From California to Ohio to D.C.

Many newspaper reporters and reviewers expressed at least some enthusiasm about the movie's opening, as shown in this collection, but ultimately the most influential reviewers -- the theater audience -- were less than fully on board with this Greene-Rouse production. (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood

When the subject of Hollywood gossip columnists came up in the 1950s, the first name on everybody's mind would be Hedda Hopper.  So popular were her praises and barbs about celebrities and their movies that she even turned up in a movie or two (maybe more) herself in a bit part.  Here, she says nice things about "U.F.O." and it may be of interest as a dateline that Hopper also references actor John Wayne and plans for his big-budget film, "The Alamo."  

Another brief article included today mentions official documents placed with Title Insurance and Trust Co. of Los Angeles.  Unfortunately, when I inquired about these in the seventies they were long gone and the firm had no idea of their whereabouts.

Of, by now, familiar significance, another article mentions in error that Capt. Edward Ruppelt played his own role -- and muddies things up even more by stating Maj. Dewey Fournet played himself, which he did not (but like Ruppelt and Al chop he did consult on the film's production). (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

Clarence Greene Promotes the Movie in Boston

Interviews with or even comments from co-producer Russell Rouse regarding the motion picture are apparently rare, probably because "U.F.O." was primarily Clarence Greene's "baby."  Still, occasional reminders that the Greene-Rouse team turned out other notable films are worthwhile and titles are mentioned in a brief Boston Globe article (5-30-1956).  When a Boston Globe reporter released a longer story about Greene's visit to Boston (6-1-1956)  as the movie was set to open, he tied in some actual UFO history with the story on screen, thereby firming up the film as a documentary and not merely entertainment for theater popcorn fans.  (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

Mr. and Mrs. Al Chop Promotional Photo

Age and reproduction quality of the newspaper photo showing Al Chop and his wife together isn't the best, but it does offer another example of various partnerships involved in assuring accuracy for the documentary motion picture.  As we mentioned several years ago when first posting this rarely seen picture, the movie depicts Mrs. Chop remaining home while husband Al speeds off to Washington National during an historic night of radar/visually-confirmed UFO activity. However, in reality she accompanied him and was present just outside the restricted radar room as her husband joined military officials and air traffic personnel in watching the unknowns on the radar scope, even as one pilot was reportedly surrounded by bright objects in the sky.

One article here, unfortunately, repeats the error that Edward J. Ruppelt played himself in the film -- an error in which I played a part in my earlier writing, to my everlasting regret.  It turns out that the studio press book itself initially printed this error, and in later years Al Chop himself repeated it in a letter to me, surely a mistake which went unnoticed as he went into detail about his own relationship to the movie.  Ruppelt's brief depiction was actually portrayed by Robert Phillips, one of the few professional actors who graced the documentary.

Regarding the radio interview with producer Clarence Greene, adding a recording of this likely unique interview to the archives would have been great, but I am unaware that any such recording survived the years. (article credit: Barry Greenwood)

Gregory Peck's Peg Leg Comes Out Ahead in One Article

Today, having featured several days of aviation column entries written by "U.F.O." lead player Tom Towers in the fifties, we turn back to various articles by others.  Writer Alfred Kay's piece about the movie was all too typical of so much newspaper reporting about the UFO subject back then, when ridicule, derision and gaining points for a laugh was often an implied editorial policy. Kay's reference to the film as an hour-long feature when it was actually just over an hour and a half in length was careless, but his criticism that very few of the "actors" seemed at ease in front of the cameras should have been tempered -- had he bothered to read the studio's press book -- with an acknowledgement that most of them were L.A. area law enforcement officers invited by the producers to recreate briefly various roles based upon historical  events. Using non-professional actors does not necessarily result in Shakespearean theater, if that's what Kay anticipated.

Personally, I was far more intrigued by Kay's report regarding the pain and problems actor Gregory Peck endured with a peg leg prosthesis while filming "Moby Dick."  Clarence Greene's "U.F.O." has been described as "wooden" for its acting by some, so maybe the inclusion of a peg leg would have satisfied Kay's need to focus upon a prop.  But in the end, he simply dissolves into lame humor as he casts the UFO subject aside.

Elsewhere, the movie menu including "U.F.O." among other features is fair enough, but the brief L.A. Evening News article suggesting UFOs are "probably" not hostile and perhaps beneficial to the human race certainly takes a lot for granted.  Then again, this WAS the 1950s era, when "space brothers" were all the rage.    (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

Not Exactly Amalgamated

As we suggested in the previous blog entry, a future visit wasn't looking trouble-free for the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America, at least not when they held their convention in Los Angeles in July of 1959.  In an attempt to distance their local subcommittee from the controversial group, officials of the National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP) communicated through Tom Towers that the "convention" hosting "contactees" and others of questionable repute was bad news for legitimate UFO research.  Having met Maj. Donald Keyhoe in the sixties, I am more than familiar with his outrage over groups which -- loosely or otherwise -- attempted to claim an association with NICAP when it was under his influence. (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

Disney Artist Hosts Scientific UFO Discussion

Decades of UFO literature mention the meeting Towers describes here, hosted by a famous Walt Disney artist and attended by intriguing names, not the least of whom was Disney's advanced science consultant Ward Kimball.  As controversy rages on regarding the Disney corporation's relationship with actual UFO filming long ago, we nevertheless have little doubt that this 1958 meeting was at least in part precipitated by the movie, "U.F.O." released just two years previously.  The other article here touches upon 1959, when an upcoming  meeting of the Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of America is announced -- an entity about as welcome as a skunk in a grocery store, as the next blog entry will demonstrate. (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

APRO and Dr. Carl Jung

Among these columns Towers mentions Dr. Carl Jung's interest in UFOs, revealing also that Jung is a member of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).  Other topics written about involve pure aviation history of the era and are fun to read. (credit:  Barry Greenwood)

 

From the Moon to Hawaii

In this June, 1958 column, Towers quotes a retired Chrysler Corp. board chairman whose take on any yet-unaccomplished voyage to the moon isn't exactly enthusiastic. We wonder how his opinion may have changed just over a decade later, when the United States made the first manned lunar journey.  Also briefly mentioned is a lecture regarding UFO sightings over Hawaii.  (credit: Barry Greenwood)

                

Frank Edwards Visits Los Angeles

Among other stories in his newspaper column, Tom Towers notes the arrival of noted radio broadcaster and UFO writer Frank Edwards to L.A. in 1957.  This is almost overshadowed by the report of some kind of explosion in an airplane lavatory which apparently blew a man into the blue and to his death.  Also, even a year after the movie first appeared on theater screens it still makes tracks, and in this case Towers himself is acknowledged for his role as Al Chop as "U.F.O." briefly returns to his area. (credit: Barry Greenwood)

Chickcharnies and Flying Saucers

Tom Towers' aviation columns could be quite inclusive of subjects other than or borderline to aviation. (Please note that some scans partly repeat scan images shown just prior.)


credit: Barry Greenwood

 

                                                                                       

Tom Towers, Aviation Writer

Invincible UFO researcher Barry Greenwood continues to contribute a significant amount of historical information for this blog, and last week he provided a number of scans highlighting the aviation articles accomplished by "U.F.O." movie "star" Tom Towers.  During the 1950s Towers was aviation editor for the Los Angeles Examiner and, while he did occasionally touch upon the UFO subject, the bulk of his articles indeed focused upon then-current aviation news.  Over the next several blog entries we will put up scans of Towers' articles which mention, even in just a few lines, UFOs.  Keep in mind always that Tom Towers was not necessarily a hard-line "believer" in a phenomenon harboring extraterrestrial or unexplainable implications, but he always remained open-minded, the mark of a true journalist.