Needless to say, the science was much better in the reactor than in the film.
Jones' innovative idea of an assembly-required intelligence test survived the adaptation, but soon-to-be-replaced screenwriter George Callaghan added his own loopy touch in the form of matter-manipulation through neutrino waves.
Neutrinos are notorious for passing through entire planets undetected, but the film's super-advanced benevolent space brothers, the Metalunans, use these subatomic particles to fly planes, destroy matter and, thanks to the famous "interociter," communicate over vast distances.
Despite the lousy science, This Island Earth opened to rave reviews and soon became a legend in SF fandom. It would be decades before MST3K: The Movie suggested that the film was inherently flawed.
He's a lousy pilot, but he sure is stalwart
We meet our hero, Dr. Cal Meachum (the absurdly aptly named Rex Reason), as he cracks wise with reporters about the benefits of atomic energy.
After telling them, "What counts is how I make it work," Cal hops in his plane, flies to L.A. and promptly loses control of his plane while trying to land. Seconds before impact, a green "neutrino beam" sets the plane safely on the runway.
Shaken, Meachum returns to his lab, where he demonstrates electronics skill nearly equal to his aviation skill by blowing up a condenser. As Mike and the Mystery Science Theater robots would later note, "This is when science had no specific purpose."
The replacement condenser never arrives, but the supply house sends a handful of red glass beads instead. While Cal proceeds to start blowing up these micro-condensers, a book arrives detailing the assembly of an "interociter."
No online help?
Cal soon abandons the beads and orders all 2,486 parts of the interociter that arrive free of charge -- but, in an eerie precursor to IKEA, with the caveat that nothing will be replaced.
After successful assembly, a peroxided man with a misshapen forehead appears on the interociter screen. This is Exeter (Jeff Morrow), an alien who is recruiting scientists.
After sending a neutrino-powered plane for Cal, Exeter proves his superior technology by blowing up the interociter and assembly plans remotely. Cal, whose own destructive talents are a matter of record, is impressed.
The alien invites Cal to his lab, where he has assembled the Earth's top nuclear physicists. He plans to end war by accumulating a large amount of uranium.
Cal quickly becomes the jewel in Exeter's crown, as the latter-day alchemist has found a way to convert lead into uranium, presumably by reversing the natural decay of Uranium-238 into Lead-206.
And here Einstein had us thinking...
However, Dr. Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue), an old flame, is also on the island. She suspects Cal of being brainwashed by Exeter.
Cal soon starts thinking along a similar path, and intercepts Ruth and Dr. Steve Carlson (Russell Johnson, light-years from his final island abode) for a frank discussion about their benefactor. Apparently Exeter has a nasty habit of brainwashing dissident physicists, but his labors have paid off -- the project has uncovered the neutrino, the missing link between energy and matter.
The next day, Cal, Ruth and Steve flee the labs. In the confusion, Exeter gets an "abort mission" command from Metaluna and starts destroying the scientists and lab.
Steve is killed but Ruth and Cal escape in the plane, only to be abducted into Exeter's spaceship via a neutrino tractor beam.
When movies were moral
En route to Metaluna, Cal and Ruth readjust their gravity via smoke-filled tubes while Exeter reveals his alien origins. He also reveals his true intentions for the uranium -- the hostile planet Zahgon has been bombarding Metaluna's surface with comets, and the peaceful Metaluna risks destruction unless someone can replenish the planet's nuclear-powered shields.
Tellingly, not one word is said about using nuclear power to launch an atomic attack against Zahgon. The big-headed Metalunans are too advanced for that.
Aside from the neutrino panacea, This Island Earth is exceptional for its positive stance on atomic power. Nine years after the nuclear ending of World War 2, the film carefully avoids mentioning atomic weapons, choosing instead to create a clean-cut image for nuclear power.
On Metaluna, uranium is used for shields, not weapons -- and that makes This Island Earth a love letter to nuclear power instead of a simple anti-nuke warning.
You know we'd do it to them if we could
On Metaluna, the head Monitor has come up with an even better survival plan: relocate to Earth and rule its brainwashed inhabitants. He sends Exeter with a Mutant escort to brainwash Cal and Ruth.
The famously swollen-brained Mutant may be an allusion to the genetic disfigurement that would follow in the wake of a dirty nuclear exchange, but it's more likely that the film just needed a bug-eyed monster to threaten the lovely Ruth.
Fortunately for the people of Earth, Exeter has a change of heart and saves Cal and Ruth from their lobotomy. They flee the planet in time to watch its final destruction.
Exeter waxes rhapsodic about how nice it is that the exploding Metaluna is bringing some light and warmth to the galaxy. Cal and Ruth neglect to point out that Zahgon is likely the only true beneficiary of all this.
On the quick trip back to Earth, Ruth and Cal battle mutants and land the plane on the surface after the dying Exeter crashes the ship into the ocean. The water flares a bright neutrino green as credits roll.
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