I am a fan of American 1950s sci-fi and I know that most of these films have the simple premise that humans are good and aliens bad. This is often seen as a reflection of the anti-communist witch hunts following McCarthyism. This film has a slightly more subtle subtext, where the central alien (very well played by Ty Hardin) starts to develop human feelings, including the capacity for love - this lift the film into a different league to many sci-fi films of the period and makes the ending much more satisfying. Other than that, the wife's struggle to be acknowledged is also very gripping and seems to be a message echoing Second Wave feminism. All in all, this is a thoroughly entertaining, well-made and thoughtful film. Recommended.
