FANTASIA OBSCURA: Is this 1950’s Sci-Fi the First Great Space Travel Movie?
There are some fantasy, science fiction, and horror films that not every fan has caught. Not every film ever made has been seen by the audience that lives for such fare. Some of these deserve another look, because sometimes not every film should remain obscure.
Sometimes, when you’re doing something for the first time, your impulse is to take it oh so seriously…
Destination Moon (1950)
Distributed by: Eagle Lion Films
Directed by: Irving Pichel
As we head to press, the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon is upon us. The impulse is to recall and marvel at what was done all those years ago at the undertaking; whether you consider it an unalloyed triumph or a waste of resources, there is still something breathtaking as one looks back with wonder.
Mind you, there’s a lot to say in favor of looking forward in wonder too…
We open in the near-now. We watch a rocket test take place, observed by Dr. Charles Cargraves (Warner Anderson), the designer of the rocket, and his patron/cheerleader, General Thayer (ret.) (Tom Powers). The rocket crashes soon after take-off, which Thayer assumes must have been sabotage, a point that’s mentioned and then just dropped. Which is probably for the best and not worth dwelling on, considering how few successes the US had with rockets back in the day…
Thayer is anxious to get us into space, and not willing to allow for the snail’s pace for the project that would have been dictated to it by a peacetime government. (Remember, Kennedy won’t be elected for another ten years…) He reaches out to industrialist Jim Barnes (John Archer), believing that if he can be persuaded to help privatize the project, that he could bring in enough investors to fund the effort and get things moving quickly.
(Insert SpaceX joke here…)
Barnes and General Thayer give their pitches to the collected captains of industry to get them on board. Thayer uses fear of what would happen if America doesn’t get to the moon first, while Barnes relies on a Woody Woodpecker cartoon he screens for the backers:
Between laughs and fear, the pitch meeting is a success, and within a year they have almost finished building their rocket. As their design relies on using an atomic engine to superheat water, however, there’s considerable opposition to testing the rocket, and at one point someone tries to serve an injunction on them to halt work.
And so, faster than you can say Reed Richards, the decision is made to make the trip in a hurry to the moon. Aboard the rocket are Cargraves, Thayer, and Barnes; the fourth position is a replacement for their original radio operator, Joe Sweeney (Dick Wesson in his first theatrical role), who’s not as fanatical about committed to the project as the other three.
Which actually works out well, as far as we’re concerned: Having someone on the voyage who didn’t eat and breath the project for the last year, Joe serves as a good audience surrogate, asking questions to give the other three a chance to explain what they’re doing. Think of it as like one companion being shared by three Time Lords…
Despite Joe’s constant questions, and occasional loss of nerve as he encounters the wonders and dangers of space travel, the intrepid patriotic-and-privately-funded moon shot makes it to the moon. It’s not an unalloyed triumph, however; the landing was poorly executed, leaving the ship unable to take off from the lunar surface, unless the crew can figure out something…
In terms of thinking things out, the film’s crew definitely did their homework. The film boasts as its producer George Pal, one his first forays into genre, who strove for as much accuracy regarding space travel as could be found. His source material came from two novels by science fiction master Robert Heinlein, Rocket Ship Galileo and The Man Who Sold the Moon, and Heinlein is one of the credited screenwriters for the film, along with James O’Hanlon and Alford Van Ronkel (his first professional credit) as well as the film’s technical advisor. Scenic paintings of the lunar surface were done by Chesley Bonestell, the go-to artist for many pieces of SF-tied artwork and the inspiration cited by NASA for his ability to realize their concepts so well.
One thing the film did not have, however, was a big budget. Made on only $592,000 (just under $10M in today’s value), the film took what it had and made the most of it. The practical effects and occasional stop-mo (of course, as Pal had gotten his start in Hollywood on Puppetoons) for long shots made the most of what they had. With the close attention to detail in scientifically grounded facts, the craft used to give us something fantastic yet realistic makes up for whatever deficiencies the budget had.
The other thing the film did not have, unfortunately, was a compelling plot. In many ways, the story is as wrapped up in the quest for the lunar mission as most of the crew of the ship; there are very few motivations beyond just getting off Earth and going to the moon, which gives the film a cold feeling. Its deep perusal of the nitty-gritty of space travel and rocket science can be compelling for the seriously curious people looking for details about how to do this, but if you’re not so aligned you’re going to get bored quickly with the lack of depth the crew has.
While the film may have put more into its head than its heart, audiences would love it for its mind. The spectacle of a serious examination of how to win the space race, especially just as the contest was heating up, made the film a commercial success in theaters, and also a major touchstone in SF in general. The film would be remembered for years afterwards as the first serious look at space travel, getting many details right about what to expect years later as Marooned would in its time.
Among its hard facts that it stuck to, was having the crew of the ship finding nothing but a barren lunar surface when they got there. Which made for an interesting thought piece, but didn’t do much for the story.
It was certainly not a popular choice for the crew of this next film…
NEXT TIME: As we continue going to the moon, we gotta ask: Sure, they walked on the moon 50 years ago. But what about the folks who walked inside the moon before them…?
