Trivia / Teenagers from Outer Space

• Box Office Bomb: It was revealed in a lawsuit filed against Graeff by actors Bryan Grant and Ursula Pearson (who both invested in the movie and were promised a share in the profits) that the movie never made any money during its run.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Finland: Gargon Attacks
  • France: The Martian Invasion
  • Mexico: Space Rebels
• Creator Breakdown: The lawsuit and failure of the movie caused Graeff to snap as later in 1959 he proclaimed in newspapers to be the second Jesus Christ. He planned to do several sermons around LA and even tried changing his name to Jesus Christ the 2nd before the public backlash got him arrested.
• Creator Killer: The film's failure and the breakdown he had afterwards made Graeff a laughingstock in Hollywood which led him to vanish to the east coast. He briefly returned in 1964 to serve as an editor on The Wizard of Mars and tried to pitch another movie, but after getting outed as Jesus Christ II by the LA Times (see Creator Breakdown above) he left the industry again and committed suicide six years later.
• Dawson Casting: Teenagers from outer space? To be fair, only one alien was supposed to be a teenager, and the title was a marketing gimmick common in the 50's to get high school students to come see your film (put "Teenage" in the title). The actor playing the "teen alien" is still too old.
  • Although some Fridge Logic could apply here. The people on their planet may be human-like, but they might age physically at a different rate. Heck, that could explain Derek's innocence and naivete: he might actually be 12 or 13 compared to Thor and the TORTCHA! guy, who could be 17 or 18.
  Crow: Really old teenagers from outer space!
• Downer Ending: Real life example. Tom Graeff, the film's director, went a bit out there after the film's release, claiming himself to be Jesus Christ II, and never made another movie due to the bad press. He committed suicide at age 41.
• Executive Meddling: The distributor picked the title Teenagers From Outer Space, figuring that it would attract the widest possible audience — the working title was The Boy From Out of This World. The title change had the side-effect of retroactively making Derek and Thor egregious cases of Dawson Casting.
• Real-Life Relative: David Love, who played Derek, was the real-life boyfriend of the director Tom Graeff (who also played Joe Rogers in the movie, using the stage name Tom Lockyear).
• Reclusive Artist: Graeff vanished from Hollywood twice after the movie's release. ^note  the first time was around 1960 when he moved to the east coast after the 2nd Jesus Christ incident and the other was in 1964 when he quit the film industry altogether and moved to La Mesa What he did during those periods before his death are a complete mystery.
• What Could Have Been: After Graeff returned to the industry in '64 he attempted to sell a screenplay he wrote called Orf. It leaves some to wonder what the movie and Graeff's career would have been like had it been picked up.
• Working Title: Ray-Gun Terror, Killers from Outer Space, The Boy from Out of This World and Invasion of the Gargon.

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