Invasion U.S.A. (1952)

The Scoop:
Help me! I been hyp-mo-tized!

Well, okay, maybe not me, but the cast of this Cold War fossil certainly has. (And no, this isn’t the jingoistic Chuck Norris vehicle that’s been a basic cable staple for years.) The plot is simple — a bunch of characters sit around a Manhattan bar as some recycled World War II stock footage go by, meant to represent a sinister Soviet invasion. Eventually, those filthy reds take over the whole country and kill lots of decent, God-fearing American folks, including the whole cast. Only, (spoiler alert!) none of it happens, since it turns out the whole thing was just a hypnotic trick played by the weird guy at the end of the bar, who has a point to make about the evils of Communism.

It’s just as lame, creaky and unintentionally hilarious as you’d expect it to be. This is the kind of film only a McCarthyite could love. Or a bad movie fanatic, which I hope you are if you’re reading this blog.

Best Bit:
The newspaper boy’s inexplicably gratuitous walk-on.

Side Note:
The film features, in small parts, both Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill, so both played Lois Lane opposite George Reeves in the 1950s “Superman” TV series.

Companion Viewing:
“The Atomic Cafe” (1982) and “The Commies are Coming! The Commies are Coming!” (1962).

Links:
IMDb.

Take a Look:
The trailer:

Sucks to be stuck in San Francisco: