Conquest of Space (1955)

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 The Planet | Outer Space | Father Son Relationship | Christmas

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 (archive footage) (uncredited)
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
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		(director of photography)

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

Production Management
C. Kenneth Deland	....	production manager (uncredited)

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

Art Department
Chesley Bonestell	....	astronomical art

Sound Department
Gene Garvin	....	sound
Harold Lewis	....	sound
Ralph Hickey	....	sound editor (uncredited)
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
Robert S. Richardson	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Wernher von Braun	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Dorothy Yutzi	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

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

Other Companies

• Technicolor  color

Also Known As:

Runtime:

81 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #17115) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

After a dispute over how to depict the surface of Mars, Chesley Bonestell claimed never to have seen the final movie.

Goofs:

Plot holes: The astronauts all wear spacesuits on Mars, yet take off their gloves and handle the Martian soil bare-handed, exposure which would in reality destroy their hands and probably kill them.

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)

HOW THE FUTURE USED TO BE!

Disregard the critics on this one. This unpretentious film has much to offer on many levels. First of all, the acting is very good, especially from first time non-actor Phil Foster, whose primary occupation was that of a 'stand up' comedian.

Also, the performance of the highly under appreciated character actor, Walter Brooke, is a winner. Brooke is believable as the General in charge of the Mars mission, whose mental fabric is rapidly deteriorating under the pressure of evolving religious misgivings about the divine role of humans in space. This challenge to religion, within the framework of a science fiction film, was quite daring for the time.

Although not one of Director George Pal's best, the film, nevertheless, affords an informative and highly entertaining look at how the "future used to be", as viewed by the 50's generation. And incredibly, among all of the things they got wrong, how very much they got right.