Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food on the lifeless planet.

Director:

Byron Haskin

Writers:

Ib Melchior (screenplay), John C. Higgins (screenplay) (as John Higgins)

Stars:

Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Paul Mantee	...	Cmdr. Christopher 'Kit' Draper
Victor Lundin	...	Friday
Adam West	...	Col. Dan McReady
The Woolly Monkey	...	Mona

Storyline

During a flight to Mars in the spaceship Mars Gravity Probe 1, Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are forced to deviate from an asteroid and they leave their spacecraft in pods. Draper lands on the surface of the Red Planet and survives. He learns how to produce oxygen and while exploring the planet, he finds McReady dead in his crashed pod. He finds also the monkey Mona and brings the animal to the cave where he is sheltered. He learns that he can breathe the Martian air for short periods but needs also oxygen. But Mona finds water and an edible plant in the underground. .After a long period alone, Draper feels the loneliness. One day, he sees a spacecraft landing on Mars and he believes it might be the rescue team to save him. But he finds aliens working on the planet and some of them are slaves. One of them flees and stumble with Draper and he names him Friday. Now he needs to find a way to be rescued and return to Earth.

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Plot Keywords:

stranded | mars the planet | monkey | life on mars | human alien team | 

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Taglines:

One U.S. astronaut pitted against all the odds beyond this earth!

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Genres:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Robinson Crusoe en Marte

Filming Locations:

Castle Dome Peak, Yuma, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aubrey Schenck Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 96 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

After this film was released, screenwriter Ib Melchior and Victor Lundin collaborated on a script called "Columbus of the Stars". which they presented to Paramount. It was similar to Star Trek (1966), complete with illustrations similar to the Enterprise. Some time later, "Star Trek" went into production. Lundin does not claim that his ideas were borrowed by Paramount.

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Goofs

Despite better than average production values for the era in which it was made, the film makes no attempt to turn the Death Valley location scenes reddish in color by the simple use of lenses, or post-production filters.

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Quotes

Draper: Mr. Echo, go to hell!

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Alternate Versions

The BBFC website for the original UK theatrical release lists a running time of just 80 minutes. This suggests the film was heavily cut on its original release as the full theatrical running time is 106 minutes.

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Connections

Featured in TJ and the All Night Theatre: Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1979)

User Reviews

WAAAAAY ahead of its time!

Even though this movie was made in 1964, it puts to shame the more recent (and astronomically more expensive) "Mission to Mars" and "Red Planet".

The characters act much more like real people/enslaved extraterrestrials than was common in sci-fi films of that era. Mantee is well-trained and resourceful, handling most problems (with the exception of his forced isolation) with reasonable aplomb. He is much closer to what we expect an astronaut to be than the ridiculous characters from MtM and RP.

The equipment is also a notch above the usual 60s fare, with real cables, actual dials and knobs, and that utilitarian look so common in military hardware. I have to give this film and extra half-star just for the realistic technology.

Overall, a good, solid sci-fi film from the golden age. Like many others, I'm waiting for the DVD.

*** out of *****