RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954)

RIDERS TO THE STARS (1954)

Tagline: Hurtle toward the far reaches of the universe with the space Vikings of the future!

(Sci-Fi, Drama, Cosmic Radiation) [G]

Note: This movie wasn’t given an MPAA rating, but it would have been a [G]. This film was made in color but most of the prints that were sold to TV stations were black and white. This review is for the color version. 

I don’t understand, I’m a scientist, not a guinea pig. 

In this one, some scientists are trying to figure out how meteors are structured. To that end, 12 capable men are brought on to a private base and assigned to the task of taking rockets into space but must undergo several tests to stay on the project. 3 of them will be pilots, don’t worry about it though. They are just trying to capture a meteor; it’s not that big deal.

First off, there are a few crazy things about this movie. In the intro, we get a James Bond-like “Riders to the Stars” song. It’s pretty freakin hilarious by today’s standards. We also have an opening sequence where a jeep is driving so fast the trailer is just bouncing everywhere. It’s pretty nuts because this is supposed to be a top-secret mission and whatnot. They treat this scene like it was dudes just driving around the desert for fun just to see how fast the jeep could go. The “meteor scoop” on the rocket, to me, comes across as one of the least functional ideas out of all the serious 1950s sci-fi flicks I have seen.  If there is one thing I learned from this movie it’s that it’s impossible to look good when you are doing gravity force tests. 

Looking at the casting we get Richard Carlson as Dr. Jerry Lockwood who is always really good in these types of movies. He was also famous for CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE among others. Ironically there is a character named Flint Lockwood who is an inventor in the movie RAINY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS. So every time I hear that last name it reminds me of Flint. William Lundigan does a solid job as Dr. Richard Stanton and really provides the only hint of romance in the movie aside from a short introduction to Dr. Jerry Lockwood’s fiancé (played by Dawn Addams). Martha Hyer plays Dr. Jane Flynn and like everyone else is pretty solid in this but the chemistry between her and Dr. Richard Stanton is only so so. They spend most of their time talking about the stars. Lame. 

Some of the shots in here are pretty cool, stock footage or not, its effective and it gets the message across. That isn’t to say it’s perfect. There is a shot of the earth from one of the rockets in this that is clearly just a topographical globe. Granted, this is pretty normal stuff for the 50s so this is not a knock on the movie at all. The narration is just okay. If you read a lot of my reviews you probably know one of the only narrators I liked was Morris Ankrum. There is a nice little bit of dialog in here where Dr. Don Stanton is talking to his son Dr. Richard Stanton. You can tell how exhilarated he is to be involved In the project as a scientist, but it’s pretty nerve-wracking sending your son up in a rocket where they won’t even give you the odds of survival. I think the advice he gave was shaky, but the scene gives this thing another layer of humanity. 

As one of the more serious 1950s sci-fi efforts the last 13 minutes or so of this movie stands out as one of the more intense straight sci-fi sequences of the era. A lot of this movie is just very slow and not all that interesting, so I have to take off points for that, but overall this is a pretty good movie if you pay attention. It’s just a lot of effort for a 20-inch meteor. It’s a solid 4 out of 7. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF IVAN TORS PRODUCTIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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