First Man Into Space (1959)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Robert Day

Writers:

John Croydon (screenplay) and
Charles F. Vetter (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 February 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

First motion picture to lift the veil, forsee the future in a spectacular drama of the first man in history to be rocketed into the terrifying unknown of outer space!

Plot:

The first pilot to leave Earth's atmosphere lands, then vanishes; but something with a craving for blood prowls the countryside...

Plot Keywords:

Dust | Throat Ripping | Space Vampire | Alien | Astronaut

Cast

Marshall Thompson	...	Commander Charles Ernest Prescott
Marla Landi	...	Tia Francesca
Bill Edwards	...	Lieutenant Dan Milton Prescott
Robert Ayres	...	Captain Ben Richards
Bill Nagy	...	Wilson
Carl Jaffe	...	Dr. Paul von Essen
Roger Delgado	...	Mexican Consul
John McLaren	...	Harold Atkins - State Dept. Official (also as John Mclaren)
Spencer Teakle	...	Ratings Control Room
Chuck Keyser	...	Ratings Control Room
John Fabian	...	Ratings Control Room
Richard Shaw	...	Witney
Bill Nick	...	Clancy (also as William R. Nick)
Helen Forrest	...	Secretary (also as Helen Forest)
Roland Brand	...	Truck Driver (as Rowland Brand)

Also Known As:

Satellite of Blood (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

77 min | West Germany:78 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG | UK:X (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16

Company:

Amalgamated Productions

Trivia:

Bill Edwards is dubbed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Commander Prescott exits a building, he passes a sign that reads, "Flight Operations - Authorised Personnel Only". The film is set on an American Air Force base in New Mexico, and no sign in the United States would use the British spelling of "authorized", with an "s" instead of a "z". (The fact that the film was shot in England accounts for this error.)

Quotes:

Doctor Paul von Essen: The conquest of new worlds always makes demands of human life. And there will always be men who will accept the risk.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Making Space (2007) (V)

A late night favourite

First Man Into Space has its low budget limitations, but it's story is a corker. It's one of the few 50s science fiction stories that question non-atomic technology: how far sure man go? What are the consequences of his thirst for knowledge and experience? This time there are no invading aliens, no throbbing radioactive brains from another planet, and no marauding killer tree stumps. We are simply confronted with a man who crosses a line and tries to come back. It helps that he looks like The Incredible Melting Man, but this is a movie that does more than simply shock the audience.