Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

User Rating:

2.2/10   

Director:

Nicholas Webster

Writers:

Paul L. Jacobson (story)
Glenville Mareth (writer)

Release Date:

14 November 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Science-Fun-Fiction at its height!

Plot:

The Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Martian | Mars | Christmas | Santa Claus

Cast

John Call	...	Santa Claus
Leonard Hicks	...	Kimar
Vincent Beck	...	Voldar
Bill McCutcheon	...	Dropo
Victor Stiles	...	Billy
Donna Conforti	...	Betty
Chris Month	...	Bomar
Pia Zadora	...	Girmar
Leila Martin	...	Momar
Charles Renn	...	Hargo
James Cahill	...	Rigna
Ned Wertimer	...	Andy Henderson
Doris Rich	...	Mrs. Claus
Carl Don	...	Chochem / Von Green
Ivor Bodin	...	Winky

Also Known As:

Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens (video title)

Runtime:

81 min | USA:86 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (2002) | UK:U (video rating) | USA:Unrated (2005 DVD release) | Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Roosevelt Field, Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Jalor Productions

Trivia:

This was Pia Zadora's debut.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Stobo looks in on the toy fight, the popping sounds and flying projectiles suddenly cease (film was stopped to put the ball in his mouth).

Quotes:

Santa Claus: Well, when Voldar "accidentally" left us in the airlock and then came up here and "accidentally" threw the door switch, we knew we had to get out of there in a hurry or that would be the end of us. Eh, uh, "accidentally," of course.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Christmas on Mars (2008)

Soundtrack:

Horray For Santa Claus

It's just pretty bad!

I only watched this because for about forty years I have seen it listed among science fiction movies. Yes one reviewer said it was made for kids. That's true. Others were made for adults. However, bad is bad. Who the film was directed at is of no consequences. I would suspect short attention spans, would last about five minutes. It's just a rambling mess of mistaken identity and ridiculous situations, going nowhere. Santa is OK in his ho, ho, ho, sort of way, but he even looks bored and confused at times. He is brought to Mars to get the kids to focus on more traditional Martian values or something. They are watching too much TV, I guess. But the pitfalls are that the Martians are so uninteresting. Earthlings with shoe polish on their faces--it even rubs off at times. There is the obligatory bad guy. I guess he's on a power trip because what difference does it all make? The title is really the best part of the movie.