First Spaceship on Venus (1960)

When an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.

Director:

Kurt Maetzig

Writers:

Stanislaw Lem (novel), Jan Fethke (adaptation) (as J. Fethke)

Stars:

Yôko Tani, Oldrich Lukes, Ignacy Machowski

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Yôko Tani	...	Die japanische Ärztin / Sumiko Ogimura MD
Oldrich Lukes	...	Amerikanischer Atomphysiker / Prof. Harringway Hawling
Ignacy Machowski	...	Polnischer Chefingenieur / Prof. Saltyk / Prof. Durand
Julius Ongewe	...	Afrikanischer Fernsehtechniker / Talua
Michail N. Postnikow	...	Sowjetischer Astronaut / Prof. Arsenew / Prof. Orloff
Kurt Rackelmann	...	Indischer Mathematiker / Prof. Sikarna
Günther Simon	...	Deutscher Pilot / Robert / Raimund Brinkmann
Hua-Ta Tang	...	Chinesischer Linguist / Dr. Tchen Yu / Lao Tsu
Lucyna Winnicka	...	Fernsehreporterin / Joan Moran (as Lucina Winnicka)

Storyline

(U.S. Version) A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus. A rocket expedition to Venus is launched to discover the origin of the spool and the race that created it.

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Plot Keywords:

space travel | nuclear threat | venus the planet | alien technology | spacecraft | 

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Taglines:

You are there... on man's most incredible journey!

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Genres:

Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

East Germany Poland

Language:

German

Release Date:

31 October 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

First Spaceship on Venus

Filming Locations:

DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme, Babelsberg, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

VEB DEFA-Studio für Spielfilme, Künstlerische Arbeitsgruppe ''Roter Kreis'', Film Polski

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min 95 min (short)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Agfacolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original German version, "Brinkman(n)" isn't American but East German, and the "Durand" character is a Soviet cosmonaut by the name of "Prof. Arsenjew" (Arsenyev), "the man who steered the first rocket to the moon"!

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Goofs

In the English-dubbed version, the chess-playing robot announces the move King to B-8. The actor moving the robot's pieces moves the king to D-8.

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Alternate Versions

This film was released in the United States as _First Spaceship on Venus (1962)_. This version was edited down to 80 minutes, dubbed into English, and had Andrzej Markowski's score replaced by a stock score prepared by Gordon Zahler of the General Music Corporation.

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Connections

Featured in Galaxina (1980)

User Reviews

Surprisingly Kubrickesque

Recently shown at the Viennale Filmfestival, this movie (one of only five East German sci-fi films) was spoken of rather than of a trashy museal antique stuffed with communist ideology. I had thought it would be about the quality of Plan 9 from Outer Space, so I was surprised to discover that First Spaceship on Venus is not at all trashy! A lot of money seems to have been invested in the design of the mysterious landscape on venus and the spacecraft. The technical effects look highly professional!

As regards ideology, one can't make out more than a slightly pathetic call for peace in the world (which is perfectly agreeable, really) and a casual remark on how well Soviet astronomy is developed. The crew of the spaceship, though, includes an American and a Japanese as well, so it is openly international.

The moment the spacecraft starts, however, the science-fiction story stands in the foreground. It was written by Stanislaw Lem and is therefore quite interesting, shocking and full of suspense - another aspect I wouldn't have expected to get in a film like that. Of course, the acting is stiff, dialogues are reduced to a necessary minimum and the romantic element in the plot is too weak to be convincing. Probably, the screenwriters have removed most of the depth of Lem's original novel. Nevertheless, the whole film manages to evoke Kubrickesque feelings at times (note that it was made before 2001: A Space Odyssey!) and serves as an interesting historical document but also as good sci-fi fun on a Sunday afternoon.