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When "Target Earth" (1954) character Nora King wakes from a drug-deepened slumber, it's to a quiet so deep it can mean only one thing: the Army has evacuated her neighbors to save them from the evil robots from Venus that have descended on Chicago. Nora soon finds she's not entirely alone. There's Frank Brooks, a cool customer who wants answers, and a hard-partying pair who think the empty city is an invitation to enjoy all the free booze they can find.
Despite the Midwestern setting for the story, filming took place entirely in Los Angeles. In the 1950s, LA was still the place to be if you were serious about making English-language films as most of the world's major film studios called it home. Today, Hollywood remains dominant for big-budget studio cinema, but it has competition. Canada's Vancouver and Toronto offer a robust film industry and Mumbai's hugely popular movies earned it the moniker "Bollywood" (the "B" comes from Bombay, the city's former name). Digital film has made independent production even more affordable, allowing filmmakers to create and distribute their work without waiting tables in California first.
"Target Earth" is an adaptation of the short story "Deadly City" by Paul Warren Fairman, published under Ivar Jorgensen, one of the author's many pseudonyms. Fairman's work appeared in many popular magazines, including Amazing Stories, and several of his stories became films or television episodes for The Twilight Zone and other series.
