I Married a Monster from Outer Space

Plot synopsis:
The movie opens with title and credits shown with the Earth over a star field background. We zoom in on the Earth, and then fade to a pastoral scene of a park with a lake in the small town of Norrisville. A car drives up a two-lane road and pulls into the parking lot of the local bar and restaurant, King's. Two men exit the car and approach the entrance and we hear music coming from inside. They see a man and woman necking in a car. Five drunk men sit at a table. It is a bachelor party of sorts for Bill Farrell (Tom Tryon). He is getting married the next morning, so he leaves early. Sitting next to Bill on his right is his friend Sam Benson (Alan Dexter) and on list left is Mac Brody (Ty Hardin as Ty Hungerford). He reminds Bill that seeing his fiancé before the wedding is bad luck. Harry Phillips (Robert Ivers) jokes that Bill is such a nice guy, It's a shame it has to happen to him. Bill gets in his car and drives off to see Marge. He drives along the lake and sees a body in the middle of the road and stops. He gets out of the car, sure he hit a person, but there is nothing there. He observes, "I didn't think I had that much to drink." A strange, glowing arm with three pointed fingers touches his shoulder. Bill turns around and recoils at the sight of a very strange humanoid alien (an uncredited Charles Gemora). Bill sinks down along the front fender of the car to the ground and is enveloped in a dark, billowing cloud. When the cloud disappears, so does Bill.It is morning and we are in the wedding chapel. Mrs. Bradley (an uncredited Mary Treen), the mother of the bride enters the room with flowers and humming the Wedding March, much to her daughter's annoyance. Marge (Gloria Talbott) is anxious as Bill has not arrived for the wedding. Bill walks in and apologizes for being late. After the ceremony the couple exits the Wee Kirk Wedding Chapel and gets in the car. The well-wishers throw rice. Marge throws the bouquet and Helen Rhodes (Jean Carson) catches it. She wants to marry Sam and intends to soon, if she can get him to the altar. As Bill and Marge drive past the lake the alien watches them. Bill almost hits another car on the road. He "forgot" to turn on his headlights. When Marge innocently asks about the mishap, he snaps at her. They arrive at their honeymoon hotel near the ocean. Bill forgets to open the door of the car for his new wife. She tells Bill, "I know you've been absent-minded lately, but you can't have a honeymoon without a bride." They share glasses of champagne. A storm brews outside as the couple prepare for bed. Marge is starting to think something is strange with her new husband. Marge goes inside and Bill stays outside to watch the storm. A flash of lightning reveals it isn't Bill, but a hybrid of Bill and the alien he encountered on the highway.One year later Marge composes a letter to her mother. She complains that she is both frightened and bewildered. "Bill isn't the man I fell in love with. He's almost a stranger." Marge decides not to send the letter. Sam and Ted Hanks (Chuck Wassal) are sitting in a bar and talk about not seeing Bill Farrell any more. Sam gets his coat and tells the bartender, Max Grady (Max 'Slapsie Maxie' Rosenbloom) that he is a home-wrecker. Sam starts to walk home, but he feels ill and wanders into an alley to puke. He hears a strange noise and turns to investigate. He falls backwards in shock and is enveloped in a roiling black cloud, and like Bill, when the cloud disappears, so does Sam.Marge looks at an X-Ray of herself and complains, "That doesn't look like me at all." She is meeting with Dr. Wayne (Ken Lynch). She saw the doctor to find out why she hasn't been able to get pregnant. The doctor admits he and his wife, Doris, took five years to have their first child. Before Marge gets out the door, Dr. Wayne asks, "Why don't you have Bill come in and see me." Marge stopped at a pet store and placed the cage in her car. A car honks its horn and pulls up behind Marge. Helen Rhodes pulls up with Sam Benson. She announces she and Sam are to be married. Marge drives home and gets the cage out of the car. Bill is outside and calls to her, spoiling the surprise. She pulls the cover off the cage and the dog growls at Bill. The dog snaps at Bill when he puts his hand near the cage. Bill tells Marge that perhaps dogs don't like him, but she reminds him he's had dogs all his life. Bill tells Marge to put the puppy down in the basement. Later that evening Bill goes into the basement. The dog is just as aggressive. Bill reaches out to the dog and kills it. Marge runs to the basement to check on the noise. Bill tells Marge the puppy is dead. When Marge asks how, Bill lies and tells her, "Well, he must have strangled himself. I think his collar was too tight." Marge tells Bill she saw Dr. Wayne today. She tells him she wants children and Bill should see the doctor. The doorbell rings. Marge answers it. It is Sam and he wants to see Bill. They talk briefly, and Marge excuses herself and walks upstairs. Alone, Sam reveals himself to Bill. He asks Bill, "Did you make many mistakes at first?" Sam admits he likes the pleasures humans enjoy, despite the stupidity, bad design and short life span. Sam finally gets to the point, "They've improved the methane reservoirs in these bodies. You're due to report to the ship tonight." Sam reveals his alien/human hybrid face.A police car pulls up a street and stops. Officer Schultz (Jack Orrison) asks his partner, Officer Frank Swanson (Peter Baldwin) if everything is ok. They see a drunk in the alley and go to investigate. Swanson hits Schultz, and then he and the "drunk" carry him out of sight up against a wall. The cloud envelopes Officer Schultz. It is clear now that many of the men in town have been abducted. After checking on his wife, Bill leave the house. He is unaware that Marge has seen him leave. She grabs a coat and slips it on over her nightgown. She follows her husband. The sound of a screeching cat draws her attention. Bill wanders back to the ship with Marge closely behind. She follows the sounds of foot falls in dry brush and spots Bill. She sees a black vapor exit her husband and an alien materializes. The glowing alien walks into a spaceship. Bill remains standing and Marge walks over to him. He is unresponsive and when she touches him, he falls backward, his eyes staring into space. Marge runs. She wakes in the gutter in town. She is drawn to the noise in the bar. She tells Max Grady the Bartender she just saw a monster. Sitting and leering is Weldon (James Anderson) and he instantly takes an interest in Marge. He thinks she is drunk or having the DTs and comments to Max, "Funny thing. She didn't look like a lush." Francine (Valerie Allen), the town hooker walks over and talks to Weldon, but he expresses no interest. Marge stops two policemen (Swanson and Schultz) in their car and asks to see Chief Collins (John Eldredge). Collins offers her a cookie and pours her a cup of coffee in his office. He listens sympathetically and assures her she is sane. But he doesn't believe in the aliens invading the Earth. He convinces Marge to go home and pretend everything is fine. He asks Swanson to take Marge home. Collins walks over to the window. A flash of lightning reveals his true nature. At home, Marge walks slowly into the living room. Bill is there, in the dark, and turns the lamp on. They walk upstairs.It is Sam's wedding day and the rehearsal is underway. Bill is acting as Best Man, and Marge is the Matron of Honor. Marge asks to speak to Helen. Marge begs Helen not to marry Sam, not today, but sometime later. Marge is not specific, and Helen ignores her suggestion. Bill walks in to tell Helen she is needed outside. Weldon has Marge Farrell's address and walks over to her house. Inside, Marge is looking for a lighter. She asks Bill why he isn't drinking. Bill comments that Marge has changed over the last few weeks. She avoids his presence, and his touch. Bill looks out the window and see Weldon. Suspecting something, he mentally summons Officers Schultz and Swanson to the house. They confront Weldon and arrest him. Weldon admits he's been sniffing around Marge. He pulls out a gun and shoots Swanson point blank three times. Schultz cold cocks Weldon. He asks his partner if Weldon is any use to their cause. Frank shakes his head, no, so Schultz kills the man with his service revolver. The shot wakes Marge. She and Bill talk, he admits he's learning. Bill leaves the house. Francine is on the move at the bar. Bill, Sam and Harry sit and stare at their drinks while they talk. They discuss pretending to be human. Harry thinks they are disgusting, but Sam admits he like them. Sam reveals the ultimate goal of their visit to Earth, "Look, Harry, our scientists are working on a way right now to mutate human female chromosomes so we can have children with them." Max notices the three men haven't touched their liquor and confronts them. He hits Bill twice, but Bill is unfazed and responds by putting his hands in his pockets. Max is surprised and a little scared. Max stares at his bloodied knuckles. Francine decides to leave the bar. She adjusts her nylons, then saunters down the street. She sees a hooded figure staring into a toy shop display window. She tries to attract a potential customer by asking for the time. The hooded figure refuses to answer Francine. It finally turns to face her and she is shocked. She runs away screaming. The figure points a weapon at her, fires, and she disappears into a glowing mass.Several couples are enjoying a picnic in the park. Ted Hanks teases his wife, Caroline (an uncredited Darlene Fields) about her throwing arm. Helen and Sam are out on the lake in a row boat. Sam falls overboard, and Ted comments, "Oh, he can swim like a fish." Marge notes that he is not swimming. Ted dives in to rescue his friend, while the rest of the men stand and stare. Helen dives in after her new husband. On shore, Doctor Wayne gives Sam oxygen, but instead of reviving him, it seems to kill the man. Helen spends the night with the Farrells and Marge checks on her before walking downstairs. She goes back to see Capt. Collins. Collins warns Marge about her delusions. Marge tries to call Washington, D.C. on a pay phone, but can't get through. She walks over to the Western Union office and talks to Mr. Potter (an uncredited Tony Di Milo). She fills out a telegram form to the FBI, pays the fee and walks away. She sees, through the window, that Potter tears up the form. She tries to drive out of town but is stopped at a road block. Swanson claims the road was washed out.At home, Marge sits on the couch in the dark. When Bills asks her, "How about some light?" She tartly replies, "You don't need any." She finally confronts the Alien Bill and tells him, "I know you're not Bill. You're some thing that crept into Bill's body. Something that can't even breathe the same air we do. Sam died because oxygen was forced into his lungs." Bill tells Marge he comes from a planet in the Andromeda Constellation. Their sun became unstable so they built a fleet of space ships to get away and that all their females died. He reveals their plans to breed with human females.Marge reveals all to Dr. Wayne. He believes Marge and comes up with a solution for finding human men. He needs help. Ted walks over to announce his wife delivered twins. Dr. Wayne recruits the men waiting in the maternity ward. Marge returns home. Bill is waiting in the living room. The posse of men arrive on the road to the field where the spaceship is located. One man, Charles Mason (Steve London) brings his hunting dogs. They take the path and fan out to search. Bills calls Chief Collins on the phone to inquire about his wife. Bill easily knocks down the door to their bedroom. The posse approaches the ship. A strange detector, a series of pipes and cylinders, scans the area. As Bill shakes Marge, demanding to know who she spoke to, he senses the approaching danger to his ship. In fact, all the alien imposters know and respond to the danger. Bill tells Marge, "So your friends are attacking our ship?" The ship opens and a couple of aliens exit. Bill gets into the police car and returns to his ship. Dr. Wayne and Mason fire at the aliens, but bullets enter, and the wounds instantly seal up. The posse retreats, but Mason releases his dogs. One of the dogs pulls the aliens breathing tube off. It bleeds from the wound, and the creature falls to the ground. The other dog attacks an alien in a similar fashion and the alien is also killed. The men return and stare at the alien body that disintegrates into a pile of gel-like goo. A small explosion destroys their ray gun. The posse enters the ship. Suspended above the floor are the real humans. They are attached by wires to small machines on the floor. Collins, Bill, Sam, and the two police officers are along one wall. Five more men are on another wall, and they include Harry and Mac. Dr. Wayne concludes, "Electrical impulses from the real human bodies must give the monsters form and shape, even memories." Dr. Wayne disconnects Officer Schultz and his corresponding alien falls to the ground and turns into the gel-like goo in clothing. As Dr. Wayne disconnects more humans, more aliens are stopped. Alien Bill realizes the mission has failed. Alien Capt. Collins reports on a battery shaped device, "Earth mission has failed. They're alerted and dangerous. Suggest continuing on to another galaxy. Total personnel lost." With his human plug pulled, Alien Collins collapses in his office. He finishes his report, "Destroy scout ship." He then collapses and turns into the gel-like goo. As the posse removes more men, Marge approaches the Alien Bill. He tells Marge, "Your people have won. That makes you happy, doesn't it?" Bill's plug is pulled and his alien counterpart collapses and writhes in pain. His body turns into a Jello-like goo. The real Bill calls to Marge. He smiles and they embrace. The ship explodes, and Marge and Bill embrace. We close with a scene of the Earth in space and a fleet of flying saucers traveling away.

Tags: allegory, cult, murder

Review:
Both Gloria Talbott and Tom Tryon as the leading actors, give good understated performances, and in the final scene, Tryons' alien becomes a terribly pathetic creature whose only desire was to see the continuation of his race.
When Gloria goes to the local doctor for help in battling the aliens, he quickly realizes that the only men in town who are verifiably human are the ones whose wives are pregnant.
'I Married A Monster From Outer Space' should be ranked as one of the great 50s sci-fi/ horror films.
I guess I was expecting a Ed Wood type film, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but what I saw, was an above average, well acted and directed movie.
The bulk of the film is quite serious and holds up pretty well, even today.The best lines, in the opening segments, come from "Marge" (Gloria Talbott), the one I quoted for the subject head.
From that point, it becomes a very familiar story for fans of sci-fi: something we've seen in a lot of films the past 50 years - aliens transform into humans and one that hasn't gets burned by family and friends she trusts because she doesn't realize they, too, have also turned into aliens.In other words, this has a lot of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" type of paranoia story, just without the pods.
But when it comes to '50s sci-fi films, great acting isn't a requirement anyway, and most of us don't watch it for that.Overall, this is pretty good, nothing super but certainly worth a look now that there is a good DVD transfer of it available.
Another thinly veiled reference to the Communist witch hunt, 'I Married A Monster From Outer Space' is a movie with a cheesy title and a decent story.
The movie talks upon an aircraft from outer space that arrives to earth and go out aliens and they are hanging with human beings .
Tom Tryon as the alien husband is fine and Gloria Talbott as his distrustful wife is enjoyable , she usually was in sci-fi films by that time .
This movie was almost certainly inspired by the McCarthian communist "witch hunts" of the 1950's.The choice of title for this movie certainly does not do the film justice,which is probably why the film isn't thought of as being in the same league as"Invaders from Mars" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers",another two films which develop the theme of this hidden "enemy within".Althougth, in my opinion, not as good as those films,it is still,nevertheless,worth adding to the collection of any sci-fi film fan.
I do feel that this was one of Gloria Talbot's better film roles.The plot unfolds fairly evenly,with Tom Tyron body being taken over by an alien in the first few scenes.What gradually follows is the actual extent of the alien takeover and their intentions.This movie is available on DVD..
What is the intention of the alien invasion?"I Married a Monster from Outer Space" is a great sci-fi movie from the 50's.
another reason it bests "Snatcher", a great movie in its own right.Special effects are pretty good.
I was on the alert to see the glowing creatures that were oh-so-close to the car just on the side of the road.Writing and direction are tight and Tom Tryon (later Gothic novelist) is good as the wooden alien, but Gloria Talbot is primo as the protagonist.
This movie is one of them....aliens taking over the population without being noticed....the guy next door may be a Communist (or a monster from outer space).
With a title and cover like that how could it possibly not be?It tells the story of a woman who notices dramatic changes in her new husband and begins to have suspicions that he may not be himself anymore.Less goofy than I immediatly thought it's essentially a tweeked Invasion of the Bodysnatchers (1956) but retains enough originality to have its own identity.Fairly creepy in places and well paced it's a very competently made movie for its time though certainly would have benefitted from a bit of additional time.For fans of that genre this is a perfectly passable piece of cinema but light on surprises.The Good:Well made for its timeAbove par finaleThe Bad:Fairly flat in placesThings I Learnt From This Movie:The creators were NOt animal loversAliens are teetotal.
And, I'm told, movie heavyweights catch up with the aliens and their body-snatched humans for all the symbolism they think they see, like "does a marriage ceremony turn all husbands into unromantic zombies".
I guarantee no teen of the time saw anything on screen other than a good scary movie.Anyway, I liked Gloria Talbott then and still do, especially when she runs around in her low- cut nightgown, chest heaving.
The acting is incredibly good and believable by the main characters bill and marge farell ( TOM TRYON, GLORIA TALBOTT)as well as the rest of the cast.
Movies such as the classics "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", and "I Married a Monster From Outer Space" played on this theme, translated into Sci-Fi films.The sensationalist title belies the quality of the film and its well-told storyline.
Although I am also fond of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", which has a similar theme, it lacks the heart of the subject of this review, in my opinion.Marge (Gloria Talbott) and Bill (Tom Tryon) are getting married, but Marge doesn't realize at first that the night before the wedding her groom's body was taken over by an alien being.
She soon comes to realize the true nature of what she has married, and of course tries to warn everyone, and stop the invasion of aliens...aliens who are taking over the menfolk of her town in the hopes of breeding with the women and establishing a colony on Earth.
However, "I Married a Monster From Outer Space" seems to be one of the accidental gems.Tom Tryon makes for a very likable alien.
Interesting bit of trivia: he was also considered by Alfred Hitchcock for the role of Sam Loomis in "Psycho." There are the typical Sci-Fi low-budget special effects, but what makes the film really work is the telling of the story in a manner that pulls you into all of the characters, despite the obvious shortcomings of the budget.Note: Tom Tryon retired from acting in the late 1960's and became a successful novelist, publishing as Thomas Tryon; I remember my mother buying some of his books such as the bestselling "The Other", "Harvest Home", and "Crowned Heads", all of which I thoroughly enjoyed..
Okay, for you to also think this is an exceptional film, you've gotta like 1950s Monster/Sci-Fi movies.
The special effect are pretty good and the story of horny aliens coming to find unsuspecting brides is really well done and not cheesy like the terrible MARS NEEDS WOMEN (yawn).
Released in 1958 and shot in B&W, "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" stars Gloria Talbott as a newlywed in Southern Cal who starts to suspect her husband is an alien from outer space (Tom Tryon).
Despite the silly title, the tone is serious and the special effects regarding the aliens and the way they possess people (or whatever) are quite good for the era.
Movies like this are worthwhile simply as historical artifacts to view American society in the late 50s, but compared to Sci-Fi giants from the 50s like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) and the monumental "Forbidden Planet" (1956) "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" is second rate.The film runs 78 minutes and was shot in Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park and Los Angeles, California.
Gene Fowler Jr. directed this silly-sounding science fiction thriller that stars Tom Tryon as a young groom about to be married who is abducted by alien invaders and replaced with one of them, who is made to look just like him.
This alien does go on to marry his bride(played by Gloria Talbott) who doesn't like or understand the suddenly cold and passionless change in her man.
It has many elements which will remind you of Invasion of the Body Snatchers - aliens take over the local people of small-town rural America, but you wouldn't know it because they take human forms.
When Marge Bradley (Gloria Talbott) marries Bill Farrell (Tom Tryon), she gets a surprise when she finds out that he's been possessed by an alien, and that aliens are possessing the other men in town.
Not a bad little film about aliens taking over the bodies of men in a small town to mate with their wives.
It stars actor turned author Tom Tryon ("The Cardinal") as Bill Farrell, a newlywed insurance agent who's the first of many small town citizens to have their bodies taken over by aliens.
The special effects may look awfully crude to some modern viewers, but they're damn entertaining to watch, and the monsters in their natural guise thankfully don't look quite like anything else that this viewer has seen in this genre.The supporting cast features a couple of familiar faces, like Ty Hardin ('Bronco'), Ken Lynch ("Anatomy of a Murder"), John Eldredge ("High Sierra"), James Anderson ("To Kill a Mockingbird"), and boxer turned actor Maxie Rosenbloom ("The Boogie Man Will Get You").
On the eve of his wedding, Bill (Tom Tryon) is abducted by aliens and an alien living in a facsimile of his human body returns to marry Marge (Gloria Talbott).
Interesting twist on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" from 1956 has many of the small town males quickly and insidiously overtaken by the outer space ghouls, whose ultimate purpose is to mate with Earth women and give their race a fresh start.
Despite its rather silly title, this movie is actually very good.Aliens start taking over a number of people in a small town, including a newly wed.
No real stars here, but quite good acting.I Married A Monster From Outer Space is worth watching, despite the title.
Tom Tryon before he became Walt Disney's Texas John Slaughter starred in this camp science fiction film, I Married A Monster From Outer Space.
I Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958) *** (out of 4) Despite the campy title this is a pretty straight forward sci-fi film that manages to be quite effective.
If I had seen the little-known actors Gloria Talbott and Tom Tryon in a movie titled "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" in 1958, I very likely would not have gone to see it because of the title.
However, to ignore this movie is cheating oneself, since it's a dark, creepy, and altogether enjoyable sci-fi about an alien invasion.Bill Ferrell (Tryon) is out drinking before his wedding day, and is overcome by a mysterious dark cloud.
The story focuses for the most part on the plight of newlywed Marge Farrell (Gloria Talbott) whose husband Bill (Tom Tryon) is abducted by aliens of the eve of their wedding and replaced by one of them who initially seems like a perfect copy but whose true nature is gradually revealed as Marge's fears and paranoia deepen in a clever commentary on how well we really know people.
Stephen King when describing the aliens faces called them 'runnelled and knotted and warty', elsewhere they've simply been described as 'rhubarb like', although one critic dismissed them as 'risible' (perhaps he was watching the 'pompous ass' cut of the film; I'm sure that critics see a different version of these movies than the rest of us!) and they are all of these things and more, depending on how you look at them.Some of the themes are interesting even today.
It's there the aliens in it begin to take over he bodies, after their kidnapped, of the young men in that town.Getting married to her high-school sweetheart Bill Farrel, Tom Tryon, Marge,Goria Talbott, begins to realize that he's not the man that she was in love with all these years!Marge later realizes that he's not a man at all but Bill is like what the title of the movie says: "A Monster from Outer Space".Coming from a planet in the distance Andromeda Constellation the aliens escaped from their dying planet due to their sun's deadly radiation that killed off all the females of their race.
Much better then you would expect the movie "I Married a Monster from Outer Space" has a intelligent script and fine acting on the part of it's cast.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space starts as Bill Farrell (Tom Tyron) drives home after a night out with his friends, Bill is due to marry his fiancé Marge (Gloria Talbot) the following day but is abducted & replaced by an alien creature that takes Bill's form & place.
Marge confronts Bill who admits that he is part of an alien race that is dying out & they have come to Earth to mate with women to save their race from extinction, Marge sets out to stop them & make a disbelieving world take notice of her...Produced & directed by Gene Fowler Jr. this Paramount Pictures production has one of the more memorable titles for a 50's sci-fi alien invasion film & while I wasn't expecting too much from it I did like it, it's not amazing but if your a fan of these old black and white 50's alien invasion flicks then you could do a lot worse than I Married a Monster from Outer Space.
The script tries to paint the aliens as sympathetic, despite being ugly aliens in their true form when in human form they try to reason calmly & are presented as a desperate race on the verge of extinction although kidnapping men, replacing them & trying to get our women pregnant isn't the way they should have gone about things...The special effects here aren't that bad, the smoke effect that covers the men when they are being abducted is good while the alien monsters themselves look alright with a strange glow to them.
The acting is alright if a little wooden as expected, nothing great but not terrible.I Married a Monster from Outer Space is a fun little 50's sci-fi horror about the importance of marriage the idea of conforming to society, it's outdated & silly but overall I quite liked it for what it is.
The alien race needs women to procreate their species or face extinction due to the fact that their sun which destroyed their planet.Solid sci-fi from director Gene Fowler, Jr(I Was a Teenage Werewolf)stars Gloria Talbott as Marge, recently married to Bill Farrell(Tom Tryon), noticing that he's not acting the same before their blessed union.
Essentially a sci-fi melodrama, I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE is far more mature, intelligent, and literate than the hokey title would suggest, especially well acted by it's competent cast, particularly Talbott who so desperately wants to communicate what she knows regarding the alien threat, yet getting her message out becomes a trial.
I'm attracted to the "body snatching" science fiction very popular during this time, and I think I MARRIED A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE is a classic example of the quality pictures that derived from the canon.
Taking the material seriously, Fowler Jr directs the film(..as well as the cast's acting)with a minimalist approach.What was most fascinating to me was seeing Bill's alien(..he and his drinking buddies, also taken over)attempting to coexist(..adapt)to human society, discovering what it was to feel, to love.
Tom Tryon and Gloria Henry in good sci-fi B-film from the '50s....
It's a good thing he had a career as a Gothic writer ahead of him.However, it's the tight script, the crisp B&W photography, the jagged bits of music, and the eerie plot that bears more than a slight resemblance to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" that is guaranteed to keep you awake--even though it is obviously a B-film with no big pretensions to be anything else.***** Possible SPOILER Ahead*****It's another one of those tales where the poor wife dares not trust any of the citizens of a small town--since any one of them might have turned into an alien, like her hubby.
Unfortunately a whole three-quarters of the movie concerns Gloria Talbot learning that her husband, played by Tom Tryon, is an alien.The pace was too slow with too much time spent on the wife discovering that her husband is not the man she married.
The ending picks up a bit but it's rather late in the movie, by which point Tom Tryon's wooden acting, pouting facial expression, slow movements and slow dialog had worn me out.With no tension, no drama and little suspense I recommend skipping I Married a Monster from Outer Space and watching or rewatching any one of the better sci-fi films of the fifties..
The real problem is that they really don't know how to show a girl a good time, revealed in a letter that bride Gloria Talbott writes while on her honeymoon to Tom Tryon.
You can tell the director and crew are making every last bit of their obviously tiny budget count and finding setups and shots that pump the energy into what could have been just another rip off of "Body Snatchers".Talbott is an especially good choice for the part of the unlucky bride - I've seen her in other movies (like "Leech Woman") and her screen persona is always pretty tightly wound; she brings wide-eyed anxiety and fretfulness to the part without having to overplay it - you always believe this character is full of doubts, fears, and regrets without the screenplay having to turn her into a shrill hag.The movie also distinguishes itself from the run of the mill "secret invasion" science fiction movie by helping the audience understand the alien's reasons for being on Earth, and making them more human (or influenced by their human shells) as the movie progresses.
Marge you see has married a monster-like alien from outer space, who is part of a group trying to conquer earth.Predictable, but a whole lot better than some other Sci-Fi releases of the same period.