Originally posted on 5/29/21
Currently watching: PROJECT MOONBASE (1953). This is one of those lower-tier 1950s space thrillers that's fascinating to watch in order to see how various filmmakers envisioned humankind's impending forays into outer space.
While some, such as CAT-WOMEN OF THE MOON and FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE, are just pure goofball cheese, this one at least attempts to be a sober, imaginative forecast of a future in which a huge space station orbits the Earth and serves as both a receptacle for shuttle rockets from Earth and a launch pad for LEM-like vehicles to carry astronauts on to the moon and back.
Legendary sci-fi author Robert Heinlein still seems to be cutting his literary teeth here, co-writing the story and screenplay with a callow earnestness that, while fun and somewhat intriguing at times, lacks any hint of his later brilliance.
The story involves a plot by foreign agents to put an impostor aboard a moon mission sponsored by space agency "Spacom". After the expedition has scouted a suitable landing place for a future mission, the spy will then cause the ship to crash into the space station upon its return, destroying both along with all inhabitants.
Special effects are mildly impressive considering what must've been a pretty low budget, while still retaining ample cheesiness to satisfy "so bad it's good" addicts such as myself who just can't stop watching these hokey space yarns.
Besides the spy, the moon mission crew consists of able female pilot Colonel Briteis (Donna Martell) and Ross Ford as Major Moore, her hardy second-in-command. ("I Dream Of Jeannie" regular Hayden Rourke plays their Earthbound superior, General Greene.)
The fact that Major Moore is also Colonel Briteis' former lover and they broke up under less than amicable circumstances leads to the expected space-friction between the two, which we also expect will be resolved in suitably romantic fashion before the fadeout.
Space station scenes are fun, with the combination of zero gravity plus handy grip shoes making it possible for everyone to walk around on both the floors and ceilings. (Numerous signs remind them: "Please Do Not Walk On Walls.")
Rocketship and moon lander models and effects are basic but adequate, as are the rocky, mountainous moon exteriors with a brilliant starfield suspended over them.
The spacecraft interiors are the usual familiar 1950s-type designs, but somewhat less slapdash and rinky-dink than most.
G-force accelerations are accompanied, as one might guess, by those silly shots of astronauts lying immobile in their reclining seats as their faces are stretched into ludicrious fixed grimaces.
The crew's flight uniforms consist of light, form-fitting T-shirts and shorts, which, I must say, make Donna Martell one of the film's most pleasing visuals. Others will have to assess their aesthetic effect on the remaining crewmembers.
I've been eating up these goofball 1950s space thrillers like ice cream for the last few months or so, reliving childhood memories and finally catching up with ones I've missed all these years.
As one of the latter, PROJECT MOONBASE comes through as a prime example of its delightfully odd genre, making it satisfying entertainment for those who savor this kind of fare.
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