20 Million Miles To Earth (1957)

20 Million Miles To Earth (1957)

Aka: Twenty Million Miles To Earth, The Beast From Space, The Giant Ymir
Columbia Pictures

Directed By: Nathan Juran
Written By: Charlotte Knight & Christopher Knopf

Cast:
William Hopper as Col. Robert Calder
Joan Taylor as Marisa Leonardo Frank Puglia as Dr. Leonardo
John Zaremba as Dr. Judson Uhl
Thomas Browne Henry as Maj. Gen. A.D. McIntosh
Tito Vuolo as Police Commissioner Charra
Jan Arvan as Contino
Arthur Space as Dr. Sharman
Bart Braverman as Pepe

Runtime: 82 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Sound: Mono
Released: June 17, 1957

If “The Day The Earth Stood Still” was intended to showcase mankind’s preconceived idea that all things that are not immediately understood are inherently evil then “Twenty Million Miles to Earth” was destined to drive the point home. Very rarely has there been a more tragic figure portrayed on film as the Ymir. (Named for the first of the giants in Norse mythology) The poor creature is kidnapped from its native planet of Venus, attacked by a dog, attacked by a farmer with a pitchfork, tortured with electricity and finally is sent plummeting to its death by a barrage of bazooka fire. Welcome to Earth.

The film “Twenty Million Miles to Earth” and its misunderstood monster both came from the mind of legendary special effects genius Ray Harryhausen. The films exotic local, Italy, also sprang from Harryhausen’s desire to make a film outside the confines of Hollywood. Once again his outstanding stop motion work would help turn an otherwise average monster film into a classic.

The first manned flight to Venus is struck by a meteor on its return and is forced to crash in the Mediterranean Sea. The crew’s only survivor, Col. Calder, is quickly taken to Sicily while a young boy named Pepe makes an interesting discovery among the crashed ships washed up debris. Little Pepe doesn’t realize that the metal canister he holds in his hands contains an unborn creature from the planet Venus. Dr. Leonardo, a local zoologist, examines the discovery a finds it interesting enough to purchase it from the youngster. As soon as it is returned to the lab the egg hatches and the young Ymir begins growing at an amazing rate. The creature soon outgrows the confines of the lab and escapes into the countryside. Col. Calder and Major General A.D. Macintosh from the Pentagon soon come looking for the canister and its cargo only to learn that they are too late. The young Ymir however leaves a trail of accidental death and destruction for the two to follow and is soon discovered hiding in a nearby cave. The military uses bags of sulfur, the creatures only known source of food, to lure the now giant Ymir out for capture. The monster is flown to Rome where it is kept at bay by large doses of electricity. A malfunction in one of the generators causes the creature to awaken and make another escape into the streets of the Italian capitol. The confused Venusian soon becomes cornered atop the famed Roman Colosseum. A barrage of military firepower brings both the wall of the great landmark and its alien occupant crashing to the ground ending the life of Earth’s first alien visitor.