An American scientist of dubious qualifications builds a device for communicating with life on Mars. The centerpiece of his homemade lab is a "hydrogen valve," the plans for which he discovered in postwar Germany.
After sending a message to Mars, his TV monitor indicates that he has received a response. Several messages reveal that the Martians have an advanced civilization that can produce food and energy with only a fraction of the resources required on Earth.
Let's not quibble with the fact that there is no independent scientific verification of these Martian chats. Apparently, the world's leading scientists are conveniently asleep.
When the news get out, the world goes into a state of panic and economies collapse. Even the president of the United States comes under the spell of the Martian achievements. I hate to ruin the fantasy, but Earth has no trade with Mars and hundreds of Martian ships aren't descending on Earth to deliver, free of charge, the achievements that will supposedly put millions of Earthlings out of work.
While this is going on, the Communists are listening in and collaborating with the Nazi scientist who developed the hydrogen valve. Their goal is to pull the rug right out from under the West by creating chaos.
Even more startling is the news that the Martians are Christians, which leads to a worldwide revival of religion. Citizens of Communist countries are digging up religious paraphernalia and the Soviet government is replaced by the patriarch of Moscow. I suppose that the KGB and the Soviet Politburo are so awed that they have given up without a fight. One might suppose that Joseph Stalin has just erected a 75-foot cross over his Kremlin office. Yeah, right! Moreover, the fact that Biblical story of creation and dozens of prophesies have just been severely compromised doesn't raise the slightest peep from Bible scholars. They, along with the world's scientists, are asleep, too.
We discover at the end that the Nazi scientist has been perpetrating a hoax. The American scientist and his wife don't want the world to be let down by making the hoax public. Just as they are about to blow up the lab by lighting a cigarette while the lab is filled with hydrogen, a signal appears on the monitor that supposedly indicates that the Martians really are in contact with Earth.
However, because suicide is unacceptable, the Nazi fires a bullet at the TV, igniting an explosion. The world is thus saved being shaken from its delusions.
This film, born in an atmosphere of McCarthyism and Cold War hysteria, defines the word drivel. The only emotion it inspires in me is a feeling of contempt directed at those who are so desperate and naïve as to give it any credence.
After sending a message to Mars, his TV monitor indicates that he has received a response. Several messages reveal that the Martians have an advanced civilization that can produce food and energy with only a fraction of the resources required on Earth.
Let's not quibble with the fact that there is no independent scientific verification of these Martian chats. Apparently, the world's leading scientists are conveniently asleep.
When the news get out, the world goes into a state of panic and economies collapse. Even the president of the United States comes under the spell of the Martian achievements. I hate to ruin the fantasy, but Earth has no trade with Mars and hundreds of Martian ships aren't descending on Earth to deliver, free of charge, the achievements that will supposedly put millions of Earthlings out of work.
While this is going on, the Communists are listening in and collaborating with the Nazi scientist who developed the hydrogen valve. Their goal is to pull the rug right out from under the West by creating chaos.
Even more startling is the news that the Martians are Christians, which leads to a worldwide revival of religion. Citizens of Communist countries are digging up religious paraphernalia and the Soviet government is replaced by the patriarch of Moscow. I suppose that the KGB and the Soviet Politburo are so awed that they have given up without a fight. One might suppose that Joseph Stalin has just erected a 75-foot cross over his Kremlin office. Yeah, right! Moreover, the fact that Biblical story of creation and dozens of prophesies have just been severely compromised doesn't raise the slightest peep from Bible scholars. They, along with the world's scientists, are asleep, too.
We discover at the end that the Nazi scientist has been perpetrating a hoax. The American scientist and his wife don't want the world to be let down by making the hoax public. Just as they are about to blow up the lab by lighting a cigarette while the lab is filled with hydrogen, a signal appears on the monitor that supposedly indicates that the Martians really are in contact with Earth.
However, because suicide is unacceptable, the Nazi fires a bullet at the TV, igniting an explosion. The world is thus saved being shaken from its delusions.
This film, born in an atmosphere of McCarthyism and Cold War hysteria, defines the word drivel. The only emotion it inspires in me is a feeling of contempt directed at those who are so desperate and naïve as to give it any credence.