Red Planet Mars

Peter Graves plays a scientist in San Diego, California who receives messages from Mars on his radio transmitter (sneakily intercepted by the Russians); initially, the decoded Martian messages about prolonged life and their unnecessary need for industrial mechanics throw America's population into a tailspin. However, it turns out Mars is a Christian planet, and their next communication with us, a regular "sermon on the mount", begins to ease tensions and starts a religious revival worldwide. Talky think-piece, adapted from a play, amusingly full of clean-cut, incredibly polite Americans and savage-acting Russkies. Not likely to please science-fiction fans who are used to propulsive action, though the b&w cinematography by Joseph Biroc is excellent and there are some interesting ideas and a last-act plot-twist. Released at a time when communist hysteria was running rampant in the U.S., the movie is brave enough to attempt a humanitarian tact--and naive enough to believe in what it preaches. A livelier cast might have made it more memorable, but check out Peter's big-screen TV! ** from ****

I fondly remember the movie and particularly liked the conceit used to open communications with the aliens (the number sequence for pi). It was also thrilling to think that world peace could come about. On reseeing the movie over the years, and with the actual passing of the USSR and soviet communism, the movie doesn't really hold up. It's in the museum of propaganda films now. The closing screen was "The Beginning."

Peter Graves and Andrea King are working toward making communications with some life form on the planet Mars. Communications are made and then frequent messages are shot back down to Earth relating the Martian way of life, its lack of need for resources such as coal and oil, its ability to produce enough food from one field to feed a city, etc... All this news puts the world in a panic and the Western world's economy comes crashing down. Workers all of a sudden have nothing to do because of this little piece of communication. Now, the time has come for the East and the Red Menace to take over. What a bunch of malarkey! Red Planet Mars is a definite diversion from typical Sci-fi fare of the 1950s. We never see Mars(except some map of how its surface changes all the time). We don't get a glimpse at any aliens. We don't get any special effects except an astronomy lab and a cheaply-made communication center. What we do get is a story about science fiction actually masking a political agenda: to show how there is a great deal of tension between the West(United States) and the East(Soviet Union). The West is of course good; the East is bad. This is a propaganda film all the way, and though some of it is indeed thoughtful and inspires discussion - much of it is way too simplistic and heavy-handed. To really appreciate the film for what it is, it is important to understand the context of the time in which it was made. As a reminder of the Cold War and all the friction that existed in the world at that time, Red Planet Mars is acceptable. As a science fiction film, Red Planet Mars ultimately fails. Look, it isn't a bad movie really. Sure its doesn't have the most creative direction by Harry Horner. Graves gives his typical every man attempt at a performance of a world-famous scientist that has caused the catastrophic fall of Western civilization as being nothing more than a father of two boys a bit harried with his new found fame. His wife played by King is ever so more unconvincing as she just gives a bad performance. Watch her as she says some of her lines. it's like watching a bad impersonation of Olivier! The rest of cast borders one side or the other around mediocrity(Morris Ankrum has a bit part). Easily the most interesting character in the whole movie is the Russian in charge of trying to beat the Americans in conquering the communications battle. He is funny in his sly manner. If you don't mind the overly-optimistic preaching laced throughout the film and particularly at the end, you might give Red Planet Mars a look. It is definitely not something you have seen before.

An old-fashioned revival of faith sparked by a message from Mars touches an Earth under threat of nuclear war. This probably seems like a silly plot idea to a lot of modern sophisticated people. Except, this is almost what happened in Eastern Europe in our lifetime. Pushed beyond its military-industrial ability by the defense initiatives of Ronald Reagan(also a man of faith), the Soviet Bloc was pushed over the edge as people of faith in Poland, the Baltic republics, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and even Mother Russia herself protested and pushed toward democracy and freedom. The combination of political, economic, and spiritual forces have reshaped a continent and changed our world. The candles and prayers didn't hurt. "Well done, Simplicity!"

Apparently, 1952 was the year the Big Guy finally got broadcasting rights in the US. Because movies like The Next Voice You Hear (1952) and this one managed to put God in direct communication with us mere mortals courtesy the Hollywood hotline. Of course, it really helped when the Big Guy enlisted on our side against the godless commies, while His Presence also helped clean up Hollywood's image as a commie harboring red nest. You might even call His intervention a godsend for the film industry.

Actually, this 90-minutes is to effective propaganda what the sledgehammer is to the fly swatter. At least, its companion movie (The Next…) had the good sense to avoid the obvious, like crude stereotypes. On the other hand, this concoction has no such inhibitions. Commies are uniformly beasts, Russian peasants are uniformly downtrodden, and Americans are uniformly thoughtful. I don't know what Soviet propaganda was like at the time, but it couldn't have been much cruder than this.

I will say the movie is well mounted visually. In fact, the skillful complexity of some of the visuals clashes with the simple-mindedness of the script. On the whole, I wish I could say this propaganda piece is nothing more than a clumsy Cold War artifact. But it's not. Unfortunately, it feeds into that current sense of smug self-congratulation that goes by the popular meme of American exceptionalism.