First Man Into Space (1959)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Robert Day

Writers:

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

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)
Barry Shawzin	...	Mexican Farmer
Mark Sheldon	...	Doctor
Michael Bell	...	State Trooper
Sheree Winton	...	Nurse - at Blood Bank
Franklyn Fox	...	Chief Petty Officer
Larry Taylor	...	Shore Patrolman (as Laurence Taylor)

Directed by
Robert Day

Writing credits
John Croydon		(screenplay) (as John C. Cooper) and
Charles F. Vetter		(screenplay) (as Lance Z. Hargreaves)
Wyott Ordung		(story)

Produced by
John Croydon	....	producer
Charles F. Vetter	....	producer (as Charles Vetter Jr)
Richard Gordon	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Buxton Orr

Cinematography by
Geoffrey Faithfull		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Peter Mayhew

Art Direction by
Denys Pavitt		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Anna Selby-Walker		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Eileen Warwick	....	hair stylist
Michael Morris	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
George Mills	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stanley Goulder	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Terence Cotter	....	sound recordist
Peter Musgrave	....	sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Frank Drake	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Charles Guerin	....	wardrobe
Anna Selby-Walker	....	dresses supervisor: Miss Landi

Music Department
Buxton Orr	....	conductor

Other crew
John George	....	location manager
Kay Rawlings	....	continuity

Production Companies

• Amalgamated Productions

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1959) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1959) (USA) (theatrical)
• Monterey Home Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Hollywood's Attic (video)
• Media Home Entertainment (video)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (video)
• Teleworld (199?) (USA) (TV re-syndication)

Other Companies

• Gordon Films Inc.  releasing agency: USA (uncredited)
• SounDrama  electronic effects by (as Sound Drama)

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:

Continuity: When Dr. von Essen is directing the monster Lt. Prescott over the PA system at headquarters, he tells him to "turn right" - whereupon the monster-Prescott immediately turns left.

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 Diner (1982)

In Space No One Can Hear You …. Transform into a hideously gooey one-eyed monster!

I'll admit that "First Man into Space" is a pretty bad film, mainly because the creators made the huge mistake of trying to give a hideous monster a voice and emotions, but still I can't help appreciating this British low budget late 50's Sci-Fi horror effort. The reasons for this are almost exclusively linked to the fabulous make-up effects and the brutality of the killings. Despite the fact that they want you to empathize with the monster, the murders it commits are extremely gruesome (involving throat-slitting, blood-drinking and that sort of things…). You can imagine it's pretty difficult, and actually even a bit ridiculous, to have sentiments for a one-eyed pile of smut that just tore apart the throat of an innocent trucker and drank the blood of cows. The plot of "First Man into Space" is fairly rudimentary, as are the set pieces and scenery. The footage of the intergalactic journeys and the interiors of the spacecrafts & laboratories look extremely cheesy by today's standards, but they were top-notch equipment during the late 50's, when the popularity of the Sci-Fi genre literally boomed. The plot itself often feels like a low-keyed imitation of one of Hammer Studio's greatest successes, namely "The Quatermass Experiment". If you, like me, consider that particular film to be one of the greatest landmarks of 50's Sci-Fi, you'll definitely also find some entertainment in the derivative concept of "First Man into Space". The story revolves on a cocky astronaut who desperately aspires to become the first man into space no matter what. With a stubborn attitude like that, he naturally disobeys important orders from ground control (his brother) and puts himself in great danger. His first flight has a happy ending but during a second flight his capsule vanishes from all radars. The astronaut is still alive, however he transformed into a hideous monster that craves blood and slowly heads back to base camp. The first half of the film is overly talkative and every single stereotype and cliché regarding space exploration also features in the script. There's the helpless love-interest, torn between the two brothers, the elderly pipe smoking scientists and – of course – the inevitable hammy monologues where one of the characters lifts up his head and stares into space while saying something like: "Perhaps we're still too small to comprehend the secrets and menaces of the great universe". It's not an exact quote, but you get the big picture. The middle section of the script compensates for most of the flaws, as the film temporarily turns into a good old-fashioned monster-on-the-rampage spectacle with suspense and bloody killings. The silliness reaches an absolute highlight when the monster (which only has one eyeball and even that hangs out of its socket) is shown driving a car with the bloodied corpse of a woman in the passenger's seat. The final sequences are pure sentimental baloney and not exactly the type of anti-climax die-hard fans of the genre prefer to see, but what the hell. The least you can say about "First Man into Space" is that it's an admirable effort.