Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 6, 2025

Note: This is another "double feature" from Film Masters. See below for a link to the other film included in this package.

Alfred E. Green may have been "just" a journeyman director in Hollywood without any huge hits to his name (though with several relatively high profile productions including some Oscar winners), but as your resident Frances Farmer obsessive, I can tell you he must have had something going for him, as he somehow managed to keep that infamously temperamental actress under control for four films, and in fact was the only director in Farmer's brief but tempestuous early career to "go back for more", so to speak. Those four outings were 1938's Ride a Crooked Mile, a truly bizarre melodrama pairing Farmer with her then husband Leif Erikson (as he spelled it that day) dealing with Cossack horse thieves (you figure it out); 1940's South of Pago Pago, an "island pearl paradise invaded by pirates" outing with significant star power (Victor McLaglen and Jon Hall, among others), and Flowing Gold, which actually premiered a week before Boom Town, but which is often described as a knock off of that better remembered film, and which paired Farmer appealingly with her Group Theater colleague John Garfield; and 1941's fun western Badlands of Dakota (the link points to a French Blu- ray which will play fine in your Region A player, though some of the 50i supplements will need the appropriate player), with Farmer essaying a pretty glamorous looking Calamity Jane. As mentioned above, Green's work occasionally reached what might be called the lower echelons of A films, including guiding Bette Davis to her Best Actress win for Dangerous, and even the now little remembered South of Pago Pago opened at Radio City Music Hall and did (to purloin a word from the lexicon of Variety) "boffo" business, but by the time the fifties had rolled around, Green was pretty much consigned to B movies and television. Even with this perceived "lower status", Green was a more than competent helmsman, and Invasion, U.S.A. managed to turn a healthy profit when it came out in 1952, well timed to take full advantage of the incipient paranoia that was sweeping the United States with the sudden atomic capabilities of new if not exactly improved enemy the Soviet Union. The film has attained a certain cult status over the years due to its having been skewered on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (the MST3K episode sending up the second feature included in this package is on that disc as a supplement), as well as for the kind of fun trivia bit that two Lois Lanes, Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill, appear in roles.

Green probably didn't encounter any big "personality" issues with Invasion, U.S.A., and in fact the film doesn't exactly scream "star power", as even the really sweet reminiscence by ostensible marquee attraction Gerald Mohr's son in a supplement on this disc gets into. The film is basically a cheat one way or the other once a big reveal is offered in the closing few moments, but the underlying conceit is that the good ol' US of A is in fact invaded by those dastardly (assumed) Communists. The bulk of the "action" actually takes place at the neighborhood watering hole, which is equipped with an unlikely (at least for 1952) wall mounted huge television which begins broadcasting signs of an impending disaster. A cross section of various all American types, including newsman Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), society woman Carla Sanford (Peggie Castle), and several others, have to react to violent forces sweeping over the country, as evidenced by lots of stock footage.

It's all inherently overheated, and as mentioned above it ends up being a kind of shaggy dog story once shenanigans by the mysterious Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy) are disclosed, but the film is certainly a more than piquant time capsule as to what everyday Americans may have been thinking, if not actually experiencing. The film is kind of interesting in that it (as well as some of the PSA featurettes included as supplements) seem to be chastising citizens for having grown complacent in the wake of World War II, assuming that their rampant consumerism alone is going to protect them from the insidious influence of Marxism.

Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Invasion, U.S.A. is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Film Masters with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. As usual with their releases, Film Masters provides no real technical information other than the generic "newly restored" that adorns the front cover. This boasts some good detail levels and appealing contrast in its best moments, but it does have a curiously variant "grain" field which can ebb and flow pretty dramatically, even aside and apart from the glut of often pretty shoddy stock footage the Green and his crew utilized in order to supposedly document the invasion. The newly shot material itself has a few variances in clarity and contrast, as well as visibility of grain. Aside from the baked in problems with the stock footage, there's no real damage to speak of in the Green shot material.

Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Invasion, U.S.A. features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono track that can sound a little boxy in moments like the brassy underscore accompanying the opening credits, or later in some of the supposed battle footage with attendant sound effects. Those passing and probably minor issues aside, the track delivers all of the dialogue clearly and cleanly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Matter of Minutes: Remembering Gerald Mohr (HD; 18:00) is a sweetly appealing reminiscence by Mohr's son Tony.


• Better Dead Than Red: Hollywood vs. Communism (HD; 36:06) is an okay if hardly authoritative overview of the fraught politics of that era.


• Atomic Era Shorts Collection: Part 1

A is for Atom (SD; 14:43) is a 1952 animated short by your friends at General Electric.




A New Look at the H Bomb (SD; 10:14) is from the Federal Civil Defense Adminstration and evidently replaces old looks at the H bomb.




About Fallout (SD; 23:35) is from the Department of Defense and Office of Civil Defense.




Stay Safe, Stay Strong (SD; 22:34) is "for official use only" and is presented by the Air Force.




Atomic Alert (SD; 10:38) is a good old EB Films (i.e., Encyclopedia Brittanica) piece geared toward kids.




Fallout (SD; 14:13) offers purported answers about protection.

• And a Voice Shall Be Heard (HD; 21:33) is another General Electric production from 1951 and The March of Time urging preparedness, with "the full cooperation of the people of Syracuse, New York". This is unfortunately anamorphically stretched for no apparent reason.


• Re-cut Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:28)


• Gallery of Stills (HD; 2:15) offers a lot of unexpected cheesecake from Peggie Castle and Noel Neill.


• Commentary is by Jason A. Ney and is accessible under the Setup Menu.


• As mentioned above, this is another "double feature" from Film Masters, and those interested can visit the Rocket Attack U.S.A. Blu-ray review for information on the second film in this package.

A nicely appointed insert booklet contains writing by Toby Roan.

Invasion, U.S.A. Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of the two films in this set, this one is inarguably the better, which is, yes, undeniably damning with faint praise. That said, the supplements on this disc are really appealing, and technical merits tend to be vastly better on this presentation than on the "second feature" included, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.