Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Director:

Nicholas Webster

Writers:

Glenville Mareth (screenplay)
Paul L. Jacobson (based on a story by)

Release Date:

14 November 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Science-Fun-Fiction at its height!

Plot:

The Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents.

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Children | Mars | Christmas | Santa Claus

Cast

John Call	...	Santa Claus
Leonard Hicks	...	Kimar
Vincent Beck	...	Voldar
Bill McCutcheon	...	Dropo
Victor Stiles	...	Billy
Donna Conforti	...	Betty
Chris Month	...	Bomar
Pia Zadora	...	Girmar
Leila Martin	...	Momar
Charles Renn	...	Hargo
James Cahill	...	Rigna
Ned Wertimer	...	Andy Henderson
Doris Rich	...	Mrs. Claus
Carl Don	...	Chochem / Von Green
Ivor Bodin	...	Winky

Also Known As:

Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens (video title)

Runtime:

81 min | USA:86 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (2002) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:U (video rating) | USA:Unrated (2005 DVD release) | Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Roosevelt Field, Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Jalor Productions

Trivia:

This was Pia Zadora's debut.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the Polar Bear sequence where the costume is clearly a bear-rug draped over someone's body the back legs are the same way a man's are when crawling with his knees on the ground and shins to feet level with the floor.

Quotes:

[after being asked if he is going to use a rocket sleigh]
Santa Claus: No siree! We're going out the good ol' fashioned way. Prancer and Dancer and Donder and Blitzen, and Vixen and Nixon... oh, consarnit I get those names mixed up, but the KIDS know their names.

Movie Connections:

References The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Soundtrack:

Horray For Santa Claus

Do not open 'til Christmas...or any other time.

I remember seeing this movie a long time ago, way back before they installed the cup holders on the theater seat arm rests. You know, the good old days. All I could remember was the bright lights and colors, the green Martians, Santa was in it, and that "song" (S-A-N-T-A, C-L-A-U-S....)

The next time I saw it, I was a freshman in college and it was playing at the local pub's Bad Flick Night.

Time was not kind.

It's a kid's movie, provided the kid is mentally deficient, a hostile brat and/or has short-term attention disorder. Either way, this one will appeal to them.

For the rest of us, there's the issues of Santa-kidnapping Martians in BRIGHT green makeup and helmets that resemble Yul Brynner's headgear in "The Ten Commandments"; other Martians that you either want to punch out (Dropo) or try and talk out of future acting opportunities (a young Pia Zadora-???); Santas that walk around saying "Merry Christmas", despite the fact that Christmas is not even close; pop guns that immobilize people; polar bears that have extremely long hind legs; and blah, and blah, and blah...

But DOES Santa Claus actually conquer the Martians of the title, like it says? Yep, but he doesn't hit, punch, kick, bite, scratch, claw or anything. Sorry kids, green blood does not flow here. You see, Santa puts in a Martian North Pole workshop and wins over the Martians with peace and good will towards men...and Martians too, I guess. He even makes lazy good-for-nothing Dropo a Martian Santa. GOOD; anything that will keep that nutcase on his own planet....

Two stars for SCCTM; one star for the Christmas spirit and another for the fact that it was half-price beer night when I went in that pub to see it again.

Maybe they should do that for "The Horse Whisperer"....