Not a bad little film

Everyone seems to give this movie very poor marks. I grew up watching it every so often on TV in the 60s and mainly remembered it for the giant golf ball, or white orange, or whatever it is the alien arrives in, and while it was never one of my faves I thought it was okay. Seeing it again after many years I expected to find it poor and boring, but actually it's not so bad at all. Very low budget, of course, and the "science" in it is idiotic -- oh, there's no such thing as "gravity", instead there's a force being exerted on the Earth from space that keeps things firmly on the ground? Puh-leeze.

But despite (or because of) these things, I've found The Cosmic Man a pretty enjoyable little movie, much more so, in fact, than I ever did as a kid. It doesn't attempt more than it can afford, it's got a pretty good cast for such an inexpensive film, it takes its subject seriously, and conveys an appropriate mood of mystery. And today, it's also a nice, nostalgic throwback to the late 1950s. In its own odd way, it's aged pretty well, with a kind of earnest charm about it. It plays straight with the audience and doesn't resort to cheap thrills (maybe a little bit, when the title Man walks through the village and a couple of girls undressing for the night are frightened). The special effects scenes with the CM are a bit fake but the sequences with the golf ball are actually decently realistic (my use of the term "golf ball" notwithstanding).

Overall, it's much better than most reviewers write, and definitely worth an indulgent look. No classic, and don't expect another The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, not the awful remake, and the "big" movie this picture is usually compared with). But it is a rather sweet and innocent film that's fun, entertaining, and even has a little something to say. Try it, in a kind spirit.