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"Stranger From Venus" (1954) features a life form rare for sci-films: a benevolent alien. Concerned about humanity's potential to destroy the solar system, the Venusians have sent the Stranger to Earth. His job is to set up a meeting between the leaders of the two planets. Unfortunately, the local authorities are too concerned with protecting humanity from interfering aliens to welcome the guidance offered by the more advanced civilization. This response leads to Venusian Plan B: destroy the humans. In the meantime, the Stranger befriends a few ordinary folks. (He's particularly keen on one called Susan.) As the expiration date on his temporary human form approaches, The Stranger faces a difficult choice: follow the Venusian plan or devise a method to save the humans.
Other benevolent-alien films include "It Came From Outer Space" (1953), which was based on a Ray Bradbury story and encountered significant commercial success. Other films that pit friendship between humans and extraterrestrials against the human terror of the unknown include Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters from Outer Space" (1977) and "E.T." (1982), "Starman" (1984), "Escape to Witch Mountain" (1975) and "Race to Witch Mountain" (2009).
