DESTINATION MOON (1950) AND CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955)
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DESTINATION MOON (1950)
WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE FUTURE: Opting for the purest form of science fiction, producer George Pal forsook any and all aspects of romance and adventure to create a docudrama-like depiction of our first manned flights to the moon and beyond. Courtesy: George Pal Productions.
CREDITS
Eagle-Lion Films; Irving Pichel, dir.; Robert A. Heinlein, novel and scr.; James O’Hanlon, scr.; George Pal, pro.; Leith Stevens, mus.; Lionel Lindon, cin.; Duke Goldstone, ed.; Ernst Fegté, prod. design; Chesley Bonestell, astronomical art technical advisor; William H. Lynch, special sound effects; Lee Zavitz, F/X; Walter Lantz, Fred Madison, animation effects; 92 min.; Color; 1.37:1.
John Archer (Jim Barnes); Warner Anderson (Dr. Charles Cargraves); Tom Powers (Gen. Thayer); Dick Wesson (Joe Sweeney); Erin O’Brien-Moore (Emily Cargraves); Ted Warde (Brown); Franklyn Farnum (Factory Worker); Everett Glass (Mr. La Porte); Irving Pichel (Cartoon Narrator, voice).
MOST MEMORABLE LINE
Not only is this the greatest adventure facing mankind but it is also the greatest challenge facing American industry.
JIM BARNES, TO HIS COLLEAGUES
BACKGROUND
In 1949, scientist Willy Ley’s The Conquest of Space was published with non-fantastic illustrations by Chesley Bonestell. The book provided inspiration for both “science-fact” films produced by George Pal (1908–1980).
Missouri-born Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) left his Bible Belt background to join the U.S. Navy. He later took up writing, becoming one of the young talents cultivated by editor John W. Campbell Jr. at Astounding Science-Fiction. Heinlein broke through to mainstream magazines such as Saturday Evening Post by playing down exotic elements in favor of portraying everyday, believable humans facing a matter-of-fact race for space. In Space Cadet (1948), a juvenile book, his main character, Tom Corbett, resembles Heinlein during his time in the service, except that Corbett’s training takes place in the skies. Heinlein came to Hollywood in hopes of writing a screenplay about a moon launch and met Pal, who was already planning to produce a film on that subject.
THE PLOT
At White Sands base in the early 1950s, an unmanned flight crashes after takeoff. Those in charge suspect sabotage from another country eager to reach the moon first. The nation that controls space will be in a position to launch missiles back toward our planet. A realization that the moon might contain precious minerals convinces private industry and big business to invest in government programs. Several years later, the first manned flight is launched, but a fuel shortage makes it questionable whether all four astronauts aboard will be able to return.
THE FILM
The Woody Woodpecker cartoon that Walter Lantz created to depict space travel within the movie was considered so excellent that NASA, with a few changes, used it for years to convey such concepts to the public at large.
THEME
The purpose of Destination Moon was to convince the American public that not only was space travel now a viable possibility but also necessary for the protection of the United States in the Cold War world.
TRIVIA
The 1961 novel Stranger in a Strange Land, widely considered to be Heinlein’s masterpiece, has never been made into a movie. It is generally considered unfilmable owing to its noteworthy literary style and considerable intellectual depth, both pluses for a long book but difficult if not impossible to visualize, particularly in a commercial undertaking.
CONQUEST OF SPACE (1955)
CREDITS
Paramount Pictures; Byron Haskin, dir.; Chesley Bonestell, Willy Ley, book; Philip Yordan, Barré Lyndon, George Worthing Yates, James O’Hanlon, scr.; George Pal, Frank Freeman Jr., pro.; Van Cleave, mus.; Lionel Lindon, cin.; Everett Douglas, ed.; Joseph McMillan Johnson, Hal Pereira, art dir.; Bonestell, special astronomical art effects; Ivyl Burks, Jan Domela, Farciot Edouart, John P. Fulton, Paul K. Lerpae, Irmin Roberts, special photographic effects; 81 min.; Color; 1.85:1.
CAST
Walter Brooke (Gen. Samuel T. Merritt); Eric Fleming (Capt. Barney Merritt); Mickey Shaughnessy (Sgt. Mahoney); Phil Foster (Jackie Siegle); William Redfield (Roy Cooper); William Hopper (Dr. George Fenton); Benson Fong (Imoto); Ross Martin (Andre Fodor); Vito Scotti (Sanella); John Dennis (Donkersgoed); Michael Fox (Elsbach); Joan Shawlee (Rosie McCann); Rosemary Clooney (TV Performer).
MOST MEMORABLE LINE
The question is, what are we: explorers or invaders?
BARNEY MERRITT, MUSING ON THE ISSUE OF WHETHER MAN HAS A MORAL RIGHT TO ENTER AND CONQUER SPACE
Moving from Poverty Row’s Eagle-Lion Films to the more prestigious Paramount Pictures, George Pal planned to take his vision of making factual, rather than fantasy, space films a giant step further, beginning with this film’s logo: “See how it will happen in your lifetime.” This let audiences know the film would offer not romantic adventure, but rather a realistic vision of what travel to other planets would indeed be like.
THE PLOT
Among those aboard a gigantic space wheel are a half-dozen astronauts ready for advanced penetration of space. Their leader, General Merritt, learns the trip will be to Mars and that his son will be the chief aide. Problems arise soon after blastoff. A meteor claims the life of one traveler, Fodor. They eventually land, but, owing to a water shortage, the surviving astronauts can barely sustain themselves. When the elder Merritt suffers a breakdown, he and his son become locked in an Oedipal fight for control.
THE FILM
The enormous wheel and men in space suits, heading into the darkness as they cautiously walk along the ship’s surface, had an obvious impact on Stanley Kubrick, who would feature nearly identical images more than a decade later in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Though Heinlein was not involved in the making of this feature, his attitudes prevail: the men are depicted as military professionals. As such, they suffer from space fatigue and frustration over the lack of women. They also are prone to addictive behavior. They do not encounter huge monsters or beautiful women after landing.
THEME
In Pal’s presentation of the religion vs. science theme, the astronauts wonder if they might be violating some celestial moral scheme by journeying into the heavens when God has given them Earth for a home. Also considered is a serious secular issue: perhaps beings live on other planets, and in “conquering” them, humankind extends into the future our long-standing, if politically incorrect, tendencies toward imperialism.
TRIVIA
In addition to its reliance on the Bonestell/Ley book, the script also drew heavily from The Mars Project (Das Marsprojekt). Authored by Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), the book had been published in Germany in 1948, then translated and published in English in 1953. Von Braun’s name was not included in the film’s credits, perhaps due to the lingering controversy surrounding his development of V-2 rockets for the Nazis. After arriving in the United States to work in the U.S. space program, von Braun claimed to have been anti-Hitler, though controversy has always surrounded the rocket scientist. His illustrations for a 1954 Collier’s magazine article provided a template for the design of the film’s spacecraft.