.gif)
Destination Moon (film)
Encyclopedia
Destination Moon is an American science fiction
feature film
produced by George Pal
, who later produced When Worlds Collide
, The War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine
. Pal commissioned the script by James O'Hanlon and Rip Van Ronkel. The film was directed by Irving Pichel
, was shot in Technicolor
and was distributed in the USA by Eagle-Lion Classics.
It was the first major science-fiction film produced in the United States
to deal realistically with the prospect of space travel. Science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein
contributed significantly to the script and served as a technical adviser. Heinlein also published a novella, Destination Moon
, based on the screenplay.
. They land after difficulties that cause more fuel to be used than anticipated. Consequently, the crew must race against time to lighten the ship for a successful return to Earth
.
The film features the premise that US private industry will finance and manufacture the first spacecraft to reach the moon, given the Soviet threat at the time, and then the US government will bring itself to buy or lease the technology. Visionary industrialists are shown cooperating to support the venture.
: unnamed enemies (clearly understood at the time to be the Soviets) are sabotaging the American space program, and unless the West beats them to the moon, they will establish a strategic advantage to conquer the world.
Destination Moon includes an animated segment of Woody Woodpecker
illustrating the basics of space flight. The segment serves to educate not only certain characters in the story, but the audience as well. As a narrative device, this technique has been employed in subsequent films, such as Jurassic Park
.
The film shows the rocket being constructed in situ in the desert, and Lockheed aircraft plant in Southern California is shown with workers examining a model of the nuclear spacecraft. Transitional sequences show Lockheed Constellation
s being assembled. The fictional rocket uses nuclear thermal propulsion, a method that has not been employed in actual rocket launches to date.
The sets and costumes were re-used in films subsequently, and even appear in the second episode of The Time Tunnel
. Both Destination Moon and Rocketship X-M contain a polemical element, but with almost diametrically opposed messages: where Rocketship X-M contains a seriously intended anti-nuclear message, Destination Moon has a nuclear-powered spacecraft taking off in defiance of a court order, and depicts the court order as inspired by irrational fear. Once on the moon, the crew find evidence that the moon is a source of uranium.
A relationship between the film and Heinlein's novel Rocket Ship Galileo
exists. In the novel, the astronauts are high school boys led by an older scientist, the enemies are the Nazis rather than the Soviets, and the emphasis is on conflict with them. In the movie, sabotage is only vaguely hinted at, the concept of a space race is introduced, the voyage is a massive industrial undertaking, and the plot revolves around the dangers of the voyage. A common element in both stories is that the rocket takes off in defiance of a court order. The movie is in fact more similar to Heinlein's novella The Man Who Sold the Moon
, which according to its copyright date was written by 1949, although it was not published until 1951, the year after Destination Moon premiered.
The matte and scene paintings for Destination Moon were created by the famous astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell
. Pal also employed Bonestell for work on When Worlds Collide from the novel by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer; Conquest of Space
, which in turn was based on the book
by Willy Ley
and Bonestell; and The War of the Worlds, notably the opening sequence featuring cleverly animated astronomical paintings of the planets by Bonestell.
, is noteworthy for its very atmospheric themes and musical motifs, which added to the overall dramatic moments of the film.
radio series was called Destination Moon and was based on Heinlein's input to the script of the movie. During the broadcast, the program was interrupted for a news bulletin announcing that North Korea had declared war on South Korea, marking the start of the Korean War
.
A highly condensed version of the story was released on a 78 rpm disk by Capitol Records
in 1950 as part of the "Bozo Approved" series, under the title of Destination Moon (Adapted From The George Pal Production by Charles Palmer). The narrator was Tom Reddy; Billy May composed incidental and background music. The story took considerable liberties with the film's plot and characters, though the general shape of the story remains.
in the name of the effects director, (Lee Zavitz
). The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
(Ernst Fegte
, George Sawley
). At the 1st Berlin International Film Festival
it won the Bronze Berlin Bear (Thrillers and Adventure Films) award.
The film was also nominated for AFI's Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
produced by George Pal
George Pál
George Pal , born György Pál Marczincsak, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre...
, who later produced When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide (film)
When Worlds Collide is a 1951 science fiction film based on the 1933 novel co-written by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The film was shot in Technicolor, directed by Rudolph Maté and was the winner of the 1951 Academy Award for special effects....
, The War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine
The Time Machine (1960 film)
The Time Machine is a 1960 American science fiction film based on the 1895 novel of the same name by H. G. Wells in which a man in Victorian England constructs a time-travelling machine which he uses to travel to the future...
. Pal commissioned the script by James O'Hanlon and Rip Van Ronkel. The film was directed by Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel
Irving Pichel was an American actor and film director. He married Violette Wilson, daughter of Jackson Stitt Wilson, a Methodist minister and Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California. Her sister was actress Viola Barry...
, was shot in Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
and was distributed in the USA by Eagle-Lion Classics.
It was the first major science-fiction film produced in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to deal realistically with the prospect of space travel. Science-fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
contributed significantly to the script and served as a technical adviser. Heinlein also published a novella, Destination Moon
Destination Moon (story)
"Destination Moon" is a short story by science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein, first published in Short Stories Magazine, September 1950.The story is an adaptation of his screenplay for the film Destination Moon in 1950...
, based on the screenplay.
Plot
Four American astronauts blast off from the New Mexico desert and fly to the MoonMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
. They land after difficulties that cause more fuel to be used than anticipated. Consequently, the crew must race against time to lighten the ship for a successful return to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The film features the premise that US private industry will finance and manufacture the first spacecraft to reach the moon, given the Soviet threat at the time, and then the US government will bring itself to buy or lease the technology. Visionary industrialists are shown cooperating to support the venture.
Cast
- John ArcherJohn Archer (actor)John Archer was an American movie and television actor.-Biography:Born Ralph Bowman in Osceola, Nebraska, Archer moved to California at the age of five...
as Jim Barnes - Warner AndersonWarner AndersonWarner Anderson was an American actor. He had a small part in a film in 1915. He had supporting parts in several films through the years....
as Dr. Charles Cargraves - Tom PowersTom PowersTom Powers was an American stage and film actor. He was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, USA and died in Hollywood, California, of heart disease.- Career :...
as General Thayer - Dick WessonDick Wesson (actor)Dick Wesson was a prolific character actor, comedian, comedy writer, and producer...
as Joe Sweeney - Erin O'Brien-MooreErin O'Brien-MooreErin O'Brien-Moore was an American actress.Moore's acting career began onstage. Noticed in a Broadway stage production, she was signed to a movie contract...
as Emily Cargraves - Franklyn FarnumFranklyn FarnumWilliam Smith , better known by his screen name, Franklyn Farnum, was an American character actor and Hollywood extra who appeared in 433 productions between the years 1916 and 1961....
as Factory Worker (uncredited) - Everett GlassEverett GlassEverett Glass was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and television shows from the 1940s through the 1960s, including Invasion of the Body Snatchers and episodes of The Adventures of Superman, Lassie, and Perry Mason.He began as a stage actor and had a long career...
as Mr. La Porte (uncredited) - Knox ManningKnox ManningKnox Manning was an American film actor. He appeared in 94 films between 1939 and 1956.He was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and died in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.-Selected filmography:...
as Knox Manning (uncredited)
Production
The film was promoted through an unprecedented onslaught of publicity in the print media. Seven years before Sputnik, 19 years before the actual moon landing, the movie clearly spells out a rationale for the space raceSpace Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
: unnamed enemies (clearly understood at the time to be the Soviets) are sabotaging the American space program, and unless the West beats them to the moon, they will establish a strategic advantage to conquer the world.
Destination Moon includes an animated segment of Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...
illustrating the basics of space flight. The segment serves to educate not only certain characters in the story, but the audience as well. As a narrative device, this technique has been employed in subsequent films, such as Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park (film)
Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Martin Ferrero, and Bob Peck...
.
The film shows the rocket being constructed in situ in the desert, and Lockheed aircraft plant in Southern California is shown with workers examining a model of the nuclear spacecraft. Transitional sequences show Lockheed Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
s being assembled. The fictional rocket uses nuclear thermal propulsion, a method that has not been employed in actual rocket launches to date.
The sets and costumes were re-used in films subsequently, and even appear in the second episode of The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel
The Time Tunnel is a 1966–1967 U.S. color science fiction TV series. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen, his third science fiction television series. The show's main theme was Time Travel Adventure. The Time Tunnel was released by 20th Century Fox and broadcast on ABC. The show ran...
. Both Destination Moon and Rocketship X-M contain a polemical element, but with almost diametrically opposed messages: where Rocketship X-M contains a seriously intended anti-nuclear message, Destination Moon has a nuclear-powered spacecraft taking off in defiance of a court order, and depicts the court order as inspired by irrational fear. Once on the moon, the crew find evidence that the moon is a source of uranium.
A relationship between the film and Heinlein's novel Rocket Ship Galileo
Rocket Ship Galileo
Rocket Ship Galileo is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1947, about three teenagers who participate in a pioneering flight to the Moon. It was the first in the Heinlein juveniles, a long and successful series of science fiction novels published by Scribner's...
exists. In the novel, the astronauts are high school boys led by an older scientist, the enemies are the Nazis rather than the Soviets, and the emphasis is on conflict with them. In the movie, sabotage is only vaguely hinted at, the concept of a space race is introduced, the voyage is a massive industrial undertaking, and the plot revolves around the dangers of the voyage. A common element in both stories is that the rocket takes off in defiance of a court order. The movie is in fact more similar to Heinlein's novella The Man Who Sold the Moon
The Man Who Sold the Moon
The Man Who Sold the Moon is a science fiction novella by Robert A. Heinlein written in 1949 and published in 1950. A part of his Future History and prequel to "Requiem", it covers events around a fictional first Moon landing, in 1978, and the schemes of Delos D...
, which according to its copyright date was written by 1949, although it was not published until 1951, the year after Destination Moon premiered.
The matte and scene paintings for Destination Moon were created by the famous astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell
Chesley Bonestell was an American painter, designer and illustrator. His paintings were a major influence on science fiction art and illustration, and he helped inspire the American space program...
. Pal also employed Bonestell for work on When Worlds Collide from the novel by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer; Conquest of Space
Conquest of Space
Conquest of Space is a 1955 science fiction movie produced by George Pal which depicts a voyage to Mars. The science and technology were intended to be as realistic as possible...
, which in turn was based on the book
The Conquest of Space
The Conquest of Space is a 1949 speculative science book illustrated by Chesley Bonestell and written by Willy Ley. The book contains a portfolio of paintings by Bonestell depicting the possible future exploration of the solar system with explanatory text by Ley.Some of Bonestell's designs inspired...
by Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...
and Bonestell; and The War of the Worlds, notably the opening sequence featuring cleverly animated astronomical paintings of the planets by Bonestell.
Music
The music, written by composer Leith StevensLeith Stevens
Leith Stevens was an American composer for radio and film scores.Born in Mount Moriah, Missouri, he was a child prodigy who was an accompanist for Madame Schumann-Heink....
, is noteworthy for its very atmospheric themes and musical motifs, which added to the overall dramatic moments of the film.
Adaptations
Episode 12 of the Dimension XDimension X
Dimension X was an NBC radio program broadcast on an unsponsored, sustaining basis from April 8, 1950 to September 29, 1951. The first 13 episodes were broadcast live, and the remainder were pre-recorded...
radio series was called Destination Moon and was based on Heinlein's input to the script of the movie. During the broadcast, the program was interrupted for a news bulletin announcing that North Korea had declared war on South Korea, marking the start of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
A highly condensed version of the story was released on a 78 rpm disk by Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
in 1950 as part of the "Bozo Approved" series, under the title of Destination Moon (Adapted From The George Pal Production by Charles Palmer). The narrator was Tom Reddy; Billy May composed incidental and background music. The story took considerable liberties with the film's plot and characters, though the general shape of the story remains.
Awards
It won the Academy Award for Visual EffectsAcademy Award for Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.-History of the award:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects to movies at its inaugural dinner in 1928, presenting a...
in the name of the effects director, (Lee Zavitz
Lee Zavitz
Leland "Lee" Zavitz was a special effects technician. He was born in Mount Vernon, Washington. His first major impact was for his work on John Ford's 1937 film, The Hurricane. Zavitz won an Oscar in 1950 for the space fantasy Destination Moon...
). The film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Ernst Fegte
Ernst Fegté
Ernst Fegté was a German art director. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for three more in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Hamburg, Germany and died in Los Angeles, California....
, George Sawley
George Sawley
George Sawley was an American set decorator and art director. He was nominated for two Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.He was born in Kansas and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
). At the 1st Berlin International Film Festival
1st Berlin International Film Festival
The 1st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 6 to June 17, 1951. The opening film was Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca.At this very first Berlin Festival, the Golden Bear award was introduced, and it was awarded to the best film in each of five categories: drama, comedy, crime or...
it won the Bronze Berlin Bear (Thrillers and Adventure Films) award.
The film was also nominated for AFI's Top 10 Science Fiction Films list.
See also
- Harpalus craterHarpalus (crater)Harpalus is a young lunar impact crater that lies on the Mare Frigoris, at the eastern edge of the Sinus Roris. To the southeast at the edge of the mare is the small crater Foucault, and to the northwest on the opposite edge is the walled plain named South....
- List of American films of 1950
- List of films in the public domain
External links
- Destination Moon entire film at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Destination Moon film trailer at You Tube