Flight to Mars
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Flight to Mars |
| Original title | Flight to Mars |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1951 |
| length | 72 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lesley Selander |
| script | Arthur Strawn |
| production |
Walter Mirisch for Monogram Pictures |
| music | Marlin Skiles |
| camera | Harry Neumann |
| cut | Richard V. Heermance |
| occupation | |
| |
Flight to Mars is an American science fiction film from 1951 in Cinecolor , in which the first terrestrial Martian expedition to the red planet finds a dying civilization. In contrast to its role models Endstation Mond and Rocket Moon Starts , the film did not find a film distributor in West Germany ; a German synchronization has not taken place until today (2015).
action
The first terrestrial expedition to Mars is carried out by the physicist Dr. Lane, which also consists of Professor Jackson, engineer Jim Barker and his assistant Carol Stadwick. In addition, the journalist Steve Abbott flies with the spaceship to report exclusively on the trip.
When the terrestrial spaceship is attracted to Mars, the radio link to Earth is broken. A meteor storm damages the missile's landing gear. The crew decided to land anyway, instead of making the safe return to earth, even though Jackson points out that the most important task of the expedition is the pure data collection. It is uncertain whether the rocket can restart after a landing.
There is a crash landing in a snow and ice landscape, but the occupants of the expedition survive unscathed. You will be received by a Martian delegation led by ICron. The humanoid Martians can communicate with the Earth crew in English . They live in an underground city and feed on plants that thrive in hydroponics . But the technically highly developed Martian civilization is threatened, as it depends on the supply of the (fictitious) mineral Corium, whose deposits will soon be exhausted.
While the Earth crew is hoping for help from the Martians, Ikron plans to build its own space fleet on the basis of the spaceship to evacuate Mars and settle the Martians on Earth. Tillamar is against relocation, but the council opts for it. While the Martian Alita is repairing the spaceship and is being monitored by Terry as a council spy , Barker guesses what plan the Martians are pursuing and sabotages the progress of the repair work to buy time. Alita and Barker fall in love and Alita decides to join the people's escape, as does Tillamar, who voted against Ikron.
Alita and Tillamar are betrayed by Terris and arrested on the orders of the council, but Barker manages to free them. Pursued by the Martian guards, they manage to escape into the spaceship and return to earth. Whether they will reach home remains open.
Production history and lore
The film was shot mainly in Death Valley in just five days in May 1951 . Film sets from rocket moon starts were used extensively for the production . The film rights were renewed after the expiry and are owned by Wade Williams . An English-language DVD was released in 2002.
Bill Warren assumes that the film has a direct connection to the Soviet production Aelita from 1924, since the screenwriter Strawn (born 1900) obviously knew the film and it is no coincidence that the character of "Alita" is based on the Soviet title.
criticism
“… It's doubtful FLIGHT TO MARS burned up any screens with profits. Undoubtedly planned to be a reasonably major release for the minor company Monogram - the large cast and use of color indicate this - the lethargic film that resulted wound up on the bottom half of double bills. A sequel, in which presumbaly the same crew visited Venus, was announced but was never made. FLIGHT TO MARS is one of the the least-known SF films of the 1950s, and despite its interesting design and fairly good effects, there's no real reason it should be more famous than it is ... "
literature
- Bill Warren: Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties , Jefferson, NC / London (McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers) 2010, pp. 282-284. ISBN 978-0-7864-4230-0