Voando para Marte

Lippert Pictures struck paydirt with 1950's Rocketship XM, and was hoping for a similar result with this feature. As early sci-fi, the movie's okay, but lacks the grit of its predecessor. The premise is a real stretch with an underground Martian civilization that speaks flawless English, while the women parade around like Las Vegas show girls. (Not that I'm complaining.) Then too, the rocketship crew treats their pioneering flight like a trip to the mall.

But if you can get past some of this nonsense, parts of the movie are eye-catching. I really like the standing rocket in the dome with the people beneath. It's a well-done effect, especially in color. Also, the script deals fairly thoughtfully with the predicament the Martians find themselves in. In short, that aspect is not settled in a typical Hollywood wrap-up. Then there's the great Morris Ankrum as Ikrom, the sneaky plotter. Would any sci-fi of the period be complete without his lordly presence. Anyway, despite the pacing that sometimes drags, the movie ends up somewhere in the middle of all those goofy 50's space operas.

Four men and a lady blast off for the red planet Mars in this lean-budgeted but likable little yarn. The explorers find a thriving civilization of completely humanoid Matians. The leaders of the Martian government act friendly, but they secretly plot to kill the Earthlings and steal the secret of their rocket propulsion system.

Scientist Arthur Franz (`Invaders from Mars') is the leader of the expedition, Cameron Mitchell is the wisecracking newspaper man, and Virginia Houston is Franz's jilted fiancé'. Mitchell fall in love with Miss Houston, and Franz falls in love with a gorgeous Martian lady in a minidress, played by Marguerite Chapman, the heroine of `Spy Smasher' -- one of the Republic serials which Lucas and Speilberg patterned `Raiders of the Lost Ark' after.

Director Lesley Selander shot the picture in just 11 days, and admirable accomplishment in view of the results. After all, it was made in 1951 (the same year as `The Thing' and `The Day the Earth Stood Still') in glorious Cinecolor, and the set designs are remarkably similar to those used in `This Island Earth'. I read somewhere (`Starlog' magazine, I think') that the sets and special effects were by the same people.

The costumes are excellent, especially those worn by the attractive female stars (extremely short, `futuristic' dresses). Also noteworthy is the fact that we get to see Morris Ankrum in his second sci-fi role (the first was `Rocketship X-M'). He portrays a general, as he did in so many 1950s sci-fi films -- but this time he's a MARTIAN general who urges his people to invade the Earth!

A lovely irony for 1950s sci-fi fans.

The highly appealing rocket in `Flight to Mars' was reused in at least three other 1950s movies -- `Queen of Outer Space', `World Without End', and `It ! The Terror from Outer Space'. And that makes this rocket the most well-traveled interplanetary vehicle in film history, second only to the Millennium Falcon!

If you've got a soft spot for 1950s films, this one will warm the your heart if you can find it. Lemme' know if you do.

OK. As far as sci-fi flicks go, this is a mildly competent low-budget space movie. But it launches into eye-popping glory when barely- clad Martian women suddenly appear (and thoughtfully lend some clothing to the previously fabric-laden Earth woman). A mini-skirt suggests something that would cover posteriors. These take it one step beyond tennis dress short and into swimsuit country when we are treated to views of matching underwear, which the skirts don't cover. Other than that, the film is pretty awful, including an ending that seems as if filming was halted by the studio precisely at 3:00 pm or whatever so they could start shooting the next film. This film does mark a high point for Monogram studio--the set design rises far and above what they usually do. If you grew up during the Cold War, you will have affection for this film, despite its faults. The haminess of the dialog and acting, along with the matte drawings of the futuristic city will bring anyone back to the charms and fears of fifties America. So despite it's cheesiness, Flight to Mars is a small gem.

Flight to Mars was made in the hey-day of the Cold War, so perhaps it is not unreasonable that Monogram films chose not to advertise that the original story was "Aelita," by the Russian novelist Alexei Tolstoy.

Of course, the main character's name, Alita, does sort of give that away. The basic story line and character line up were retained, with the exception of the professional revolutionary who got dropped. In the book the reporter appears at the beginning and end of the narrative, and does not accompany the characters to Mars. In the book the engineer was married, not afianced. Of course, the Russians also filmed Aelita as a silent. What is interesting is that the American version is more faithful to the original plot.

Surprisingly few of the reviews mention that - like George Pal's 'Destination Moon' (1950) - this was shot in colour; the brick red of Cinecolor well-suited to rendering the Red Planet.

Set fifty years in the future, it was plainly a prestigious production for Monogram, boasting an atmospheric score by Marlin Skiles, vivid photography by Harry Neumann, good model work and elegant production design by Ted Haworth making attractive use of the limited colour palate and anticipating 'Star Trek' (as do the women's costumes and the matter of fact depiction of Martian society as multi-racial; although the silly emblems on the men's costumes look more like something devised for 'Batman').

Taking it's lead from Pal's film Arthur Strawn's script (the usual tedious romantic complications notwithstanding) is fairly sober and plausible until we arrive on Mars, when Flash Gordon unfortunately takes over as its template as an early example of what Bruce Rux later described as "the mini-skirted space-maiden movie trend".