Tonight's Movie: Invasion, U.S.A. (1952) - A Film Masters Blu-ray Review

I've always had a strong interest in films of the Cold War era, as they merge my love for movies with a topic I studied extensively in college.

Numerous science fiction and film noir movies of the '50s contain themes regarding Cold War fears, ranging from subtle allegories to more explicit stories.

At the far end of the scale are "Red scare films" meant to terrify their audiences into vigilance against possible Communist invasion.

I was thus fascinated to learn about the recent release of a two-film Blu-ray set of such "Red scare" films from Film Masters. The two-disc set contains INVASION, U.S.A. (1952) along with ROCKET ATTACK, U.S.A. (1960).

This impressive set also includes new featurettes and commentaries along with shorts; more on that at the end of this review.

INVASION, U.S.A. is a wild film which isn't especially well-made, including relying on copious amounts of stock footage, but at the same time, I think one could class it as unforgettable. Its memorable nature is due to a combination of genuinely scary bits mixed with moments which can only be described as high camp; some scenes manage both at once!

The bare bones plot finds a handful of people enjoying drinks in a New York City bar, served by a bartender named Tim (Tom Kennedy).

Tim's customers include a glamorous babe, Carla (Peggie Castle), a slightly oily TV newsman named Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), the mysterious and rather creepy Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy), and a couple men in New York on business (Robert Bice and Erik Blythe).

Strange stories begin to unfold on the bar's television (it's an Admiral! - early "product placement"?). Enemy planes are flying over Alaska, then Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. Thousands are killed, and although the U.S. armed forces fight valiantly, they seem powerless to stop the ongoing invasion, which escalates across the country with astounding speed.

The film is thought-provoking from a variety of angles, including the filmmakers portraying Soviet Russia as such a menace that it easily overruns the U.S.

From a modern-day perspective, one of the interesting things about the film was the limited amount of information available to the characters about what was happening elsewhere in the country. That would certainly play out differently in the social media era, as long as communications aren't knocked out.

And indeed, with regular recent reports of Russian planes and drones being in places where they shouldn't be, the prospect of enemy planes showing up over Alaska in this film hit a little closer to home than it should decades after it was made.

The ultimate ending is hinted at strongly enough that I wasn't surprised, and to some extent it could be said to explain the nightmarish scenes which have gone before.

Gerald Mohr is fondly recalled from his numerous appearances on TV's MAVERICK, including a couple episodes as Doc Holliday in the late '50s, and I'm a big fan of Peggie Castle, but the acting in this film admittedly isn't much.

What's more interesting are the situations, including a memorable scene where an airline clerk (Noel Neill) must inform a woman she can't buy a ticket to get home to her husband and children in Montana - because the state has been nuked!

Speaking of Neill, she's one of two "TV Lois Lanes" who appear in the film; Phyllis Coates is also on hand in a very brief scene as the ill-fated wife of the cattleman played by Blythe.

The cast also includes Edward G. Robinson Jr., William Schallert, Richard Eyer, and Clarence A. Shoop, who had an impressive military career and was a frequent technical advisor to the film industry. Shoop was married to actress Julie Bishop; their daughter is actress Pamela Susan Shoop. There's more about Bishop in my recent review of LITTLE MISS ROUGHNECK (1938).

INVASION, U.S.A. runs 73 minutes. Except for the lengthy stock footage sequences - I sped up the playback for a couple of these loooong scenes - the movie is well-paced and holds the attention even at its most absurd. Viewers will doubtless be all over the map in their reactions to it, but it's a conversation-worthy film.

The movie was written by Robert Smith from a story he wrote with Franz Schulz. It was directed by Alfred E. Green and filmed in black and white by John L. Russell.

Film Masters' excellent Blu-ray print is from a 4K scan of 35mm archival elements. Sound quality is also strong.

The commentary track for INVASION, U.S.A. is by Jason A. Ney, with C. Courtney Joyner and Mark Jordan Legan doing the honors for ROCKET ATTACK, U.S.A.

Ballyhoo Motion Pictures, which specializes in documentaries for home viewing releases, produced a 37-minute documentary BETTER DEAD THAN RED: HOLLYWOOD VS. COMMUNISM IN THE 1950S, as well as an 18-minute interview with Anthony Mohr, son of Gerald Mohr. I'll be watching BETTER DEAD THAN RED in the near future; I quite enjoyed the Mohr interview.

Anthony (who incidentally was a Los Angeles Superior Court judge) reminisces about his father's career and his own childhood confusion seeing an INVASION, U.S.A. still of his bloodied father with a gorgeous woman he didn't know. I was gratified when Anthony mentioned how much both he and his father liked his work on MAVERICK.

The set also includes trailers; a stills gallery; numerous atomic era shorts; and booklet essays by Toby Roan (on Peggie Castle) and Don Stradley.

As described above, Film Masters has put a great deal of effort into this set, which is recommended.

Thanks to Allied Vaughn and Film Masters for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. It may be purchased via Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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