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I found Gwendolyn Greer’s question about ‘Pandora’s box’ on Google because I also wanted the name of the film which has the scene she describes, i.e. ‘Kiss Me Deadly’.

There is a similar sci-fi film which I saw circa 1959, in a cinema when I could only get admission to see a ‘U’ film, for an unaccompanied child, but it should have had an adult rating.

The first scene I remember is a man standing in his wet suit in a small boat at sea, when a radioactive cloud rolls over him, and the wet suit collapses as if empty.

Next I’m convinced I saw Richard Conte standing on a beach, staring with great trepidation at a partly-opened, snuff-box-like object, which is hissing at him, reminiscent of ‘Kiss Me Deadly’.

Lastly there is a group of bug-eyed aliens in a cave. They have an unconscious man on the operating table in front of them, and his heart is sat on the outside of his chest, beating away.

I’ve looked at a list of Richard Conte’s films on Wikipedia, and at lists of sci-fi/horror & noir films of the late fifties and early sixties but I can’t find the name of this film.

Thanks for any answers.

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  • The “bug-eyed” aliens doing heart surgery reminds me a bit of Killers from Space (1954). I’m not sure that the rest matches, though. Is there any possibility that you might have seen a series of commercials, a double feature, or perhaps be combining two films?
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 2, 2016 at 8:15
  • In fact, I just watched the relevant scene from Killers from Space, and it is a perfect match. You could perhaps be recalling more than one film.
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 2, 2016 at 8:23
  • Given that it’s very likely that you are combining two films, perhaps you could see if the Killers from Space scene is the one you remember. If it is (thus confirming that you are recalling multiple films here), you could edit to make that the question, and ask the other part or parts separately.
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 2, 2016 at 8:30
  • Thanks Adamant, I've had a look at 'killers from outer space', starring Peter Graves, and I agree that the scene of alien surgery in a cave is a good match. 1954. However, l believe that this scene was copied in the later film circa 1959 in which Richard Conte had a part. All the scenes l mentioned were in the same film. Geoff.
    – user72307
    Commented Oct 2, 2016 at 9:19
  • I’ve been looking around Richard Conte’s filmography, and I haven’t found any likely suspects yet. But I’ll keep looking.
    – Adamant
    Commented Oct 2, 2016 at 9:34

1 Answer 1

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Killers from Space (1954)

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The final scene mentioned is a perfect match for one found in Killers from Space.

Here are the aliens, with very protruding eyes (probably in reality ping-pong balls taped over the actors’ real eyes):

enter image description here

Here’s the unconscious man with his heart beating outside his chest:

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The aliens are indeed performing surgery on him in a cave, by waving strange instruments:

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This matches so well that is almost certainly the scene described in the question. However, while it has been featured in various films, as indicated in this list of connections, none are around 1959. In addition, a look at Richard Conte’s filmography does not seem to reveal any movies from around 1959 that could plausibly have these scenes.

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