RED PLANET MARS (1952)

RED PLANET MARS (1952)

Tagline: The World Torn Asunder By A Threat From Outer Space!

(Sci-Fi, Drama, Pandemonium) [G]

Note – This movie did not originally have an MPAA rating, but I am pretty sure it would have been a G, unless mixing faith and science scares the crap out of you, then it’s an R.

He who follows the tyrant's banner shall wear the tyrant's chains. He who carries God's banner shall know everlasting life!

In this one, an American scientist named Chris Cronyn figures out how to communicate with Mars. After the massive painstaking effort finally resulted in communication back, he and his wife Linda start to regret it all as the world descends into madness. 

First off, this movie reminds me quite a bit of THE SPACE CHILDREN in its central theme, but not in its execution. One thing you start to realize after you have taken as many dives into the 1950’s sci-fi pool as I have you come to realize that the world was not like it now. Science at that time to a larger extent was bold, brave, fearless, unchained by materialism and moral. Those ideas often permeated into the scripts of sci-fi movies and you ended up with several pro-God movies like this one. 

That praise doesn’t mean this movie isn’t just completely missing a lot of the stuff I come to sci-fi for. We don’t ever see Mars up close. We don’t have any rockets or Martians or even a blow dryer on a mannequin with giant googly eyes. This movie probably would have bored the crap out of me as a kid, but watching it now, I think they did a great job of giving us an actual story. What the heck? Why am I getting deep thoughts while watching sci-fi? 

Acting-wise this one is pretty freakin good. I was really impressed by Herbert Berghof who plays the duplicitous Franz Calder. Calder was probably most famous for 1963’s CLEOPATRA. We also have another Morris Ankrum sighting as Secretary Of Defense Sparks. This dude was in a lot of 1950’s sci-fi stuff (HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER and KRONOS to name a couple). Peter Graves is pretty solid in this as the lead male Chris Cronyn. Graves is best known for AIRPLANE!, but also did several awesome sci-fi flicks in the ’50s (IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, THE BEGINNING OF THE END, and a few more). Andrea King plays the leading lady Linda Cronyn and she is pretty good in this. She had a pretty extensive career in Hollywood from 1940 to 1994 but wasn’t in any other major sci-fi flicks. 

In spite of there being very few special effects in this movie, the sets are pretty cool and the score works overall as well as the pacing. I have to say – even for its lack of visual spectacle, this movie is really good. I think director Harry Horner handled the material really well. He is probably best known for directing a few episodes of a TV show called “World Of Giants”. It was about a tiny secret agent about 6 inches tall who went on missions in a briefcase with a small chair inside. 

Overall this one is a 4 out of 7. I loved the story and message, but it could have used a little more actual effects and even a few Martians. 

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