Der schweigende Stern (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:

When an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.

Plot Keywords:

Venus | Alien | Team | Spaceship | Astronaut

Cast

Yoko Tani	...	Die japanische Ärztin / Sumiko Ogimura MD
Oldrich Lukes	...	Amerikanischer Atomphysiker / Prof. Harringway Hawling
Ignacy Machowski	...	Polnischer Chefingenieur / Prof. Saltyk / Orloff
Julius Ongewe	...	Afrikanischer Fernsehtechniker / Talua
Michail N. Postnikow	...	Sowjetischer Astronaut / Prof. Arsenew / Prof. Durand
Kurt Rackelmann	...	Indischer Mathematiker / Prof. Sikarna
Günther Simon	...	Deutscher Pilot / Robert / Raimund Brinkmann
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:

Der Planet des Todes (East Germany) (working title)
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 | USA:79 min | West Germany:80 min | East Germany:95 min (short version: 94')

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:

Released to theaters in the US on a triple bill with the Italian Space Men (1960) and the Japanese Chikyû Bôeigun (1957)).

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (#5.5)" (1992)

Better than "B" Science Fiction

If I were going to list my favorite 10 science fiction films, this would be one of them. It is too bad that the original German language version is not available (as far as I know), but even though the American release version has some missing footage, the remaining film still is first-rate.

The film features an international cast led by Japanese actress Yoko Tani (good eye candy) and actors/actresses from Germany, Africa, Russia, Czechoslovakia, and France. The special effects from the start of the movie to its end are excellent. The effects as they explore the surface of Venus are particularly eerie and thought-provoking. But, best of all, are the philosophical speculations about the role of space flight in the future of mankind. In addition, the film makes a stern warning against the misuse of science and technology in the pursuit of war and aggression and pleads with all men to apply advances in nuclear and space technology to foster world peace.

10/10 Dan Basinger

P.S. One of the other critics stated that this was the first German science fiction film since "Frau I'm Mond" (1929). This may be the first space film from that country since 1929, but there were other films from Germany that would be considered science fiction. One of these was "Gold" (1934) that dealt with atomic power plants in the transmutation of metals to gold. Some of the footage from "Gold" appeared in the science fiction film "The Magnetic Monster" (1953).