In 1957 he finished production of his most famous film,
L'invasion martienne (1959), but could not get a release for it until it was sold to Warner Brothers for a fraction of its $14,000 budget. Warner Brothers released the film to drive-ins in 1959 but Graeff saw no money from the deal. He suffered a nervous breakdown and took out ads in the "Los Angeles Times" proclaiming that he was the second coming of Christ, calling himself Jesus Christ II. . He attempted to legally change his name to this but was denied the request, which made national news. He moved to Pennsylvania but returned to Los Angeles in 1964 to work on
The Wizard of Mars (1965), a cheap take-off on
Le magicien d'Oz (1939). After about five years of not being able to find film work, he committed suicide in his car by breathing in carbon monoxide.
