FLIGHT TO MARS (1951)

FLIGHT TO MARS (1951)

Tagline: Fifty Years Into The Future!

(Sci-Fi, Drama, Why Does It Always Have To Be Martians) [G]

Note: The MPAA did not give a rating for this movie, but I am guessing it would have been a [G]. 

I'm considered a scholar, but unfortunately, that hasn't made me rich.

In this one five astronauts crash land on Mars where they quickly discover there is a civilization on Mars where everyone pretty much looks human. Promised aid to fix their ship, a plot is discovered that involves the Martians actually taking over earth using the repaired rocket.

First off, this movie is actually pretty slow-moving but manages to stay interesting. There is a bit of a love triangle between Dr. Jim Barker and one of the Martian girls Alita and Carol who actually kind of likes Steve. It’s a bit of a mess, but it keeps this thing moving aside from just the “Martians are out to get us” storyline. 

We don’t get any real mind-blowing moments in this movie. Essentially Mars is dying, so I am guessing most of their really cool got buried in sand storms or something. However, I actually liked this thing and one of the reasons was the fact that the movie is multi-layered. We actually have some storytelling going on here and a bit of drama and snarky humor along the way. 

Acting-wise the performances range from pretty decent, to solid. Of course, Morris Ankrum (known for EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCER and more) is in this as Ikron, because if you were smart you just hired this dude for your movie in the 50s. He’s great as usual, but the stand-out performance went to Cameron Mitchell who plays Steve. Mitchell is known for just being in a bunch of crazy flicks like GORILLA AT LARGE (which was an early 80’s attempt to make 3D work on regular TVs. 7-Eleven gave you 3D glasses that you were supposed to put on to watch the movie at home. I was actually one of those kids with the glasses and the movie and 3D sucked), SPACE MUTINY and DEMON COP. We also have Virginia Hudson as Carol and she does a good job here, but quit acting 3 years after this movie came out. Marguerite Chapman plays Alita and is solid but only shows up in the 2nd half of the movie. Her other big sci-fi movie was THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN (1960). She was also the first pick to play the older version of “Rose” in the TITANIC but had to decline for health reasons. Arthur Franz is also pretty good as Dr. Jim Barker. Franz is best known for INVADERS FROM MARS. 

Monogram Pictures was essentially THE ASYLUM of the 1950s known for putting out cheap films quickly. The studio eventually became Allied Artists and was eventually bought by Warner Bros. Some of the production's suits and interiors were reused from ROCKETSHIP X-M and DESTINATION MOON. Allegedly the principal photography was all shot in 5 days. 

As mellow as the storyline is and in spite of the fact that there is nothing special going on here with the Martians, we don’t have a single arm growing out of anyone’s back, no googly eyes, no gorilla suits with zebra heads, I liked this movie and would watch it again. I guess you do have to kind of put yourself into the space of wonder that must have been going on at the dawn of the space and atomic age, but even by today’s standards and if you can handle some none PC dialog, this is a watchable ride. 

I give this one a 4 out of 7. A bit more thought on Martian tech or at least one dude in a Spooky Space Kook mask would have bumped this thing up a bit. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF MONOGRAM PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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