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Not of This Earth (1957) movie poster

Characters & Themes

Not of This Earth (1957) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1957 · 67 mins · English
Directed by
Roger Corman
Starring
Dick Miller, Roy Engel, Beverly Garland, William Roerick, Hank Mann, Jonathan Haze

A mysterious predator roams the Earth, hunting for something unknown. The creature is an alien from the planet Davanna, where a nuclear‑induced blood disease has left the population dying. Sent to our world, the alien seeks fresh human blood to save his people.

On this page (8)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Characters explained (14)
  3. 3 Where & when it takes place
  4. 4 Themes & meaning (3)
  5. 5 Character & meaning questions
  6. 6 Movie threads
  7. 7 Movies like Not of This Earth
  8. 8 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Not of This Earth (1957)

Where can you watch Not of This Earth? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Bloodstream, Fawesome and Hoopla: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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14 main characters · contains spoilers

Not of This Earth Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of Not of This Earth (1957), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Mr. Johnson (Dick Miller)

    An alien from Davanna who adopts the alias 'Mr. Johnson' to blend into Los Angeles society. He is physically distinctive with sunglasses and a perilous need for human blood transfusions. His mission is to study human blood to save his dying race, but his methods are murderous.

    • 👽 Alien
    • 🧬 Science
    • 🔪 Murder
    • 🕶️ Disguise
  • Nadine Story (Beverly Garland)

    Johnson hires Nadine to care for him and becomes entangled in the alien's plots. She is compassionate but ultimately manipulated, and she proves resourceful when she calls the police during the chase. Her loyalty is tested as she navigates danger and moral choices.

    • 🫶 Human emotions
    • 🩺 Caregiver
    • 🕵️‍♀️ Investigation
  • Dr. Frederick W. Rochelle (William Roerick)

    Town physician under Johnson's hypnotic control; he represents the scientific authority that can be compromised by supernatural influence. He becomes an unwitting participant in the alien's plan until the danger becomes apparent. His office is a key setting for discovery and conflict.

    • 🧪 Science
    • 🧭 Investigation
    • 🧨 Danger
  • Jeremy Perrin (Jonathan Haze)

    Johnson's bodyguard who is loyal but ultimately unaware of the true nature of his employer. He discovers evidence of the alien origin, making him a casualty of the danger he helps to access. His death marks a turning point in the pursuit of the truth.

    • 🛡️ Protector
    • 🔍 Discovery
    • 💀 Death
  • Joanne (Tamar Cooper)

    A human character who interacts with the alien's circle in Los Angeles, contributing to the film's social dynamics.

    • 👥 Supporting
    • 🗺️ Urban life
    • 🎭 Drama
  • Harry Sherbourne (Morgan Jones)

    A police patrolman who embodies the authorities trying to solve the series of vampire killings. He is hampered by Johnson's mind control and follows the case to a fatal confrontation. His pursuit leads to the dramatic final chase.

    • 👮 Police
    • 🕵️ Investigation
    • 🏁 Climax
  • Davanna Woman (Anna Lee Carroll)

    A female from Davanna who arrives seeking a transfusion, her presence intensifies the stakes and reveals the fragility of Davanna's people. Her death underscores the perils of interplanetary contact and the costs of the alien's mission.

    • 👩‍🚀 Davanna
    • 💉 Transfusion
    • ⚠️ Danger
  • Paul Johnson (Paul Birch)

    A character named Paul Johnson; his role in the plot ties to the alien's human disguise and the broader family or community network within LA. His involvement helps showcase the planter's infiltration of everyday life.

    • 👥 Identity
    • 🧭 Social ties
    • 🧪 Science
  • Simmons (Pat Flynn)

    A supporting character who completes the cast of locals Johnson interacts with; his presence adds to the sense of a crowded city where danger can lurk anywhere. He represents the ordinary people who become incidental victims or witnesses.

    • 🧾 Supporting
    • 🧭 Local life
    • 🌃 Cityscape
  • Waitress (Barbara Bohrer)

    A minor character offering a human touch of everyday life in the city; her brief scene adds realism and texture to the Los Angeles setting.

    • 🍽️ Service
    • 🗺️ City life
    • 🕰️ Era
  • Lead Bum (Hank Mann)

    An uncredited supporting role that embodies the lower end of the social spectrum encountered by the protagonist on Earth.

    • 🪶 Street life
    • 🕳️ Hardship
    • 🧭 Encounter
  • Speciman (Harold Fong)

    A character with a strange label that hints at the alien's world and its experiments. Their presence adds to the sense of otherness and menace.

    • 🧪 Specimen
    • 🧬 Science
    • 🕷️ Mystery
  • Teenage Necker (Ralph Reed)

    One of the victims encountered by the alien killer; their death highlights the menace and anonymity of the city at night.

    • 👦 Youth
    • 💀 Danger
    • 🕰️ Nightlife
  • Davanna Contact (Jan Boleslavsky) (uncredited)

    An intermediary figure from Davanna who appears in the plot; included here for completeness.

    • 🪐 Davanna
    • 🗝️ Contact
    • 👁️ Mystery

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:26

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Setting

Where and When Does Not of This Earth Take Place?

The setting of Not of This Earth (1957): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

1950s

The story unfolds in mid-20th-century Los Angeles during the 1950s, a period marked by postwar optimism and Cold War anxieties about science and secrecy. The alien visitor embodies contemporary fears of invasion and the unknown. The plot uses a modern urban setting, medical technology, and the era's social atmosphere to heighten tension. The era’s sensibilities shape the police investigation and the public’s suspicion of strangers.

Location

Los Angeles, Griffith Park, Davanna

Notable locations include the sprawling Los Angeles setting and a Griffith Park mansion that serves as the alien's base. The city’s night streets become the stage for secret transfusions, murders, and a tense police investigation. Davanna, the alien's home planet, is referenced through the disease afflicting its inhabitants and the mission to cure them. The park and cityscape together create a contrast between everyday life and extraterrestrial danger.

  • 🏙️ Urban LA
  • 🗺️ Griffith Park
  • 🪐 Davanna

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:26

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3 major themes

Not of This Earth Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is Not of This Earth (1957) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Otherness

    An extraterrestrial visitor blends with Earth society but remains unmistakably alien through his appearance, mannerisms, and deadly vulnerability to certain stimuli. The film uses the alien’s otherness to explore fear of the unknown and the moral questions raised by a being who seeks to alter humanity for a distant world. The juxtaposition of a seemingly ordinary LA backdrop with an otherworldly threat creates suspense and paranoia. The story asks whether understanding and empathy can coexist with danger.

  • Medical Ethics

    The alien's quest to cure Davanna's plague drives him to collect human blood, crossing lines between cure and murder. Nadine's vulnerability under mental control highlights the dangers of manipulating others for a perceived greater good. The film raises questions about the ends justifying the means and the costs of societal salvation. Even when the motive is noble, the act remains morally compromised.

  • Deception & Identity

    The alien hides behind a human disguise and a set of sunglasses to mask his true nature, highlighting themes of secrecy and false appearances. The investigation and the accidental theft reveal how easily identity can be manipulated in a world of shadows. The ending twist—another Davanna-like figure approaching the grave—emphasizes the cycle of disguise and the lure of a hidden truth.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 17:26

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Character & theme questions

Not of This Earth Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about Not of This Earth (1957): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where does this movie take place?

The movie is set in Los Angeles, primarily in urban areas and Griffith Park. The contrast between the everyday city streets and the hidden extraterrestrial danger creates an atmosphere of paranoia beneath the surface of 1950s LA.

  • los angeles
  • griffith park
  • setting
  • location
  • urban LA
Q2

What time period is the story set in?

The story takes place in the 1950s, during the post-war era of Los Angeles. This period was marked by Cold War anxieties and paranoia about science and secrecy, which heightens the tension of an alien hiding in plain sight.

  • 1950s
  • time period
  • era
  • 1950s los angeles
  • post-war
Q3

Who is Mr. Johnson in the movie?

Mr. Johnson is an alien from the planet Davanna who has taken human form to blend into Los Angeles society. He wears sunglasses to mask his true appearance and needs regular human blood transfusions to survive. His mission is to study human blood to find a cure for the deadly disease ravaging his homeworld.

  • mr johnson
  • alien
  • davanna
  • disguise
  • blood transfusion
Q4

Who is Nadine Story?

Nadine Story is a woman hired to care for Mr. Johnson. She is compassionate but becomes manipulated by the alien's hypnotic control. Over time, she proves resourceful and ultimately helps the police pursue the truth about Johnson's true nature.

  • nadine story
  • beverly garland
  • caretaker
  • manipulated character
Q5

Who is Dr. Rochelle?

Dr. Frederick W. Rochelle is the town physician who falls under Johnson's hypnotic control. He represents scientific authority being compromised by supernatural influence, becoming an unwitting participant in the alien's plan until the danger becomes apparent.

  • dr rochelle
  • physician
  • mind control
  • doctor
  • scientific authority
Q6

What are the main themes of the movie?

The movie explores three interconnected themes: Otherness (the fear of the unknown and what it means to be alien), Medical Ethics (the moral cost of sacrificing others for a perceived greater good), and Deception & Identity (how easily identity can be hidden and manipulated in modern society).

  • themes
  • otherness
  • medical ethics
  • deception
  • identity
  • meaning
Q7

What does the movie say about otherness?

The film uses the alien's presence to explore fear of the unknown and the moral questions raised by a being who appears harmless but is fundamentally different. The juxtaposition of ordinary LA life with an otherworldly threat creates suspense and asks whether understanding can coexist with danger.

  • alienation
  • fear of unknown
  • otherness
  • extraterrestrial threat
Q8

What is Davanna?

Davanna is the alien's home planet, reference throughout the film as a dying world devastated by a nuclear-induced blood disease. The alien's mission to save his dying race by obtaining human blood drives the entire plot, presenting a desperate struggle for survival.

  • davanna
  • home planet
  • alien world
  • plague
  • disease
  • extinction
Q9

How does the 1950s Los Angeles setting impact the story?

The 1950s LA setting creates a stark contrast between the era's surface optimism and the hidden threat lurking within the city. The police investigation and public suspicion of strangers reflect Cold War-era paranoia, while the modern medical technology enables the alien's blood-seeking mission.

  • los angeles
  • 1950s
  • setting
  • cold war
  • paranoia
  • urban environment
Q10

What does the movie say about identity and disguise?

The film explores how easily identity can be manipulated through the alien's use of a human disguise and sunglasses. The ending reveals another Davanna-like figure, emphasizing a cycle of disguise and the lure of hidden truths. This theme of deception ties into broader anxieties about hidden dangers in society.

  • disguise
  • identity
  • hidden truth
  • sunglasses
  • deception
  • mask

Movie threads

More Movies Like Not of This Earth, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Not of This Earth tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies with melancholic alien predators like Not of This Earth

Stories of alien hunters driven by desperate, tragic motives for their species. If you liked the desperate, tragic motive of the alien in Not of This Earth, you'll find similar movies here. These films feature aliens who are predators driven by survival, extinction, or a profound sadness, creating a unique blend of suspense and pathos.

  • melancholic
  • ominous
  • desperate
  • cold
  • suspenseful
  • tragic
  • Tone: dark, melancholic, ominous
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative often unfolds as a quiet, ominous hunt, revealing the alien's tragic backstory as the story progresses. The conflict is not simply 'us vs. them,' but is complicated by an understanding of the predator's dire circumstances, adding layers of moral ambiguity to the survival horror.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on an alien antagonist whose actions are fueled by a sympathetic, or at least understandable, desperation. The experience is defined by a cold, methodical tone, a steady pacing that builds dread, and a melancholic atmosphere that lingers beyond the scares.

Movies with methodical stalkers like the alien in Not of This Earth

Thrillers where a cold, calculating entity systematically hunts its prey. For viewers who enjoyed the cold, calculated stalking in Not of This Earth, this section finds similar movies. These stories feature relentless, intelligent predators who hunt with purpose, creating a steady, suspenseful, and deeply creepy atmosphere.

  • suspenseful
  • creepy
  • methodical
  • ominous
  • cold
  • relentless
  • Tone: dark, suspenseful, creepy
  • Pacing: steady, relentless
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives follow a cat-and-mouse structure where the hunter is always one step ahead, its motives and methods revealed gradually. The pacing is steady, focusing on the buildup of tension as the characters realize the systematic nature of the threat they face, leading to climactic confrontations of wits and survival.

Why they belong together: These films are united by their shared vibe of methodical dread. The experience is defined by a steady, suspenseful pace, a dark and creepy tone, and the central theme of an intelligent, unstoppable force applying pressure until it breaks through. The focus is on the process of the hunt itself.

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Movies Like Not of This Earth

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Every angle

Not of This Earth (1957) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Not of This Earth in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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