Mars

 

RED PLANET MARS-1952-Prof. Chris Cronyn (Peter Graves) and his wife Lynn (Andrea King; THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS) visit a giant telescope site where scientists there have just taken pictures of Mars which they believe show signs of life. This doesn't surprise Cronyn much as he claims to be getting radio signals from it. Meanwhile somewhere in the Andes a communist scientist Franz Calder (Herbert Berghof), a Nazi war criminal who once experimented on humans, tries to contact Mars for his superiors (led by Marvin Miller). Since he is the person who actually invented the device that Cronyn is using, he's rather bitter. Calder is not successful but can monitor Cronin's progress. Using Pi Cronin gets his Martian response. However this doesn't bode well with the US and it's economy starts to crumble. Everybody wants a piece of Cronyn but a Naval commander (Walter Sande) is sympathetic to him. The secretary of state (Morris Ankrum) wants the lab closed down and he and a General (Tom Keene) want the president (Willis Bouchey) to declare war on Russia. Just when all hope seems lost it's discovered God is on Mars! 

Communist Russia is destroyed by a religious uprising! However later when world peace has been established Calder shows up and drops a bombshell on Cronyn. He was the one sending the message replies, not Mars! Calder plans to tell the world of his charade but then a message really does come from Mars. Calder destroys the machine killing himself and The Cronyns but they die heroes. Vince Barnett, Henry Kulky and Gene Roth among others have small roles. 

This wild cold war propaganda movie was the debut film for director Harry Horner, also a production designer who who later made THE WILD PARTY. RED PLANET MARS is based on a play by John Balderston (who co-wrote the screenplay) author of the screenplays for FRANKENSTEIN (1931) and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935).

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Actually There's No Party..

THE WILD PARTY-1956-Anthony Quinn stars in this grim melodrama the same year he played Quasimodo in the French production of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. Here he plays Ton Kuphen, a loony ex-football player-loser reduced to petty crime. His pals include fruity con-man Gage (Jay Robinson), broke jazz pianist Kicks (Nehemiah Persoff who narrates) and Honey (Kathryn Grant), Tom's spacey semi-innocent girlfriend. They terrorize a society couple, a Navy lieutenant (Arthur Franz) and his rich fiancee (Carol Ohmart, later Vincent Price's wife on HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL)) who Kuphen becomes obsessed with. The four "beats" talk annoying jive in this lurid and racy (I guess for the time) drama with a disappointing finale. Paul Stewart and Barbara Nichols appear in one scene together and Nestor Paiva has a small role.

The jazz score is by Buddy Bregman and Barney Kessell. Maynard Ferguson and Bud Shank appear in an un-credited on-screen band. Director Harry Horner had made RED PLANET MARS and BEWARE, MY LOVELY and was also production designer on many films.

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