Satellite in the Sky (1956)

The British launch the world's first orbital vehicle. Their military sends a super-bomb along, which goes wrong and threatens the crew and a stowaway.

Director:

Paul Dickson

Writers:

John Mather (screenplay), J.T. McIntosh (screenplay),

Stars:

Kieron Moore, Lois Maxwell, Donald Wolfit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kieron Moore	...	Cmdr. Michael Haydon
Lois Maxwell	...	Kim Hamilton
Donald Wolfit	...	Prof. Merrity
Bryan Forbes	...	Jimmy Wheeler
Jimmy Hanley	...	Larry Noble
Barry Keegan	...	'Lefty' Blake
Donald Gray	...	Capt. Ross
Thea Gregory	...	Barbara Noble
Shirley Lawrence	...	Ellen
Alan Gifford	...	Col. Galloway
Walter Hudd	...	Prof. Blandford
Peter Neil	...	Tony, party gigolo
Ryck Rydon	...	Reporter (as Rick Rydon)
Ronan O'Casey	...	Reporter
Robert O'Neil	...	Reporter

Storyline

A crew of astronauts, including a scientist and a reporter, launch from England into outer space on a rocket which can serve as a satellite. Their mission is to test a new tritonium bomb, but after the bomb fails to repel itself from the ship, the crew has only a matter of hours to defuse or destroy the weapon before it explodes.

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Plot Keywords:

bomb | stowaway | test | space | rocket | 

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Taglines:

The never-told story of life on the roof of the Earth!

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

21 July 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

La terra esplode

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tridelta Productions, Danziger Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints) Mono (optical prints)

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Test Aircraft used to test the fuel is a Folland Aircraft Co. Midge the prototype for their 2 seater Gnat.

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Goofs

At the briefing near the start of the film, both Commander Haydon and Professor Blandford use the word "schedule", pronouncing it the American way, with an "sk" sound. Since both men are British and the film is set in Britain, they should naturally have used the British "sh" pronunciation of the word.

User Reviews

Satellite In The Sky should be released on video

This is a movie which stands amongst the other classics from the 1950's like Day The Earth Stood Still, War Of The Worlds and This Island Earth. But unlike the others it still hasn't seen the light of video yet. Is this because it is a British film ? The story is tense and the special effects are quite good for the time. I hope to see this released on DVD soon.