The Phantom Planet (1961)

After an invisible asteroid draws an astronaut and his ship to its surface, he is miniaturized by the phantom planet's exotic atmosphere.

Director:

William Marshall

Writers:

William Telaak (screenplay), Fred De Gorter (screenplay),

Stars:

Dean Fredericks, Coleen Gray, Anthony Dexter

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Fredericks	...	Capt. Frank Chapman
Coleen Gray	...	Liara
Anthony Dexter	...	Herron (as Tony Dexter)
Francis X. Bushman	...	Sessom
Richard Weber	...	Lt. Ray Makonnen
Al Jarvis	...	Judge Eden
Dick Haynes	...	Col. Lansfield
Earl McDaniels	...	Capt. Leonard (as Earl McDaniel)
Mike Marshall	...	Lt. White (as Michael Marshall)
John Herrin	...	Capt. Beecher
Mel Curtis	...	Lt. Cutler
Jimmy Weldon	...	Lt. Webb
Akemi Tani	...	Communications Officer
Lori Lyons	...	Radar Officer
Richard Kiel	...	The Solarite

Storyline

The mysterious appearance of an unknown planet brings miniature people, giant monsters, beautiful women and undaunted heroes to the screen. The self-contained planet "Rheton" has the ability to move in and out of galaxies to escape their enemies. Earth sends an astronaut team to investigate, which discovers miniature people. One astronaut survives to help them fight off monsters and Solorite attacks.

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Plot Keywords:

planet | miniature people | asteroid | jealousy | cheesecake | 

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Taglines:

Science Shocker of the Space Age.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

El planeta fantasma

Company Credits

Production Co:

Four Crown Productions Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The jurors are dressed like cheerleaders.

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Goofs

After arriving on the asteroid, Captain Chapman shrinks in size, while his clothes did not. The Captain fights with the other small people. You can briefly see his shorts in the fight scene inside the space suit.

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Quotes

Capt. Beecher: It's quiet and lonely out here, and frankly we'll be happy to get back to that dreary old moon.

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Crazy Credits

Instead of "The End" the end title reads "The Beginning".

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Connections

Edited into Spacemen, Go-go Girls and the True Meaning of Christmas (2004)

User Reviews

Astronaut on the Planet Lilliput

Thirty comments on this film and no one so far has mentioned the obvious inspiration for The Phantom Planet. This is a science fiction update of Gulliver among the Lilliputians. Too bad that Jonathan Swift's classic didn't inspire a better film.

And that's a pity because the idea is intriguing. But this was low budget film, very low budget, so the production values and special effects were kept to a minimum. Also too bad that Jonathan Swift's gift for satire in late Stuart Great Britain didn't bring forth a better script.

The film is set in what the writer's mind would be 1980 and we are on the moon and using it as a base to explore the solar system. Two ships have been lost in the asteroid region between Mars and Jupiter have already disappeared. A ship commanded by Dean Fredericks has been sent out to find out what happened and it crashes on an asteroid.

It's really a small planet with people about half a foot tall led by a leader Sesom played by Francis X. Bushman. The movie is about Fredericks' adventures on the planet and his attempts to leave. Like in Gulliver's Travels he helps the people fight off some nasty alien enemies called Solarites who live in a world between Mercury and the sun. With all that heat to contend with, small wonder they're such nasty tempered folk.

And if you want to know how the story ends before seeing the film, I won't say, but read Gulliver's Travels.

Phantom Planet is great example of a lousy film becoming a cult classic. Players like Francis X. Bushman, Coleen Gray, and Anthony Dexter have all done so much better stuff.