While space truly is the final frontier, the best extra-terrestrial stories aren't good because of any outlandish science fiction; they're good because they remind us of the importance of humanity.

By 1953, alien films were common. Movies like The Thing From Another World and When Worlds Collide were all the rage, and plenty of screenwriters and directors took advantage of audiences' interests by oversaturating the market with action-packed tales of human versus alien.

Originally an author, Ray Bradbury elected to try something a little different when he was approached by Universal. According to The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury, written by Sam Weller, the studio had asked Bradbury if he'd be interested in developing a monster movie.

However, Bradbury wanted to tell a story that featured benign aliens, uninterested in the conquering of Earth. It was a story that would eventually become the 1953 film, It Came From Outer Space.

"I wanted to treat the invaders as beings who were not dangerous, and that was very unusual," said Bradbury. "The only other film like it was The Day the Earth Stood Still, two years before. These two films stand out as treating creatures who understand humanity."

However, Bradbury drafted two treatments; one featuring harmless aliens, and the other undoubtedly asserting the aliens as the villains of the story. Of course, the author preferred one story over the other but presented both to Universal as a test of sorts to see if their perspectives aligned with his own. Luckily, they did.

"The studio picked the right concept and I stayed on," said Bradbury.

So, due to some meticulous planning from Ray Bradbury (and some good judgment from Universal Pictures), It Came From Outer Space was born.