Riders to the Stars

The film manages to capture the wonder and awe of the space age you may have felt as a teenager in the 1950s. It comes through clearly with the superb cast in the movie (Richard Carlson is one of my favorites in this genre). And even though some people don't like the stock footage used, I enjoyed it. With the interaction of characters, and even love interest in the film, the movie takes you to another time and place. About the only the missing from this movie that usually draws me to these films was the usual flying saucer/UFO kind of connection. But even without that, I really enjoyed this movie. I would have loved to have grown up in that era. See it if you get the chance.

Considering that the film was made in 1954, I will cut it some slack when it comes to the special effects--though the outer space shots late in the film were pretty lame (I loved how the ships wobbled). However, even with crude special effects, this is an interesting and important sci-fi film because it has to do with the 1950s views of what the first space flights would be like as well as how they would recruit people to this program. Not knowing about the later formation of NASA and how they recruited pilots from the various branches of the military, the film takes a very different view of how people were brought into this ultra-top secret program--and I found this and the selection methods for the program to be very interesting--wrong, but interesting. Also, fortunately, the space travel was not nearly as rough or dangerous as the film portrayed it--otherwise practically none of our manned space flights would have succeeded! Still, it's a nice sci-fi--and nice to see that, for once, there are no bug-eyed aliens! Well worth seeing for sci-fi fans and lovers of history--though some kids will no doubt laugh at much of the film.

I recently bought a videotape copy of this on eBay to test my recollection of an old favorite. This film was shown often on the old "Chiller Theater" in the NYC viewing area during the 1960's (I think that they owned a stock of about six films). I was at a much more impressionable age at the time and sometimes these things diminish over the decades. Still, I remembered this as being special. Well, it turns out to be a pretty decent effort by both cast and crew. Significantly, it is directed by Richard Carlson, star of such notable films as "The Magnetic Monster," and who found his apex with "It Came from Outer Space." Both of these are on my "favorites" list. Carlson points this film in a direction well apart from the more typical silly space dramas of the 1950's. The cast, which includes Carlson, is first-rate. Look for William Lundigan, who probably earned his starring role on "Men Into Space" (yes, look it up!) with this film. OK, it's not "Destination Moon," but to me it easily surpasses "Rocketship X-M," a real stinker from the same period (starring Loyd Bridges!) over which some aficionados go ga-ga. IF ONLY CARLSON COULD HAVE HAD GEORGE PAL'S SPECIAL EFFECTS. Carlson unfortunately had to rely on really cheap models-on-strings and grainy stock footage of V-2 rocket tests. Usually, I can overlook low-cost effects, but these are SO cheap that the film suffers somewhat as a result. But note the dialog, the human interactions, and most of all, the sense of mission and wonder on the part of the team that needs to pave our way to the stars... Then think about the fact that this made years before Sputnik.

***01/01/2007 UPDATE*** TCM just broadcast a BEAUTIFUL color print of this gem with no commercial interruptions. I hope you had your video recorders running. I certainly did!

This low budget science fiction film from the Middle Fifties is illustrative of just how far we've come in space travel. Now folks like United States Senators like Jake Garn and pop stars like Lance Bass vie for the privilege of space travel. It's proved to be quite a money maker for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

But back in 1954 there was no NASA. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all had rival space programs if you can believe that. It took Sputnik for the Eisenhower administration and Congress to create NASA in 1958.

A group of competent B players bring us Riders to the Stars and the object here is just a quick trip up in space to capture a meteor before it burns up in our atmosphere. One thing is certain, they somehow survive the Van Allen radiation belt that surrounds the Earth, a recent discovery that Riders to the Stars was capitalizing on.

Herbert Marshall heads the scientific team who are looking for a few good men and among those gathered are William Lundigan and Richard Carlson. Martha Hyer is around to be decorative as Marshall's girl Friday and to provide a little romance.

The best part of Riders to the Stars was the intensive physical training that is shown for these astronauts to be. Not unlike what was done in NASA for the original Mercury astronauts. You had to be one peak physical specimen to qualify back in the day. Not that you can have health issues now, but a 60 something US Senator Jake Garn has gone in space and pop star Lance Bass aspires to.

Riders to the Stars is educational, but a bit on the dull side. It really peaks in the last 25 minutes or so with the actual flight. Still it's an earnest film and worth a look.

The movie was one of my favorites when I was gowing up. I was lucky enough to read the paperback book when it came out, & I was very excited when I heard there would be a movie. It is a classic in its way, showing the selection process for what is virtually an impossible task( Space travel depends on onbtaining a material found only in meteorites, so we must travel in space to get it so we can then travel in space...) There is the usual love-interest, but the most interesting character in the book/movie is played by Richard Carlson, as a logical detached scientist, who is lost in a kind of "Rapture of the Deep" in reaction to the reality of, and the sheer beauty of the stars. If you can find this movie --get it!!