Space Men (1960)

Director:

Antonio Margheriti

Writers:

Ennio De Concini
Jack Wallace

Release Date:

13 December 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Fear awaits ...... in the murky mists of outer space!

Plot:

In the 21st century Ray Peterson, reporter for the Interplanetary News, is assigned to write a story aboard a space station...

Plot Keywords:

Spaceship | Reporter | Space Station | Asteroid | Mars The Planet

Cast

Rik Van Nutter	...	Ray Peterson (IZ41) (as Rik Von Nutter)
Gabriella Farinon	...	Lucy (Y13) (as Gaby Farinon)
David Montresor	...	George the Commander
Archie Savage	...	Al (X15)
Alain Dijon	...	Archie (Y16)
Franco Fantasia	...	Sullivan (as Frank Fantasia)
Joe Pollini	...	King 116
David Maran	...	Davis
José Néstor	...	Venus Commander (as Jose Nestor)
Anita Todesco	...	Venus Control
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aldo Pini	...	Jacson (uncredited)

Directed by
Antonio Margheriti		(as Anthony Dawson)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ennio De Concini		(as Vassily Petrov)
Jack Wallace

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Hugo Grimaldi	....	producer (English version)

Original Music by
Lelio Luttazzi		(as J. K. Broady)
Carlo Savina		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Marcello Masciocchi

Sound Department
Josef von Stroheim	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Caesar Peace	....	special effects

Music Department
Ted Roberts	....	music editor

Other crew
Fred Gebhardt	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Titanus
• Ultra Film

Distributors

• American International Pictures (AIP) (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Payless Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Mill Creek Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Ryder Sound Services  sound

Also Known As:

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Titanus

Trivia:

Released to theaters in the USA on a triple bill with the East German film First Spaceship on Venus (1960) and the Japanese film The Mysterians (1957).

Movie Connections:

Edited into Out of this World Super Shock Show (2007) (V)

It's Not As Bad As Some Say It Is

Set on board a space ship in the year 2116, this movie has a number of problems that have to be overcome if you're going to enjoy it at all. First and foremost is the completely wooden and often lifeless acting, which the actors try to compensate for by trying (and failing) to make every scene seem as if it's the most important scene in the movie. There are also some pretty significant plot problems. First, there really is no story until about halfway through the movie. Originally, our intrepid group of explorers are heading to "Galaxy M-12," then they're heading to Mars for some mysterious reason, then they're suddenly diverted to Venus by order of "the High Command." Finally, upon the diversion to Venus, we're told that unless this ship can do something about it, the earth is going to be destroyed by some sort of rogue spaceship. I wasn't entirely clear, though, on why the earth was going to be destroyed. I was a little confused as well about why, half-way into the movie, Ray says "it's Christmas, Lucy." The line just hung there. It came out of nowhere and nothing came from it. So, both the story and the acting are a bit ridiculous. However ...

There are some good points here. Gene Roddenberry is usually given credit for introducing minorities in command positions on "Star Trek," but I thought it was interesting that the engineer on this ship was black (played by Archie Savage, who had previously had minor roles in such movies as "South Pacific" and "The Ten Commandments") - and he was no token. He had important things to do, including a noble act of self-sacrifice. More thought was put into the conditions of outer space and weightlessness than a lot of low-budget sci-fi movies of that era worried about, and the on-board effects were not bad, as the crew clomped about the ship in their magnetic boots. The set was also fairly futuristic looking. Unfortunately, some of the animated space travel was rather poorly done. Once the crisis was introduced, there was a moderate amount of suspense about whether or not the earth could be saved. You know what? This isn't good, but it really isn't as bad as some people say it is. 5/10