The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Paul Mayersberg (writer)
Walter Tevis (novel)

Release Date:

26 May 1976 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Drama

Tagline:

You have to believe it to see it

Plot:

Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. He starts...

Plot Keywords:

Water | Alien | Dying Planet | Lakeside | Crotch Shot

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

David Bowie	...	Thomas Jerome Newton
Rip Torn	...	Nathan Bryce
Candy Clark	...	Mary-Lou
Buck Henry	...	Oliver Farnsworth
Bernie Casey	...	Peters
Jackson D. Kane	...	Professor Canutti
Rick Riccardo	...	Trevor
Tony Mascia	...	Arthur
Linda Hutton	...	Elaine
Hilary Holland	...	Jill
Adrienne Larussa	...	Helen
Lilybelle Crawford	...	Jewelery Store Owner
Richard Breeding	...	Receptionist
Albert Nelson	...	Waiter
Peter Prouse	...	Peters' Associate

Also Known As:

Czlowiek który spadl na ziemie (Poland) [pl]
Dünyaya düsen adam (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Der Mann, der vom Himmel fiel (West Germany) [de]
El hombre que cayó a la tierra (Argentina) (festival title) [es]
L'homme qui venait d'ailleurs (France) [fr]
L'uomo che cadde sulla Terra (Italy) [it]
Mannen utan ansikte (Sweden) [sv]
Mies toisesta maailmasta (Finland) (video title) [fi]
Muukalaisen kasvot (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
O Homem Que Caiu na Terra (Brazil) [pt]
O Homem Que Veio do Espaço (Portugal) [pt]
O anthropos pou epese sti gi (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

139 min | Sweden:119 min (cut version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Norway:18 (1976) | New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:12 | UK:18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA

Company:

British Lion Film Corporation

Trivia:

The music that Oliver Farnsworth is listening to in the first scene we see him in and in one of the last is Gustav Holst's "The Planets".

Goofs:

Continuity: During the first sex scene between Nathan Bryce and his student, her bra keeps changing from partially off to on to completely off to on again.

Quotes:

Mary-Lou: You know Tommy, you're a freak. I don't mean that unkindly. I like freaks. And that's why I like you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in On the Edge of 'Blade Runner' (2000) (TV)

Soundtrack:

True Love

Bowie At His Best

So, you thought Alan Yentob's "Cracked Actor" or perhaps D.A. Pennebaker's "Ziggy Stardust: Motion Picture" was the perfect pictorial rendering of David Bowie and his life in the '70s?

Oh no!

It's in this, Nicolas Roeg's 1976 master-piece, the real Bowie reveals himself. The rock star's perfect in his interpretation of Thomas Jerome Newton, alien castaway turned resigned and bored capitalist super-star. Mainly because this was were Bowie were at in the mid-'70s. It's not acting. It's Bowie's mere presence. He was an earthling just as alien as his character.

"The Man Who Sold The World" is a rather depressing, and strange, tale of a man who comes to our planet to raise money to help his own world dying from drought. All he really want is to get home to his wife and kids on that doomed planet. But instead he falls for the mortal sins (sex, drugs, music, television).

The film's beautiful, sad, scary and somewhat pretentious. It's sci-fi when it's human.