Schweigende Stern, Der (1960)

Director:

Kurt Maetzig

Writers:

Stanislaw Lem (novel)
Jan Fethke (adaptation) ...

Release Date:

31 October 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

You are there... on man's most incredible journey!

Plot:

(U.S. Version) A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus...

Plot Keywords:

Socialism | Cave | Alien Creature | Artifact | Linguistics

Cast

Yoko Tani	...	Die japanische Ärztin / Sumiko Ogimura MD
Oldrich Lukes	...	Amerikanischer Atomphysiker / Prof. Harringway Hawling
Ignacy Machowski	...	Polnischer Chefingenieur / Professor Saltyk / Orloff
Julius Ongewe	...	Afrikanischer Fernsehtechniker / Talua
Michail N. Postnikow	...	Sowjetischer Astronaut / Prof. Arsenew / Professor Durand
Kurt Rackelmann	...	Indischer Mathematiker / Professor Sikarna
Günther Simon	...	Deutscher Pilot / Robert / RaimundBrinkmann
Tang Hua-Ta	...	Chinesische Linguistin / Dr. Tchen Yu / Lao Tsu
Lucyna Winnicka	...	Fernsehreporterin / Joan Moran (as Lucina Winnicka)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Danuta Szaflarska	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

First Spaceship on Venus (USA)
Milczaca gwiazda (Poland)
Molczaci Krzydla
Planet of the Dead
Raumschiff Venus antwortet nicht (East Germany)
Silent Star
Spaceship Venus Does Not Reply

Runtime:

93 min | East Germany:95 min (short version: 94') | West Germany:80 min | USA:79 min

Country:

East Germany | Poland

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

USA:Unrated | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme, Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Trivia:

In the German original version, "Brinkman(n)" isn't American, but East German, and the "Durand" character is a Soviet cosmonaut by the name of "Professor Arsenjew" (Arsenyev), "the man who steered the first rocket to the moon"!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Galaxina (1980)

Good story, great rocket, and a cool little robot.

An artifact from the planet Venus is found buried on Earth, and scientists learn that the object is the log of an alien spacecraft which crashed. After attempts to contact the Venusian civilization are unsuccessful, a multi-national (and multi-racial) flight to Earth's sister planet is launched.

When the expedition arrives on Venus they find a dead world whose civilization has been destroyed by some kind catastrophe. The story contains good ideas, but the plot seems to race along with no regard for dramatic timing or narrative clarity, undoubtedly because of the thirty minutes of footage which were removed from the American version. The obvious dubbing is a major distraction, and the sound effects are garish and unappealing. For some reason, there are very few shots of the rocket traveling through space during the voyage. Generally speaking, the special effects run hot and cold.

The spaceship itself, however, is a beauty (both the interior and exterior), rivaling the best rockets for the 1950s. The little robot is memorable and well designed (it looks like a miniature tank).

The exterior shots of the strange Venusian surface are imaginative, with superimposed wisps of vapor constantly drifting past. Listen for several segments of music borrowed from "Destination Moon" and "This Island Earth".