The Man Who Fell to Earth

Synopsis: Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who comes to Earth to get water for his dying planet. He starts a high technology company to get the billions of dollars he needs to build a return spacecraft, and meets Mary-Lou, a girl who falls in love with him. He does not count on the greed and ruthlessness of business here on Earth, however.
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Director(s): Nicolas Roeg
Production: Rialto Pictures
  1 win & 3 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
81
Rotten Tomatoes:
82%
R
Year:
1976
139 min
Website
2,065 Views


Hey, fella!

Come on. Hey. Come here.

Hey, fella.

Come here.

I found my thrill

On Blueberry Hill

On Blueberry Hill

Can I help?

Yes. I hope so.

I want to sell this.

Uh, where'd you get this ring?

It's mine.

My wife gave it to me.

Look. The initials are on the inside.

Yes?

- "T.J.N."

- Yeah.

Do you have your I. D?

I'm British.

I have a passport.

- "Thomas Jerome Newton".

- The wind in the willows played

- Love's sweet melody

- This is not a pawnshop.

I beg your pardon?

If I buy this ring now,

you can't redeem it later.

- Understand?

- I understand.

Were never to be

Though we're apart

You're part of me still

Twenty dollars.

- Twenty dollars?

- Take it or leave it.

On Blueberry Hill

Oliver.

Oliver.

Oliver, Mr. Newton is here.

I'm Oliver Farnsworth.

Would you like a scotch and water

or something, Mr. Newton?

Oh, a glass of water.

Fine.

- Would you like a scotch?

- Yes, please.

Are you all right?

Just tired.

I'm sorry I didn't have time to see you

at my office today, Mr. Newton.

I had hardly even 10 minutes.

Excuse me.

What's this?

Some kind of bribe?

I'm paying you for your time.

As from now, I want at least 10 hours

at $1,000 an hour.

Mr. Newton, this kind of money buys

more than 10 hours even of my time.

What exactly do you want?

I want a lawyer

who's well versed in paten - patents.

That's me.

Here.

Electronics.

Read the file.

May I keep it overnight?

I'm sorry.

I can't leave it with you.

It's not that

I don't trust you.

All right. I'll read it.

If you want to put

a record on, Mr. Newton...

music doesn't disturb me.

Oh, no, thank you.

Well, if there's anything

you want, just ask.

I don't believe it.

I can't believe it.

You have nine basic patents here.

Nine.

That's basic patents.

Do you know what that means?

- Yes, I think so.

- Do you really?

I wonder.

It- It means, Mr. Newton,

that you can take RCA...

Eastman Kodak and DuPont,

for starters.

In, say, three years,

what would this be worth to me?

I'm a lawyer, not an accountant,

Mr. Newton.

But I'd say it must be

something in the area of...

$300 million.

- Not more?

- More?

- I need more.

- What the hell for?

I'm sorry.

I didn't mean it to sound like that.

It's just I'm trying

to adjust my mind to all this.

I'll offer you 10% of my net profits...

plus five percent

of all corporate holdings.

I must think about it all.

I'll ask Trevor

to take you home.

I don't drive.

Thank you. I have

my own driver waiting.

- All night?

- If you take this assignment...

you'll have complete authority,

below me.

I don't want to have contact

with anyone except you.

When you take this position,

Mr. Farnsworth...

you'll be able to replace your antiquated

sound equipment and buy some of mine.

- Buy it?

- At cost, naturally.

Perhaps you're not

so diffeerent after all, Mr. Newton.

Arthur, would you

please slow down?

We're only doin' 45,

Mr. Newton.

It's making me feel dizzy.

Keep to 30, please.

My father used to say, "Oliver...

"when you get a gift horse,

walk up to it...

"pat it,

quiet the animal down...

"and then, using both hands,

force open its jaws...

and have a damned good look

in its mouth. "

I'd say that was

good advice.

Yes. But my father

was always wrong.

Hello.

I just marked your paper.

How'd I do?

- Don't worry about it.

- I won't.

Oh, you! Ah!

Oh, sh*t!

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Do you want to see

what they look like?

I don't believe this. No.

No, it's impossible.

That one. Clever, isn't it?

It happened literally overnight.

When Mr. Newton

came into my apartment...

my old life went

straight out the window.

In no time at all,

I got a brand-new life, and I like it.

Maybe I'm not my own boss

the way I used to be...

but... so what?

Oliver, you're the president of

one of the largest corporations in America.

I'll tell you one thing.

It's never too late.

I didn't think a man

could change at my age.

I still can't believe it.

- Yes, that's possible.

We can do that.

Are you sure this is

the right moment, Mr. Newton?

You know, don't you,

that this one has virtually no bottom?

No. No.

I want you to begin negotiations

with Eastman Kodak immediately.

We've been together a long time now...

and I don't see why you'd

even consider selling offe this division.

Well, I mean, if I owned

a copyright on the Bible...

I wouldn't sell it

to Random House.

It's what I want.

I'm on my way to New Mexico now.

I shall be staying at

an hotel near the border.

I can't tell you yet.

I'll be in touch.

Results are results, Nate,

and your class is way below par.

I have the computer statement right here.

And, uh -

It's kind of sad.

The campus computer, I gather?

- That damn thing doesn't have a mind.

- It's not meant to have a mind.

That's what makes it perfect

for this place, right?

Oh, the company that made that self-

developing film that I showed you a while ago?

They've, uh -They've made

this announcement.

They're -They're dumping computers.

They're installing human beings.

- Oh, really.

- Want to know why?

They want to bring back

human error...

because that's the way you get new ideas -

by making mistakes.

Back to man and his imagination.

If you can't spot a piece of bullshit

commercial publicity when you hear it...

you're even more naive

than I thought.

Keep your mind on your job.

- That's my advice.

- That's your advice to me?

- Yeah. - You're so f***ing smug and

ignorant, you don't know what's going on.

- Oh, really?

- These kids are bored.

They're bored with you

and these f***ing textbooks.

They're five years out of date.

I mean -

What they need is some real stimulus.

- Ideas to pursue.

- Yes, well...

we've had enough

of your pursuits.

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about

the things you pursue, Nate.

Young things.

I don't know. Maybe it's your age.

You've become a novelty freak,

and you're not that young anymore.

You don't even get it, do you?

I'm younger than most of those kids.

- Oh, come on! - They're already middle-aged

because that's what they're taught.

Well, I want out.

- That's the fact.

- Face the facts.

What the hell else

can you do now except teach?

Nothing. Not a goddamn thing.

Tell you what. Why don't you go get a job

with that great company of yours?

I believe I will.

I believe you won't.

All the boys from the South

play the guitar

Dance to town, gonna sing

They stand when a lady

enters the room

They won't let her do a thing

All the boys from the South

went to boarding schools

It didn't hurt them none

- Weird-lookin' one. - Hey. That's got a

New York license number. Shall we check it?

- Yeah, might as well.

- Run an N.C.I.C.

39 Artesia. Ten-four.

Request N.C.I.C. Check.

New York license plate

158, zebra, boy, boy.

Morning. How are you this mornin'?

Uh, Sussex. I have a reservation.

Oh, yes, Mr. Sussex.

We've been expecting you.

Room 505, please.

Boy, that sure is a fancy-lookin' pen

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Paul Mayersberg

Paul Mayersberg was born on 18 June 1941 in Cambridge, England, UK. He is a writer and director and was the film critic for Movie magazine in the early 1960s and author of 1968 film book Hollywood, The Haunted House. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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