Conquest of Space (1955)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writers:

Chesley Bonestell (book) and
Willy Ley (book) ...
(more)

Release Date:

20 April 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

See how it will happen - in your lifetime!

Plot:

A team of American astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars, but the captain's religious beliefs may get in the way. |

Plot Keywords:

Space Station | Mars | Space | Religion | Father Son Relationship

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
Iphigenie Castiglioni	...	Mrs. Heinz Fodor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dan Barton	...	Crewman (uncredited)
Kei Thin Chung	...	Japanese replacement (uncredited)
Rosemary Clooney	...	Musical Number (uncredited) (archive footage)
Don Dunning	...	Replacement soldier (uncredited)
Fred Essler	...	Assistant station announcer (uncredited)
Rand Harper	...	Rocket pilot (uncredited)
Maurice Hart	...	Radio announcer (uncredited)
Jack Iversen	...	American soldier (uncredited)
Mike Mahoney	...	Operator (uncredited)
John Mansfield	...	Turkish soldier (uncredited)
George Marshall Jr.	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Neyle Morrow	...	Crewman (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	...	Crewman (uncredited)
Tom Selden	...	Officer (uncredited)
Richard Shannon	...	Crewman (uncredited)
Bob Templeton	...	Crewman (uncredited)
David Vaile	...	Announcer (uncredited)
Jamieson Ward	...	Crewman (uncredited)

Directed by
Byron Haskin

Writing credits
Chesley Bonestell		(book) and
Willy Ley		(book)
Philip Yordan		(adaptation) and
Barré Lyndon		(adaptation) and
George Worthing Yates		(adaptation)
James O'Hanlon		(writer)
Wernher von Braun		book "Mars Project" (uncredited)

Produced by
Frank Freeman Jr.	....	associate producer
George Pal	....	producer

Original Music by
Van Cleave

Cinematography by
Lionel Lindon

Film Editing by
Everett Douglas

Art Direction by
J. McMillan Johnson		(as Joseph MacMillan Johnson)
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Sam Comer
Frank R. McKelvy		(as Frank McKelvy)

Makeup Department
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel McCauley	....	assistant director

Art Department
Chesley Bonestell	....	astronomical art

Sound Department
Gene Garvin	....	sound
Harold Lewis	....	sound
Carl Mahakian	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Ivyl Burks	....	special photographic effects
Jan Domela	....	special photographic effects
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
John P. Fulton	....	special photographic effects
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects (as Paul Lerpae)
Irmin Roberts	....	special photographic effects

Music Department
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Gil Grau	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Richard Mueller	....	technicolor color consultant
Dr. Robert S. Richardson	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Wernher von Braun	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1955) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Mars Project

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The spaceship model was later used as a background set decoration in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the engines are turned on during the asteroid scene, strings can be seen holding up the ship.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: This is a story of tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, when men have built a station in space, constructed in the form of a great wheel, and set a thousand miles out from the Earth, fixed by gravity, and turning about the world every two hours, serving a double purpose: an observation post in the heavens, and a place where a spaceship can be assembled, and then launched to explore other planets, and the vast universe itself, in the last and greatest adventure of mankind, the plunge toward the...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

In the 1980s, an international crew of astronauts explore Mars

Although not the caliber of Pal's earlier space operas, "Conquest of Space" is still highly enjoyable. Besides the unique experience of viewing our future through the eyes of our past, it's interesting to see how many things they got right (and wrong) about space exploration. One of the most interesting devices, especially in light of the International Space Station, whose construction is supposed to commence in 1998, is "The Circle" a rotating, doughnut-shaped space station circling the earth, that is the main setting for the first half of the film. Along side The Circle is being built an enormous rocket ship that resembles a Northrop Flying Wing with a V-2 rocket strapped on it's back.

Sadly, Pal's special effects budget was cut short on this project leaving him somewhat short ended on the spectacle. All in all, however, this film is well worth a look.