacts he had to wear, and the film’s low-budget, which he considered beneath his status. As a result, Birch’s remaining scenes were shot with Lyle Latell doubling for him.
• One of the bums is played by Hank Mann, one of the original Keystone Kops. At the time he made this, his career had spanned about 45 years and many shorts and features.
• When Johnson offers Nadine $200 a week to be his in-home nurse, she says, “No nurse would dream of getting $200 a week!” According to a 1957 report, nurses in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area averaged around $75 per week.

Product Description

An alien comes to Earth, masquerading as a human, to scout our planet for a new blood source in Not Of This Earth. He needs the blood of humans to take back to his planet of Davana for his dying race. Starring Paul Birch, Beverly Garland (It Conquered The World) and Jonathan Haze (Little Shop Of Horrors). These two films played as a double feature back when they were released theatrically and both films were penned by longtime Corman collaborator Charles B. Griffith, who wrote such classics as A Bucket Of Blood, Creature From The Haunted Sea and Death Race 2000.