To The Moon

 

 (themoviedatabase)

FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON-1958-Florida 1868: The International Armament Club, a group whose members profited by making weapons for both sides during the Civil War are about listen to Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotton) explain that he's invented Power X, an explosive so devastating it's too powerful to detonate on Earth! He plans to shoot a projectile to the moon and test it. Meanwhile industrialist and southern sympathizer Nicholl (George Sanders) wants to stop Barbicane from destroying the world. He has created a metal that could be used to send the explosive to the moon. He agrees to build a casing only because he thinks it will fail. President Grant (Morris Ankrum) tells Barbicane he must not send a charge to the moon because 22 nations see it as an act of war. He gives up Power X and everyone hates him. He breaks with his colleagues (Henry Daniel, Patrick Knowles and Ludwig Stossel) but his assistants (Carl Esmond and Don Dubbins) stand by him. With Nicholl's help, Barbicane wants to go to the moon and back. To slow things down, Ben (Don Dubbins) romances Nicholl's daughter, Virginia (Debra Paget). With Nicholl's help, he, Barbicane and Ben man a rocket into space with Virginia as a stowaway but the flight seems doomed as Nicholl's has sabotaged it. 

Melville Cooper is also in it as well as the voices of Robert Clarke (same year as THE HIDEOUS SUN DEMON) and Les Tremayne. This Technicolor science fiction is based on a novel by Jules Verne. It was originally produced by RKO but they went out of business and it was picked up and released by Warner Brothers. It's a farfetched but enjoyable tale with the two leads great when they butt heads. Byron Haskin (THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953)) directed. This would be his last S.F. movie until 1964's ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS.

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Cat-Women

 

 (imdb)

CAT-WOMEN ON THE MOON-1953-5 astronauts journey into space. The crew is headed by hardnosed Laird Grainger (Sonny Tufts). His co-pilot is the more laid-back Kip Reissner (Victor Jory). Helen Salinger (Marie Windsor) is the navigator. Doug Smith (William Phipps) is the radar guy and Walt Walters (Douglas Fowley) is the engineer. They land on the moon and Helen seems to know more than she should. After being attacked by giant spiders, they find a cave with oxygen and then find some kind of temple. Helen separates from the men and meets Alpha (Carol Brewster), leader of the female survivors of a genocide ("We have no use for men"). They turn Helen against her male companions and plan to "bring our culture" to Earth and put Earth women under their power. 

This notorious very low budget campy sci-fi space adventure uses props and sets from several other pictures. Director Arthur Hilton had better success as a film editor. Producer/co-writer Al Zimbalist was the executive producer on ROBOT MONSTER the same year! Composer Elmer Bernstein, who would win an Academy Award in 1967, did the soundtrack but his name is misspelled in the credits! (He also did the music for ROBOT MONSTER...).

It was remade in 1958 as MISSILE TO THE MOON.

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