12 to the Moon (1960)

User Rating:

2.3/10   

Director:

David Bradley

Writers:

Fred Gebhardt (story)
DeWitt Bodeen (screenplay)

Release Date:

June 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

starring An International Cast

Plot:

An international team embarks on an expedition to the moon in an uncommonly spacious rocketship. There...

Plot Keywords:

Moon | Alien | MST3K | Man Wearing Towel | Space

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 20

11:30 AM

TCM

Cast

Ken Clark	...	Capt. John Anderson
Michi Kobi	...	Dr. Hideko Murata
Tom Conway	...	Dr. Feodor Orloff
Anthony Dexter	...	Dr. Luis Vargas (as Tony Dexter)
John Wengraf	...	Dr. Erich Heinrich
Robert Montgomery Jr.	...	Roddy Murdock (as Bob Montgomery Jr.)
Phillip Baird	...	Dr. William Rochester
Richard Weber	...	Dr. David Ruskin
Muzaffer Tema	...	Dr. Selim Hamid (as Tema Bey)
Roger Til	...	Dr. Etienne Martel
Cory Devlin	...	Dr. Asmara Markonen
Anna-Lisa	...	Dr. Sigrid Bomark
Francis X. Bushman	...	Secretary General of the International Space Order

Also Known As:

Twelve to the Moon (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Despite the overall low budget nature of this film, the producers obtained the services of the highly regarded cinematographer John Alton. This became one of two features shot by Alton during the final year of his active career. This did not indicate a decline in Alton's professional reputation; the other film shot that year was the far more upscale Elmer Gantry (1960).

Goofs:

Continuity: Stock footage of real shuttle arcing towards Earth depicts an extremely long 'tail' of engine fire while close-up model shots show only a small flame (which is crooked, pointing 'up').

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: 12 to the Moon (#6.24)" (1994)

Good intentions, bad movie.

Let me just say first, that it was a very noble idea for the moon to be explored as a global effort. They had representatives of many nations and even a black man and two women! (Actually pretty bold ideas at the time.) And even in the midst of the Red scare, they had a Russian, who, despite being a jerk, stops another European from sabotaging a mission to save the U.S. Yes, the movie seems to have been made with noble intentions towards world peace. That said, this is one big turkey. First, no one involved with the movie had any idea about what the moon and space were really like. (They have steam coming out of craters, and several clusters of meteors just between earth and the moon.) Second, the SFX are pitiful. (The ship at times has visible strings, and at one point a stick. The moon also appears to have Stage lights at one point.) These ingredients makes it a fairly awful movie. My recommendation? Watch the MST3K version and applaud the good intent but laugh at how awful everything else is.