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
Mikhail N. Postnikov	...	Sowjetischer Astronaut / Prof. Arsenew / Prof. Orloff (as Michail N. Postnikow)
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

The German version contains a reference to one of the professors having his career stalled when he was thrown out of the university by the Nazis. Director and co-writer Kurt Maetzig had his career stalled by the Nazis because his mother was Jewish.

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Goofs

The US release has English dialogue translated from the German. Some of the translation isn't quite right. They keep referring to the power lines as being "high tension" from the German "Spannung" but for electrical lines this would usually be better translated as "High Voltage".

(Technical note: In 1960, the term "High Tension" was commonly used as opposed to "High Voltage". "Voltage" in French is "Tension". When designing High-Voltage transmission lines, the utility companies didn't want to alarm people, so they decided to use the term "Tension" instead of Voltage (which is also somewhat appropriate, since high-tension lines also have high tension!))

Also they translate the German word "Automaten" as "automats" which may be better translated as "machines" or "equipment".

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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

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (1992)

User Reviews

STRIKING, THOUGHTFUL SCI-FI.

What's wrong with this picture? This movie is neither highly regarded by critics nor IMDB voters. Yet, it contains some striking visuals; thoughtful comments on the "human" condition; an attractive, multiracial, coed international cast (daring for the time); and a pretty good storyline, to boot.

Excavators at the site of the 1906 mystery explosion in Tunguska, Siberia, discover evidence that the explosion was the destruction of an alien spaceship. Evidence includes a "memory spool." Scientist determine the alien spaceship came from the planet Venus, and cryptographers and linguists begin to translate the memory spool.

Before translation can be completed, an international crew is assembled and an enormous nuclear powered spaceship constructed (a stunningly beautiful piece of matte work) for a flight to Venus. The ship begins its voyage before the on-board linguist makes a startling announcement. The memory spool contains plans for a Venusian invasion of earth!

The ship lands on a eerie, vapor-cloaked Venus (Striking art direction; just how did they do those strange, microbe-like vapors?). The crew discovers, a burned out, uninhabitable planet. The Venusians, apparently attempting an invasion to escape either overcrowding or an impending nuclear war, have destroyed themselves, leaving only the shadows of their disintegrated bodies. Further exploration discovers a strange, living amoeba-like organism and a damaged, super-gravity beam weapon aimed toward earth. Many members of the crew are lost, and the ship is eventually deflected back to earth by the accidental discharge of the gravity beam.

The movie IS choppy, without a doubt because the American distributor, Crown International, cut the film by over one half hour. I'd certainly LOVE to see the excised footage; however, since the film is East German, I doubt if a complete print still exists. Besides, we Americans are having enough trouble finding obscure fifties and sixties from ENGLISH-speaking countries, including our own.