The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)

Next to the movies that come out today this is 2001 A Space Odyssey. Actually it is pretty good if you can get past the hilarity of brains floating around with two eyes. The eyes were very expressive. I call them phony Disney eyes. You know the eyes all the Walt Disney cartoon characters have had since the 80's.

John Agar who married a very young Shirley Temple years ago is the star of this movie along with the pet pooch. I understand he had a little drinking problem and that did not help his career. Still he was skilled enough not to make this into a over acted mess like most of actors who portray superhuman aliens that can destroy the universe. He acted like a regular guy most of the time.

I am not going to give away the whole movie other then to say it looks like Gor a alien from this planet escaped the police and landed in John Agar's brain. We know this because Vol is another alien from Arous but he is cop looking for the elusive Gor. Vol is also a floating brain but he decides the family dog is the best place for him to hide out. In the meantime John Agar kills his colleague because he is a rival for Joyce Meadows affection. Vol let's Joyce and her father know that her boyfriend is acting strange because Gor has taken over his body.

Gor/Agar can blow up airplanes just by looking at them and he does. There is a Atomic Age sub story. Gor shows his might by demanding a meeting by all the superpowers take place so he can show them he is even more powerful then the A Bomb. This is all very entertaining. I like the idea that the Joyce Meadows character is not your typical blithering idiot girlfriend. Gor/Agar becomes a little frisky with Joyce but the dog is not going for it, The Alien in the dog is a good idea because the dog can hang out with Gor/Agar without any suspicion being cast. So as silly as it seems, it works. It it much better the Vol hiding outing in a human whose presence has to be explained.

The end comes quickly and I am not going to give it away. But this was a nice little movie that is not as bad as the title makes it seem.