Rocketship X-M – An early 1950s space travel feature

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The early 1950s brought moviegoers a number of space travel features – Destination Moon (1950), Rocketship X-M (1950), Project Moonbase (1953), Flight To Mars (1951) and Conquest of Space (1955), just to name a few. Rocketship X-M was the first to be released of all these features and has always been a favorite of mine of these early space travel films. The film was also entitled Expedition Moon and Rocketship Expedition Moon. Rocketship X-M stars a very young Lloyd Bridges and Danish beauty - Osa Massen

In a race to establish a military base on the moon, a group of scientists led by Dr. Karl Eckstrom (John Emery) blast off on the first space expedition to the moon but are veered off course during a meteor shower and land on Mars instead. Other members of the expedition include Colonel Floyd Graham (Lloyd Bridges), Dr. Lisa Van Horn (Osa Massen), Harry Chamberlain (Hugh O’Brian) and William Corrigan (Noah Beery Jr.). A romance between Graham and Van Horn eventually surfaces.

As the entire crew of Rocketship X-M explore the planet Mars, the group discovers an ancient civilization that was likely destroyed long ago by atomic war. They encounter damaged buildings and sculptures left behind by the Mars inhabitants. The scenes of the explorers on Mars are filmed with an interesting sepia tone of brown and red. The entire planet appears to be a dry desert climate void of any life.

The crew of Rocketship X-M later encounters a group of primitive cavemen who run around with animal loin cloths and carry bludgeons. One close up shot of the only cavewoman in the film reveals that she wears lipstick and make-up and has well-groomed hair. Even Martian cave women want to look beautiful for their cavemen. Three of the crew members of Rocketship X-M are attacked by the cavemen and later die from their injuries.

Dr. Lisa Van Horn and Colonel Floyd Graham race back to the rocketship carrying injured Harry Chamberlain with them. The Mars cavemen are on their trail. As the rocketship blasts off the planet Mars, Van Horn discovers that the ship does not have enough fuel for it to land safely back on earth. Van Horn and Graham embrace each other, knowing they are going to die on their return trip. They reveal their attraction and love for each other in their final moments before the ship crashes back on earth.

The sepia tone sequences in the film of the surface of Mars may have been an inspiration for the 1959 Ib Melchior film – Angry Red Planet. In that film, a gimmick known as “cine-magic” is used, which is a red, pinkish filter used for scenes on the planet Mars. This seems appropriate for the film, since Sidney Pink was the writer and producer of the film.

Academy Award winners Dennis Muren, Bob Skotak Tom Scherman, Mike Minor with film historian and archivist Bob Burns, produced three minutes of new footage inserted into Rockship X-M in 1978. This new footage replaced existing stock footage and special effects. This 1978 footage can be seen in the Wade Williams volume four Science Fiction Gold – Englewood Entertainment VHS print of the film released in 1997.

Although Destination Moon is a color feature space travel film released just a month after Rocketship X-M, and later won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, I find Rocketship X-M to be a more entertaining film. Its plot is much simpler and the entire film had a budget of only about 15 percent of Destination Moon, but the result is a space adventure feature that manages to entertain the viewer. Happy  viewing.

Steve D. Stones

Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club a great place for cult genre fans; a chat with its founder

 

Today, Plan9Crunch blogs is thrilled with the opportunity to interview Clark West, who runs the Noonan’s Sci-Fi Club Facebook page. Recently nominated for a Rondo Award, Noonan’s is just a fascinating, cerebral journey into all things fantasy and horror … and more. I’m addicted to it and love to share observations, clips, art, blog posts and more. Ed Wood, vintage horror, grindhouse, TV sci-fi, Godzilla and pals including Hedorah, I’m a frequent poster to Noonan’s. It’s just a great, valuable genre site, and we now talk with its founder, who lives in Osaka, Japan.

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Plan9Crunch: Welcome Clark! You have this very interesting Facebook page that tackles some cult genres, and has a steady stream of followers and conversation. Tell us about your past, and how you developed an interest in these genres?

West: I got an early start. Really early! My older sisters and dad were Trekkies, so I cannot even remember the first time I saw STAR TREK, but I am fairly certain my first glimpse of the Gorn required a diaper change. My earliest memory of ANY movie was James Whale’s 1931 FRANKENSTEIN. I learned how to tell time because my sister Joy came home from school one day exclaiming how there was going to be a really awesome movie called KING KONG on at 8pm that night. I sat and watched the clock on the kitchen wall for what seemed hours, and very well could have been, waiting for the fat hand to reach eight and the long hand twelve! Shortly after that, my sister introduced me to Godzilla via the infamous NBC 60 minute broadcast of GODZILLA VS MEGALON, hosted by John Belushi in a Godzilla suit! That hooked me on not just Kaiju but ALL things Japanese. Anime, Kurosawa, Hello Kitty… you name it. Almost a half century later, here I am in Osaka, lamenting that I cannot, for at least now, watch THE TWILIGHT ZONE or DOCTOR WHO, the latter of which I was hooked on since I was a 5 year old, and I’ve been a TZ fanatic since I was seven, so why not devote my spare time to creating a Facebook Group celebrating all this stuff! I was born in Oklahoma but ran away as fast as I could.”

Plan9Crunch: What made you decide to take the social media plunge and create a Facebook page. How did your ideas for it develop?

West: All the peeps I refer to as the “Founding Noonans”, and I, belonged to a really fun Facebook Group more than half a decade ago called “The Science Fiction Multiverse.” (It was) really fun, except for the person who ran the group. One day the group’s “Overlord,” as he liked to call himself, had a meltdown and closed shop on our dear old “SFM.” So a few days later, Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club was born. I didn’t do it all alone though. A super fan named Perry Williams, our senior admin, as it were, was a huge help, even rewriting the Group Intro into something more presentable. And Andrew Gaska, now an award-winning professional writer of roleplay games and various things, talked me out of calling the place “Richard’s Sci-Fi Fun Club”, telling me “You can’t have a more Sci-Fi name than Noonan!” I am forever in their debt! And I owe a debt to my late friend Richard Noonan, in whose memory the page was named.

Plan9Crunch: What drives you to think about new ideas, and how do you keep the enthusiasm to maintain an atmosphere where new ideas can be discussed?

West: Perry Williams clearly states in our Group Intro, “And Everything Else Geeks and Nerds Love.” So I take that as cart-blanche. Just about anything goes! From Silent Movies to Baby Sloths!  I often post about interesting things in Japan, and our Welsh Administrator often shares facts about his country. I really want Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club to appeal to the Renaissance Nerd, the Anorak who is all over the place, the Otaku who does not where to curb their enthusiasm. Basically, people like me!

Plan9Crunch: You place an emphasis on hashtags. I try to make hashtags. I think it's an intriguing idea within the page. How do the hashtags increase the impact of the page?

West: The Hashtag idea was introduced to me by a former admin, David Cho, and I am forever in his debt! I was slow to pick up on the idea myself, but then I realized, it was genius! Especially if you come from a Message Board Background, the hashtags enable you to actually organize your Facebook Group’s content, making it easier to browse, and in my thinking, more conducive to the sort of fan scholarship I try to encourage in the group. The average Facebook Groups I am sad to say are ephemeral wastelands. Hashtags lend your post some immortality. It is a hard sell though. None of the Admins and Mods in Group understand the benefit. Except for our hashtag hero, Alex Pass! A new member Marcie Carpenter has also been a big help of late. I think the hashtags are FINALLY starting to catch on!

Plan9Crunch: Your Facebook page was nominated for a Rondo. That must have been gratifying. Who do you credit besides yourself for the nomination?

West: Just being nominated for a Rondo, that will always be worn by the group as a badge of honor! David Colton’s Classic Horror Film Board is what I am striving for with Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club! That level of fun, yet serious, scholarly analysis, and discussion of the things we love. Who do I credit for the nomination? All the fantastic members of course! They are the ones who helped us come close to that goal this year!

Plan9Crunch: What new ideas are in the planning stage?

West: My wife is very insistent I make something called “money”, so now that I appear to have a recognizable brand name, even if to a limited crowd … expect Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club, the Pod Cast, to come soon. I have also have been trying off and on to encourage members to create local, physical chapters of the Club. All of that was before Covid-19 hit. As the world recovers, or at least gets used to the new conditions, I plan to continue that push. We have an Osaka Chapter, with a Meet Up page and everything, but with only three members!.

Plan9Crunch: I think it's a great idea to have page followers vote occasionally. Although Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club encompasses many genres, what is your favorite cult genre?

West: I try to make everyone feel they have a voice! They too are playing a major part in the Group. So I usually put the bigger decisions up to a poll. I want everyone to feel included! I am not sure I can reveal my favorite cult genre though! Noonan’s Sci-FI Fun Club covers so many things precisely because I love so many things with a deep passion! I love the movies of Studio Ghibli founders Hayao Miyazaki and Issao Takahata. I consider Miyazaki the greatest living director of our times. I also have a huge soft spot for pre-code Hollywood, especially the Horror Movies and Comedies. I deeply love DOCTOR WHO, at least from the Hartnell era up to the end of David Tennant. I can’t wait to see what the returning Russell T Davis has in store for us next year. It really depends on my mood. I deeply love so many different things!

Plan9Crunch: Expound on the reason for the name of the page Noonan's Sci-Fi Fun Club?

West: Richard Noonan was a sweet, elderly man in the previously mentioned Science Fiction Multiverse. He got banned for posting too many “Off Topic” posts, and I led the charge to convince “The Overlord” to re-instate him as a member. He would send me video Christmas Cards of him singing “Amazing Grace” every year. With no near family, he spent his final few days after the heart attack in a hospice. I was text messaging with the kindly lady who sat vigil over him at the moment he died. I want Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun club to be a tribute to him. (It’s) a place full of compassion, love, and understanding.

Plan9Crunch: It might be interesting to know the advantages and challenges, of following these cult genres living in Japan.

West: Since I am a pre-code Hollywood kind of guy, it hasn’t been too much of a problem. I trust the members to bring me news from the outside world! Here in Japan, we get the Marvel Movies the same date as their American releases, and Netflix and Amazon Prime have me fixed for TREK. I do miss DOCTOR WHO though. The show had a huge following amongst Japanese women for a while, the idea of a handsome foreigner taking you away on a life of travel appeals greatly to them. Sad to say the current Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, destroyed that fantasy. But Japan and the US are the same Blu-Ray region, so I just need to make money and buy American Blu-Rays of DOCTOR WHO and the Classic Horrors and Comedies I miss so! I have many pots on the fire. I’m doing various English lessons, working on starting my own English school, and of course, I want to launch Noonan’s Sci-Fi Fun Club: The Pod Cast! Perhaps then, I can interview you? Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Thank you very much. This was a fascinating interview. You have a unique, creative mind.

Things To Come – A 1930s Science-Fiction Classic

Review by Steve D. Stones

Things To Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies (1936), is science fiction entertainment at its finest, particularly for the 1930s. Based on the H.G. Wells book – The Shape of Things To Come, this film is one of the most lavish and epic stories to ever make its way to the screen. It is required viewing for any fan of science-fiction cinema.

The film is conveyed in three acts. The first act shows Christmas Day 1940 in Everytown (what appears to be modern London) just before war and global conflict breaks out. The second act depicts the outcome of war and the decades that follow as civilization is being torn apart. In the third act, one hundred years has passed since war first broke out and civilization has technologically advanced greatly in those years.

In an opening sequence, John Cabal, played by Raymond Massey, expresses his concerns to Pippa Passworthy (Edward Chapman) over newspaper headlines proclaiming war to be near. In his upbeat attitude, Passworthy tells Cabal that wars stimulate progress. “Yes, war can be a stimulating thing, but you can overdo a stimulant,” says Cabal. “If we don't end war, war will end us” continues Cabal as he watches his children play with their toys on Christmas Day.

Eventually war does break out on Christmas Day 1940, and a great global conflict marches on for decades after. A wandering sickness, similar to the black plaque of the Middle Ages, breaks out and millions of people die as the war wages on.

It is now 1966, and a war general known as “the boss” or “the chief,” played by Academy Award nominee Ralph Richardson, tries to hold together his small band of survivors in a territory he refers to as an “Independent Sovereign State.” This is the same region of Everytown where the war began some 26 years earlier. The survivors of this region are convinced that airplanes and flight are a thing of the past, since they haven't seen an airplane in years.

This all changes one day when a much older John Cabal lands his plane in this region. After landing, he is ordered to be arrested by “the boss” and brought before him as a war prisoner. Cabal warns “the boss” that if he is killed or anything happens to him, his “wings over the world” of united airmen will come to find him and destroy “the boss” and his soldiers.

The united airmen arrive one day to put an end to “the boss” and to free Cabal. The survivors of Everytown are gassed by the united airmen. Cabal addresses the airmen and speaks of the great struggle ahead to rebuild civilization and put life back on track.

Fast forward to 2036 and we see a revitalization of the Industrial Revolution. Society has been rebuilt, and with greater technological advancements. This act of the film shows some the most spectacular props and environments, which have likely influenced every science fiction film that has followed.

As part of the new advancements in society, a giant space gun has been built which will allow space travelers to obit around the moon. A group led by Theotocopulos, played by actor Cedric Hardwicke, rebels against current advancements, particularly the space gun and orders the gun to be destroyed. Cabal is able to put together a group to quickly launch an expedition to the moon before Theotocopulos can interfere and destroy the gun.

The folks at Genius Entertainment-Legend Films colorized and restored Things To Come in 2006 with the supervision of special effects, animation wizard Ray Harryhausen. This DVD of the film also shows a newly restored and colorized trailer for the film. An interview and audio commentary with Ray Harryhausen is also included. The original black and white print of the film is also included.

In the 1980s, Goodtimes Home Video put out a VHS tape of Things To Come with the silent classic Metropolis (1926) - both on the same tape. Having both films on a double bill makes sense because they both explore similar themes. Metropolis shows us an technologically advanced society in which man becomes a slave to the master of Metropolis to do his bidding in building an advanced society. In Things To Come, we see an advanced civilization in the third act, but man is not necessarily a slave to the advancements. A small band of rebels revolt against these advancements in Things To Comes, as they do at the end of Metropolis. Both films are considered two of the most intelligent science fiction films in the history of cinema.

This Memorial Day holiday, enjoy a screening of Things To Come. Happy viewing!

Ship of Monsters (La Nave De Los Monstruos) - 1960

Review by Steve D. Stones

This south of the border science fiction feature, "Ship of Monsters," has everything a good low budget cult film should have - sexy space girls in bikinis and high heels, a giant robot, a phallic rocket flying through the universe and ugly space creatures trapped in a cave.

Sexy Venusian gals Gamma (Ana Bertha) and Beta (Lorena Velazquez) have been assigned to bring back "perfect male specimens" to Venus. The male population on Venus has been destroyed by atomic destruction.  Their spaceship lands in Mexico where they meet cowboy - Laureano Atrevino Gomez, played by Eulalio 'Piporro' Gonzalez. Gomez was hoping the universe would bring him a lovely female companion as he watched Gamma and Beta's ship soar through the sky. Now, he has encountered two of them. He will have a difficult choice to make.

Gamma and Beta tell Gomez that they are part of a traveling circus and are looking for a place to stay while their giant robot Torr makes repairs to their spaceship. Gomez decides to allow the two to stay at his home. He is puzzled that the two sexy gals do not have boyfriends and have never heard of love and marriage. Lucky for them, they've never had their hearts broken. Gomez proceeds to explain what love and marriage is. Beta wants to take Gomez back to Venus to have him for herself.



Some of the male specimens in the spaceship have gotten out of control. With the help of Torr, Gamma and Beta encase them in frozen blocks and hide them in a remote cave. These male specimens are obviously not human, for they are ugly and look like space aliens.  One of the specimens is named Tawal - Prince of Mars. His head is shaped like a giant brain, similar to the aliens in Invasion of The Saucer Men (1957). Another is a cyclops with vampire teeth named Uk - King of The Fire Planet.

Beta is sentenced to death after Gamma witnesses her turn into a vampire and murder some local villagers. It is never explained how or why Beta becomes a vampire. Perhaps Uk bit her on the neck? She escapes the spaceship and frees all the aliens from the cave. Uk slaughters Gomez's cow, and eventually his horse.

The film tries to merge several genres - science-fiction, comedy, a musical and a western. Gomez has a number of scenes in which he sings. In one sequence, Torr says to the jukebox in Gomez's home "Oh baby, what lovely bulbs you have," which is an obvious sexual reference, after the fact that Gomez has sang a love song to Gamma.

Ship of Monsters would make a great double feature with the 1966 Larry Buchanan film - Mars Needs Women. One film has women searching for men to bring back to their planet for breeding purposes. The other film has men looking for women for breeding purposes on their planet. Perhaps director Buchanan may have been inspired by Ship of Monsters when he made Mars Needs Women? Happy viewing.

'Keep Watching the Skies' -- the guide to 1950s science fiction

By Doug Gibson

Thirty-plus years ago, Bill Warren published the first edition of "Keep Watching the Skies: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties." It is the indispensable guide to the genre's glory era.

Recently, Warren's book was updated for the 21st Century, and a two-volume set has been released by McFarland Press. The link to buying it is here . You can also call 800-253-2187 to order and the pub's website address is http://www.mcfarlandpub.com. There's 1,040 pages with more than 270 photos, and middle-pages inset of color photos of movie posters in both volumes.

Frankly, there isn't another resource book on this topic that can match what Warren and his researcher Bill Thomas have accomplished. It's manna for genre obsessives and scholars, but it can also be enjoyed by casual fans of the films, used as a reference and guide of the pros and cons of the films.

For the 21st Century edition, there's some new and updated essays and tidbits of information. Reviews have been revised, some updated. It amazed me that even the Bowery Boys fantasy outings are reviewed, there's even a small essay about them in the back. And the fantasy films of Abbott & Costello and The Three Stooges receive play. Warren accurately notes that the first Stooges sci-fi foray, "Have Rocket, Will Travel," plays like an extended comedy short of the team.

Also, I should mention that films are covered well into the 60s. "The Time Machine" shares space with "Wild Women of Wongo," "Them" with "Invisible Invaders" and add by the hundreds.

In a genre that is now sometimes slow to break new information, I found new nuggets of wisdom and facts in many of the reviews. So, if you're an established fan, you can spend $50 secure that you'll learn something in the reviews.

The reviews are satisfyingly long for an index-type book. None of the films are fobbed off with a few paragraphs. One thing about Warren that will either please or dismay, depending on your taste, is that he reviews the films in a non-nonsense, no overt affection for the genre bias. He looks at a film such as "Voodoo Island" or "Torbor the Great" or an Edgar Ulman cheapie much the same as he would review a conventional drama of the period. There are no review points that derive from the love of the genre.

If the film's poorly acted, wooden, badly directed, it gets a pan. It doesn't matter if it has cult status or not. I respect this but will add that films such as "Plan 9 From Outer Space," or "Beyond the Time Barrier," or any other cheapie that has cult status has something that makes them unique, and memorable. It's not an obligation to love these films. They had something that was not derivative. Hence they merit that acknowledgment.

Having said that, it's obvious Warren loves these films, even if he's harder on many of them that other genre fans. After all, he wrote 1,000-plus pages about them. And with some of the cult Z movies, he admits that the subject is notably bizarre.

One more thing. The index is fantastic. Poring through it underscores how much valuable scholarship is found in the pages of the two volumes.

I took me two weeks to get through both volumes and I'll spend decades revisiting the books to read about the films. "The Tingler," "The Creeping Unknown," "Devil Girl From Mars," "30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock" ... YOU WILL NEVER RUN OUT OF FILMS TO PERUSE.

Queen of Blood a decent B sci-fi film of the '60s

By Doug Gibson

Not many know it, but the 1960s was a fertile field for low-budget science fiction space operas. Like 1970s slasher films, the sci-fi genre had not been co-opted by A studios yet. There was a wide variety of low budget scifi, running the gamut from Edgar Ulmer to Hugo Grimaldi to David Hewitt and even Mario Bava.

I'd say among the best of the lot was Bava's Planet of the Vampires, the worst including Space Probe Taurus and Hewitt's Wizard of Mars, although that kitschy film is still a lot of fun. Other mediocre offerings of low-budget scifi include The Human Duplicators, and also that silly film with Richard Kiel as an oafish monster that miniaturized spaceman overpower, when they're not making out with teeny alien women (can't recall the title). Hewitt's Journey To the Center of Time isn't too bad, though, despite its five and dime budget.

Somewhere in the middle, with a definite tilt toward the positive, is the 1966 scifi "Queen of Blood," which you can watch on Amazon Prime or buy as "Planet of Blood" from Sinister Cinema. As you can see above from the green alien woman, it has one creepy monster alien. I use the term "alien" because I think, not unreasonably, that this film played some inspiration for the eventual film "Alien." Our title monster is on a space ship with several astronauts, including an earth woman, and victims get picked off in solitary fashion.

So, the plot: Earth has discovered communications with aliens. The head of all this is a slumming Basil Rathbone, who chews the scenery well as a scientist/administrator who regards gathering and storing information on aliens as more important that the personal welfare of human astronauts, or frankly the earth's future. Speaking of astronauts, a couple of them are played by star John Saxon and future bigger star Dennis Hopper. The obligatory love interest female astronaut, and these films usually had 'em, was played by Judi Meredith.

Once earth learns that the aliens are in distress, earth sends some assistance. Eventually, our human astronauts discover a mysterious colorful (in the hue sense) alien woman (Florence Marley) who is as mentioned, creepy to the max. She doesn't talk, has a smile that would suit Medusa and shies away from any contact. While the astronauts are separated, she preys one the unlucky one, hypnotizing them and sucking out all their blood. The others discover their colleagues dead and the Queen of Blood asleep, with blood trickling from her mouth. She's satiated, until she wakes up again to feed.

Although on my first watch of the film I wished we could learn more about the alien, maybe have her speak, on second viewing I realized that keeping her silently mysterious, even after she's revealed as a killer adds to the sinister themes. Why is she doing this? Is she even aware of its evil, or is it normal behavior among her planet?

I won't give away any more of the plot except to point out that the film does extend beyond the action and horror to illustrate the callousness of scientific obsessives who care far more about keeping the blood-sucking aliens alive than the astronauts in their care. Rathbone is the chief example of this sentiment in the film.

Queen of Blood is a fun, at times shocking 1960s' offering. It was released through a larger studio, MGM, and made a lot of money, although the film has the look of a lower-budget offering. Saxon is good as the chief astronaut and Hopper exudes the charm that more audiences would discover.

Watch the trailer below and check this out if you haven't seen it.

A Plan9Crunch videocast! Santa Claus Conquers the Martians!

"Hurray for Santy Claus!" was the cheery theme song for the ultra-bizarre 1960s kiddie-matinee Christmas cult classic "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians." The hyper-low budget, so-bad-it's-good blend of sci-fi and holiday cheer hung around theaters for more than a decade. In the past couple of generations, it was named one of the 50 Worst Films by the Medved brothers, was spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3000 and is still ubiquitous as a DVD offering in dollar stores. In the video podcast above, Steve D. Stones and I, along with camera help from Jennifer Thorsted, dissect this wonderful film. And, by, we're in the screening room of the beautiful Art House Cinema 502 theater, located at 158  Historic 25th Street in Ogden, Utah.
-- Doug Gibson