A much better movie than I remember.
The basic plot, copied so many times. An alien comes to Earth, as his planet is dying and this is the only place they can go to where they can have any hope to survive. They send down a forward scout, who is going to give them a landing beacon on a remote Scottish Isle. Are his intents hostile or benign? Well, we don't really know, because he is left in the hands of the evil Dr. Mears, who did something during WWII they should have given him 20 years for. (They never really tell us what.)
So why is it a great movie? Because it got there first. Or at least one of the first. And it isn't morally two-dimensional. The alien isn't explicitly evil and the humans aren't clearly good.
It should be pointed out that this movie was one of the ones that lead to the subsequent "UFO" hysteria of 1952. Co-incidence? I think not.
The basic plot, copied so many times. An alien comes to Earth, as his planet is dying and this is the only place they can go to where they can have any hope to survive. They send down a forward scout, who is going to give them a landing beacon on a remote Scottish Isle. Are his intents hostile or benign? Well, we don't really know, because he is left in the hands of the evil Dr. Mears, who did something during WWII they should have given him 20 years for. (They never really tell us what.)
So why is it a great movie? Because it got there first. Or at least one of the first. And it isn't morally two-dimensional. The alien isn't explicitly evil and the humans aren't clearly good.
It should be pointed out that this movie was one of the ones that lead to the subsequent "UFO" hysteria of 1952. Co-incidence? I think not.