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 ****

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.

I enjoyed the film, like a little snip of history, as you could "feel" the mood of the times just watching it.

What I was wondering, when you see Peter Graves watching television at home he is clearly looking at a wide (really wide) screen set seemingly embedded in a wall that is made of stone floor to ceiling.

Additionally, he has knobs on a table along side his chair to turn on and off the set.

For all intent and purpose (with the exception of no remote control) the room is set up rather like a home-theater only in 1952. Were there wide screen television able to be set into a wall with knobs on tables back then? I noticed too that the screen was surrounded by wood trim, rather like the way you see a wall mounted AC unit! Interesting.

I recall seeing this as a youngster and being really disappointed! No Flash Gordon, no rockets, space guns, not even any Martians. After viewing it again recently, I realize, there was a REAL story here. More fantasy then sci-fi, views more like "The Next Voice You Hear", another movie that dealt in the spirtuality of modern times. A great cast performs admirably and the unexpected conclusion make this one well worth a second look.

I first saw this movie today on TCM. When I saw the title, I was misled into thinking that I was going to be treated to the typical alien-monster excitement that accompanies such films. Nothing could be further from the truth. This was a Red-Scare propaganda film masquerading with a science fiction title. It had all of the anti-communist rhetoric, along with the typical scare tactics of how bad and evil the commies were, contrasted by the western world's freedoms of religion and speech as was viewed by many during those turbulent times. And isn't it a coincidence that the powers-that-be weaved a story about the "Red" planet that featured the evils of the "Red" menace? Apparently "Red" was a popular color in this black and white production.

What was the cause of all this nonsense? Immediately after the conclusion of the second World War a distrust deveioped between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both sides, of course, had their reasons for such distrusts and cannot be elaborated here. However, a lot of anti-Soviet propaganda films were made by Hollywood between 1946 and 1963. One such film, an MGM short called "The Hucksters" (1951) reflects this paranoia with zeal. During an era when the House on Un-American Activities were busy with their "witch hunts" many great actors and actresses were victimized. The Red Planet Mars is a product of a worried Hollywood reacting to this persecution. Incidentally, President Truman, during the election campaign of 1948 called this witch hunt a "red herring". So, we have "red" menace, "red" planet and "red" herring.

There were many such films created during this time period. People were scared stiff of an atomic attack from the Soviet Union (the Soviets first tested an atomic bomb in 1949), so a movie like this capitalized on such fears.

And the movie moguls from this period took advantage of sci-fi films as another avenue to portray the evil Russians, albeit in an alien creature guise. Of course, this was all a sign of the times during this era. What could be worse? alien threat or Communist takeover? This was simply a reflection of the ignorance that dominated the minds of many about both subjects, and ignorance, if left unchecked, breeds fear.

As a science fiction film, this movie falls flat on it's face. However, it is recommended to anyone out there who likes the propaganda slant that this film has to offer.