The Angry Red Planet (1959)

One of only two survivors from a Martian expedition is so traumatized she doesn't remember the circumstances of the trip.

Director:

Ib Melchior

Writers:

Ib Melchior (screenplay), Sidney W. Pink (screenplay) (as Sid Pink)

Stars:

Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Les Tremayne

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gerald Mohr	...	Col. Thomas O'Bannion
Nora Hayden	...	Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan
Les Tremayne	...	Prof. Theodore Gettell
Jack Kruschen	...	CWO Sam Jacobs
Paul Hahn	...	Maj. Gen. George Treegar
J. Edward McKinley	...	Prof. Paul Weiner
Tom Daly	...	Dr. Frank Gordon
Don Lamond	...	TV Newscaster / Narrator / Martian (voice)
Edward Innes	...	Brig. Gen. Alan Prescott
Gordon Barnes	...	Maj. Lyman Ross
Jack Haddock	...	Lt. Col. Davis
Brandy Bryan	...	Nurse Hayes
Joan Patrick	...	Nurse Dixon (as Joan Fitzpatrick)
Duke Norton	...	Dr. Muller
William Remick	...	Dr. Hawley (as Wm. Remick)

Storyline

The first spaceship to Mars, presumed lost, is found in space and brought back to Earth by remote control. Only two from an initial crew of four are still alive, but one is unconscious due to an attached alien growth, while the other is traumatized, blocking out all memory of what happened. In hopes to save the unconscious crewman, the amnesiac is interrogated back into remembering. Those in charge thereby learn of the terrible dangers awaiting anyone venturing into the spooky, ruddy stillness of the very alien Martian ecosystem.

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Plot Keywords:

psychotronic film | no title at beginning | martian | doctor | monster | 

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Taglines:

Sights beyond belief! (Ad cuts).

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

MGM Studios [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 November 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Invasion of Mars

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$190,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sino Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Master Marionette artist, Bob Baker, was called in to manipulate the Batratspidercrab creature.

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Goofs

Early in the film, it's said that there is a communications lag with Earth of just a couple seconds, adding "just wait until it's a couple hours!" But at their greatest separation, the radio lag between Earth and Mars would only be about 22 minutes.

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Quotes

Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan: [Looking out the spaceship window] Look! Both moons are visible!
CWO Sam Jacobs: Hey, two moons! What a place for romance, hunh?
Dr. Iris 'Irish' Ryan: And songwriters!
CWO Sam Jacobs: [singing] Two moons! Da-da-da-da-da!
Col. Thomas O'Bannion: Let's close you mouth and the port quads, hunh? No use getting the view plate scratched up by meteor dust.

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Crazy Credits

The main title, cast and credits do not appear until the end of the film.

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Connections

References King Kong (1933)

User Reviews

There's lots worse out there

I saw this movie in the theater when I was 5 years old and it stayed in my memory all these years. By today's standards it comes up short, but I've seen movies with hundreds of times the budget that were a lot worse. Sure the acting is bad, but anything John Wayne did before 1939 could not be called good acting either. This movie does have some positives working for it. The female among the 4 astronauts is a biologist/zoologist and is not just window-dressing. The martian monsters and landscape/city are imaginative. They had some kind of 1g drive that allowed their rather capacious spacecraft to not need zero gravity effects, although they could have showed the turnover at the halfway point. All in all this is not the stinker some other viewers have labeled it. My score 6/10.