Destination and Conquest were technically accurate for their day, to their credit, but they were both awful movies, IMO, strictly from a cinematographic point of view. Lousy plot, acting, script, etc. "Thing " had action, suspense, snappy dialogue, it would have been a great film even without the space angle.

The Day the Earth...etc, was not for me, I prefer my aliens nasty, or at least strange. All that peace and love stuff was just too much for this kid, I wanted to see things blow up, or at least, be entertained.

Forbidden Planet was a gorgeous movie, especially the scenes with Anne Francis in them, if you can get past Leslie Nielsen playing a leading man. He was in a lot stinkers before someone discovered his genius for comedy.

One film we both forgot, at least as far as acting and suspense is concerned: Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It still holds up pretty well.

There was a lot going on on TV in those days, too. Around '55 I saw a Sunday Showcase version of Bester's "Fondly Fahrenheit" with Kevin McCarthy, Rip Torn, and Suzanne Pleshette that was absolute dynamite! I've been trying to get a tape of the kinescope of this show (it predated the videotape era), if any survive. It might have been a live performance. I wrote the three actors inquiring, but only Mr McCarthy answered, and he says he barely remembered doing the show. (They must have been in their 20s when it was broadcast, and it was one of the earliest performances for all of them.) That show got me started on reading science fiction.