La Conquête de l'espace

Producer George Pal was a man of vision and accurate imagination. The one thing that he can be given undeniable credit for is how accurately he portrayed the surface of Mars. The Mars Explorer photographs when we had them revealed a world not unlike what we see in Conquest Of Space. Of course a lot of credit is also due to scientist Willy Ley whose books are the basis of the film.

Conquest In Space is a future world concept from 1955 where we now have a World Space Organization where the USA is taking the lead in space exploration. An international space station is constructed and people live there months at a time. It's under the command of General Walter Brooke who is concerned with the psychological problems of being too long in space. So he wants a handpicked crew for the exploration of the moon.

But the authorities on earth are shooting for bigger game. Kind of unrealistically they decide to forget the moon and aim for Mars. Brooke is in command and his eventual crew is his own son Captain Eric Fleming, Sgts. Mickey Shaughnessy, Benson Fong, and Phil Foster. In this future world no blacks or women are on the space station. The presence of the latter might well have cured at least some of the problems the guys were having.

On the way there Brooke develops some space problems of his own as he gets downright metaphysical, wondering if God meant for us to leave the planet earth that He bequeathed as a domain for man. Those issues cause all kinds of problems for the rest of the Mars expedition that are the basis for the plot of the film.

Conquest Of Space is imaginative but also intelligent. No hostile Mars creatures are found at least not in the corner of Mars they land. It was a realistic assessment of man surviving in a hostile environment and one of the better science fiction films of the Fifties.

It is interesting that Pal felt the first astronauts would be like navy crews - I don't think that NASA ever sent NCOs into space, only the best qualified scientists and pilots. The age of the commander would have disqualified him as well, and as it turns out, that would have been better for the expedition. I found the Irish "tag-along" character deeply annoying, and I am not sure how he could have managed to sneak on board.

All that aside, this was Hollywood's first serious attempt to reach Mars, and considering that Viking hadn't been there yet, it's not too bad. Shame about the blue skies...

Most interesting for me was that the futuristic "minimalist" fittings and fixtures on the space wheel look like nothing other than the style of the sets for the really up-to-date Star Trek: Enterprise.

Yes, just like the present, it's going to be a retro future, folks!

Not George Pal's best,but at least he had us farther along then we are now.His unflagging optimism was all up there on the screen.As a kid who built space ship models I loved this stuff.The film drags a little now,but the dead astronaut's body tagging along for the ride till his "at sea" burial,kept me awake all night at age 8.movie trivia moment:character actor William Redfield who washed out of the mission crew got to pilot the miniaturized sub in "Fantastic Voyage".Talk about perseverance!

Ambitious in scope, undeniably action-packed: George Pal's third 1950s sci-fi film is loaded with glorious, Technicolor special effects that rival `2001: A Space Odyssey' (supervised by John P. Fulton). The basic plot (the first manned mission Mars) can be criticized for being little more than a rehash of `Destination Moon' -- but it's a theme no one really minds repeating.

Unfortunately, the movie suffers mightily from the embarrassing performances of some of its stars. The script contains several ethnic stereo-types which are just short of tasteless ethnic jokes. Perhaps the film's worst flaw is its choice of `villains' -- a mission commander who goes crazy from reading the Bible too much. The message isn't really anti-religious, but it can easily be misinterpreted as such.

However, if you're able to get around this particular flaw, `The Conquest of Space' is a wonderful science fiction adventure. Impressive sets and props by art directors Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan Johnson. Excellent music by Van Cleave (`The Space Children', `The Colossus of New York'). The story is based on a book by Willy Ley and Chesley Bonestell (who also provided the great space art which the matte shots are based on).

When you watch this film, remember that the plans for the first satellite -- much less the first Mars mission -- were years away. All in all, they did pretty good. And my class of fourth grade students agree.

Intended as a follow-up to his previous success DESTINATION MOON, George Pal puts together a visually-impressive rocketship story that is largely successful, if a tad slow. While the first film used science-fiction author Robert Heinlein for its source material, this film uses the works of rocket scientists Willy Ley and Werner Von Braun. The difference between the two beginnings result in a little less characterization, and a little more emphasis on the hardware.

Some of the characters and situations are standard sci-fi fare, but the quality of the execution is remarkably high. Production values are top-notch, and show Pal's touch despite budget limitations. Some stock character relationships (the father/son turmoil, the commander's breakdown) fill in less serviceably, but the honest adventure works, far better than recent 'sci-fi' epics like ARMAGEDDON, which tread the same hackneyed stereotypes and cliches, but without the honest enthusiasm and optimism of the earlier, more innocent time. What results is still a superior product to most of the 50's SF pictures.

I can think of few other films with the stunning, vibrant color of this one--it's rather sad that Hollywood can't do these glowing hues and bright visuals anymore.