Red Dust (2 May 1952)

The first human mission to another solar system loses 2 crew on a red dust-covered planet, which once had an advanced civilization. Due to allergies, neither of the shipmates got ... See full summary »

Director:

Don Medford

Writers:

Theodore R. Cogswell (original play), Irving Elman (adaptation)

Stars:

Lex Barker, Skedge Miller, Robert Patten

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Lex Barker	...	Kurt
Skedge Miller	...	Charlie
Robert Patten	...	Duncan
Fred Stewart	...	Dr. Davidson

Storyline

The first human mission to another solar system loses 2 crew on a red dust-covered planet, which once had an advanced civilization. Due to allergies, neither of the shipmates got anti-radiation shots, so the remaining crew aren't concerned about their own return to Earth. But then the red dust starts to appear everywhere on the space ship.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1952 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

George F. Foley

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

An interesting but flawed idea....

Some astronauts visit another planet and accidentally contract an illness that quickly kills several of them. Those who don't die are on their way back to Earth when the doctor discovered why some died and some did not. It seems that the anti-radiation treatment some got saved them...at least temporarily. It seems that the red space dust they picked up is killing ALL of them--just the vaccinated ones are dying very, very slowly. It's very obvious that they should NOT return home, as they'd spread the illness to the planet yet, inexplicably, one of them (Lex Barker) is bent on returning home---even though there really isn't a logical reason for this. To me, it seemed like a contrived situation but had the script been re-worked it could have been excellent. As it is, it's a relatively weak show from an otherwise excellent early sci-fi anthology series.