Mike Trent (Mikel Conrad), a dissolute playboy and pretty federal agent Vee Langley (Pat Garrison) are sent to Alaska to locate a mysterious flying saucer before Russian operatives find it. The saucer is purported to be designed to carry an atomic bomb and capable of out-flying anything else in the air. Made only four years after the end of WW2, the importance of air superiority would be well known: as intelligence officer Hank Thorn (Russell Hicks) states, "any country that learns the secret of the flying saucer will control the skies of the world". The film is a simplistic, low-budget spy-thriller and the only thing that recommends it is the Alaskan scenery (very nice) and the novelty of the titular vehicle. Mikel Conrad wrote, directed and stars in the film - none done particularly well. The story is simplistic with an abrupt and unsatisfying climax, the 'action' pieces (fights and shootings) are inept (the Russians seem especially incompetent), the pacing leaden, and Conrad himself is dull and unengaging. The supporting cast is better, with veteran character actors Russel Hicks and Denver Pyle doing the best with what they are given. The special effects are minimal and the 'saucer' found in the secret hanger looks like a 'flying wing' with jet engines - quite different from the one glimpsed in the air. I am suspicious that the latter, more 'alien' looking flying saucer, was added in response to the burgeoning public interest in UFOs. Noteworthy as the first 'flying saucer' movie (predated slightly by the serials 'Bruce Gentry - Daredevil of the Skies' (1949) and 'Flying Disc Man from Mars' (1950), although the title of the latter is misleading as the 'disc' is actually recycled footage of a flying wing from 'King of the Mounties' (1942)). Despite the promising title, "The Flying Saucer' is watchable only by aficionados of the genre or the tinfoil-hat crowd.
Review of The Flying Saucer
