Frank Wilson is a theoretician for the Energy Research Lab in the film, The Cat from Outer Space. Jake found this theory on the power source interests him to help get his ship repaired.
Role in the film[]
When Jake's ship need repairs and being taken away by the military, he tracks them down to Energy Research Laboratory (E.R.L.) he uses his special collar to spy on the top energy specialists in the country, hoping to find an ally. While none of them possesses the knowledge that he needs, a theoretical scientist named Dr. Frank Wilson catches Jake's attention when he explains that the propulsion unit from Jake's ship, which the military had brought only wishing to learn it's what makes it tick, is tapping the Primal Mainstream. More commonly referred to as electromagnetic energy pulled in from the universe itself. Frank is rebuffed in his claims due to his odd sense of humor but Jake sees he has potential.
Jake follows Frank to his office in the bottom floor of the E.R.L. building, where Frank nicknames him Jake. Before Jake can communicate with Frank his intentions, Dr. Liz Bartlett interrupts them and scolds Frank for his lighthearted attitude while Jake observes. Frank calms her, mostly by introducing Jake himself. Once she's gone, Jake reveals his true nature to Frank.
Jake explains to Frank that he's been separated from the mother ship, and will need some help to return home. He reveals some of his powers to Frank; such as levitation. With Jake's help and the use of a spare collar, an impossibility-like flight becomes reality for Frank.
Soon others join in the effort to help Jake return home. First, Dr. Norman Link, a man whose interest in gambling becomes very useful. As well as Liz, who also has a photogenic cat named Lucybelle, once she's told the truth of the situation.
Jake needs $120,000 worth of gold to get his ship back into orbit, so the group of doctors face a challenge. So Jake embraces gambling to raise the money to buy the required gold. Sadly, he is knocked unconscious and his new human friends wind up at a pool hall, where Frank, for the third time, tries to use Jake's collar to Liz, with disastrous results. Fortunately, Jake wakes up in time to help Liz win enough money during her game.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military are on their trail, Jake treats some of them to a standstill treatment, allowing himself and Frank the chance to get onto the base and repair his ship before the deadline.
However, all this time, a man named Stallwood, has been watching Jake and Frank. Working as a spy at E.R.L. Worse still, Stallwood works for a master criminal calling himself Charlie Olympus, who is after the secret of Jake's collar for the purposes of universal domination. To make matters worse, the military are also on to Jake and Frank's trail, and go to arrest them for the sake of National Security.
Jake and Frank manage to elude the military by Jake freezing General Stillwell and his entourage, and Frank gain access to Hopscotch by stealing Stillwell's uniform and gaining access by impersonating Stillwell, only to have Norman and Liz (as well as Lucybelle) captured by Charlie. They plan to ransom them back for the collar, which forces Jake to make a desperate decision. Jake sends his ship back to the awaiting one, which will not return for another 115 years, and makes the decision to stay on Earth in order to help rescue his new friends.
In the end, Jake and Frank use a broken-down biplane to rescue Liz and Lucybelle from Mr. Olympus. By this time the real Stillwell is unfrozen and pursing Frank, only to get a call from the President of the United States to stand down. The President has decreed that Jake is allowed to stay as a representative of a "friendly power".
Jake later applies for citizenship in the United States, with Frank as his sponsor, using his powers to levitate the judge who is swearing him in.
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