Teenagers from Outer Space
About Teenagers from Outer Space
A saucer lands to test Earth as a range for Gargons, lobster-like animals the crew eats. Thor vaporizes a dog, Sparky, with a ray. Derek (David Love) reads the dog's tag, decides the planet is inhabited, and runs. He meets Betty Morgan (Dawn Bender). A Gargon grows to building size. Derek turns on the invasion.
Cast & crew
More about Teenagers from Outer Space
Tom Graeff wrote, directed, photographed, and scored it. Bryan and Ursula Pearson, who play Thor and Hilda, and Gene Sterling, who plays the Leader, put up the $14,000. A published figure of $20,000 also circulates. Warner Bros. released it on 2 June 1959 on a double bill with Gigantis, the Fire Monster. It runs 86 minutes. In Britain the title was The Gargon Terror. Graeff got Betty's house location free by saying he was a UCLA student. Warner did not renew the copyright, and the film entered the public domain in the United States in 1987. The Internet Archive identifier is TeenagersFromOuterSpace. It is not a Four Star production.
Themes
Making
Graeff shot in borrowed rooms and on streets, with the Pearsons' $14,000 covering the saucer, the ray gun, and the lobster shadow.
Look
Tom Graeff photographed the landing and the street scenes himself.
Music
Tom Graeff is credited with the music.
Preservation
The film survives. Warner Bros. did not renew the copyright, so it entered the public domain in the United States in 1987. A copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- The full-grown Gargon is played as a giant shadow of a lobster.
- Harvey B. Dunn, Bryan Grant, and King Moody are in the cast.
- Thor's ray leaves a skeleton. He uses it on the dog and later on people who have seen Derek.
- David Love was Graeff's partner. Dawn Bender is also billed Dawn Anderson.
- The double bill paired it with the American recut of a Godzilla sequel.
Scenes
- Thor's ray reduces Sparky to a skeleton. Derek reads the tag.
- The Gargon shadow crosses a house.
- Derek breaks with the crew that wants the planet for the herd.
Also available
- Internet Archive (TeenagersFromOuterSpace)