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Clip description
A man (Kerry Beckwith) drafts a letter in response to reports about the presence of small rockets – ‘interplanetary reconnaissance cameras’ – on earth. After hearing a noise, he goes outside to see a rocket has landed in his backyard. Meanwhile, in outer space, extra-terrestrial beings watch the events back on earth as the man takes up an axe and approaches the device to destroy it. The rocket takes off before he can damage it, causing the ground to quake. He stumbles backwards and watches, stunned, as the rocket travels into the sky.
Curator’s notes
Post-synched music and sound effects accompany the mute 9.5mm film. The Straford brothers combine a live-action background and cut-out animation for the rocket, and use stop-motion animation techniques for the alien radar. John Straford began experimenting with animation in Let’s Go Roman (1956), made the same year.
The original film was transferred to DVD, as part of a compilation of Straford family films, before it was deposited in the National Film and Sound Archive. This clip was taken from the compilation and is presented as it appears on the DVD.
