Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Santa Claus Conquers the Martians |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1964 |
| length | 81 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Nicholas Webster |
| script | Glenville Mareth |
| production | Paul L. Jacobson |
| music | Milton DeLugg |
| camera | David L. Quaid |
| cut | William Henry |
| occupation | |
| |
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Dt .: Santa Claus conquers the Martians ) is an American science fiction film by Nicholas Webster from the year 1964 . The children's film in which Santa Claus is kidnapped by Martians is considered by critics to be one of the worst Christmas films of all time.
action
New York City , early December: Children's channel KID TV has a report by its correspondent Andy Henderson visiting Santa Claus at the North Pole in his Christmas workshop. Not only New Yorkers see this post, but also the children on Mars who regularly watch earth stations. For some time now the Martian children have been behaving strangely, eating nothing and hardly sleeping, but watching a lot of earth television. The ruler of Mars' Kimar worries, especially since his two own children Bomar and Girmar also show these symptoms. With Martians from his command staff, he goes to the wise Old Chochem for advice. Chochem is hundreds of years old and knows that when it is September [sic] on Mars, Christmas is approaching on earth. He explains to Kimar that the Martian children were never real children, but only live as adults in a child's body. Knowledge is stored in them before they start to run. The Martian children have to learn to be children again, to play and to laugh - Santa Claus is missing on Mars.
Kimar decides to fly to Earth and bring Santa Claus to Mars. With his opinion he also asserts himself against the sinister Voldar, who does not want toys or children on Mars. The Martians fly to Earth in their spaceship. They are spotted on radar over New York and the US Air Force is alerted. The Martians, however, disappear from the radar screen through a special device. They land with their spaceship in a forest, where they meet the siblings Billy and Betty. The children tell the Martians that Santa Claus lives on the North Pole. So that neither of them reveal their landing, the Martians take the children with them. Let the clumsy and friendly Martian Dropo take care of her. Billy and Betty escape after landing on the North Pole and want to warn Santa Claus, but are captured by Kimar's robot Torg after escaping a polar bear and an attempted murder by Voldar. A little later, the Martians kidnap Santa Claus. On board the spaceship, he is locked in a cell with Billy and Betty, tells the children stories from his life as Santa Claus and delights the crew with his jokes. Voldar tries to shoot the three of them into space via the compressed air lock, but fails. There is a duel between Kimar and Voldar, as a result of which Voldar is captured. When landing on Mars, however, the captured Voldar turns out to be Dropo. Voldar himself has fled.
Santa Claus, Billy and Betty are accommodated as guests with Kimar, his wife Momar and their two children Bomar and Girmar. Within a very short time, Santa Claus makes Bomar and Girmar laugh. After a while, Santa Claus and the children make toys in a factory. Santa Claus receives wishes from all corners of Mars, which he fulfills at the push of a button. He soon gets bored of the job. Momar gives him a spare Santa Claus suit that Dropo would love to try on. After work he secretly disguises himself as Santa Claus and goes to the toy factory, where he is captured by Voldar and his colleagues Stobo and Shim. They wanted to kidnap the real Santa Claus and force his return to earth. Meanwhile, Kimar realizes that Billy and Betty have become just as indifferent as his own children used to be. Momar explains to him that they are both homesick and should be brought back home. The next morning it becomes clear that Dropo and the Santa Claus replacement costume have disappeared. The factory in turn produces faulty toys because Voldar destroyed the mechanics. The children and Santa Claus call Kimar for help. Voldar and Stobo appear shortly afterwards at the factory and want to blackmail Kimar, but see Santa Claus in the factory and are confused. Kimar captures them both but is overwhelmed by them. Billy and Betty organize the defense and shoot toy guns at Voldar as he breaks into the production room. In the end, Kimar can defeat Stobo and overwhelm Voldar too. Dropo has escaped his guard Shim and is delighted with his successful masquerade. The Martians now know that they have found their own Santa Claus in Dropo. The real Santa Claus returns to earth with Billy and Betty - just in time for Christmas.
production
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is based on a story by Paul L. Jacobson , who also served as the producer of the film. Jacobson founded his own production company, Jalor Productions, for the film. The budget of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was $ 200,000. It was the only film Jacobson produced. Previously, director Nicholas Webster had only directed one feature film based on a play.
Filming took place at Michael Myerberg Studios in New York City. The film uses original footage from the US Air Force, among others. The costumes were created by Ramsey Mostoller , the film construction by Maurice Gordon . The score was written by Milton DeLugg , the title song Hooray for Santa Claus is by Roy Alfred and Milton DeLugg. The film premiered on November 14, 1964 in Chicago. It was released in New York City theaters in mid-December. An evaluation on the German market did not take place. It was the film debut of the then ten-year-old Pia Zadora .
reception
Howard Thompson of the New York Times wrote in 1964 that Jacobson’s frugal production, Webster’s direction, and the average play of the cast made the film look like a children's television show enlarged for the big screen. Catholic film critics called Santa Claus Conquers the Martians "silly twaddle" and a "low-budget flop flooded with senseless sentimentality".
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians was included in their book The 50 Worst Films of All Time by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss in 1984. Time Out London called the film "a long-lasting after-midnight cult flick" and a "hilariously bad science fiction attempt". In 2011, Atlantic Weekly Daily listed it in second place of the worst Christmas films of all, behind Star Wars Holiday Special and ahead of Santa Claus with Muckis Times.
Web links
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on Turner Classic Movies
Individual evidence
- ↑ See John M. Miller: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) , tcm.com
- ↑ See Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on Turner Classic Movies
- ^ Howard Thompson: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) . In: New York Times , December 17, 1964.
- ↑ "Mr. Jacobson's economical production and Nicholas Webster's direction, not to mention the very broad acting, make the picture seem like a children's television show enlarged on movie house screens. "See Howard Thompson: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) . New York Times , December 17, 1964.
- ↑ "Low-budget clunker awash in humbug sentimentality." Cf. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Catholic News Service
- ↑ "A staple after-midnight cult movie, this hilariously bad stab at sci-fi naturally earned a high position in the book The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time." Cf. CR: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians ( page no longer available , Search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . timeout.com
- ^ ACW's Weekend Hot Tub Party - Best & Worst Holiday Movies , December 2, 2011
