The Angry Red Planet

The Angry Red Planet

Directed by Ib Melchior
Produced by Sidney W. Pink
Norman Maurer
Screenplay by Sidney W. Pink
Ib Melchior
Based on an original story by Sidney W. Pink
Starring Gerald Mohr
Naura Hayden
Jack Kruschen
Les Tremayne
Music by Paul Dunlap
Cinematography Stanley Cortez
Edited by Ivan J. Hoffman
Production
company
Sino Productions
Distributed by Sino Productions (originally)
American International Pictures
Release dates
  • November 23, 1959 (1959-11-23) (United States)
Running time
 83 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget US$ 190,000

The Angry Red Planet (also called Invasion of Mars and Journey to Planet Four) is a 1959 science fiction film starring Gerald Mohr and directed by Ib Melchior. Melchior was given 10 days and a budget of $200,000 to make the film. The shortened production time necessitated the use of a CineMagic technique, which involved using hand-drawn animations together with live action footage, and it was used for all scenes on the surface of Mars. Although this process was largely unsuccessful, producer Norman Maurer would attempt the same technique again in The Three Stooges in Orbit.[1]

Plot

The rocketship MR-1 (for "Mars Rocket 1"), returns to Earth after the first manned flight to Mars. At first thought to have been lost in space, the rocket reappears but mission control cannot raise the crew by radio. The ground crew land the rocket successfully by remote control. Two survivors are found aboard: Dr. Iris Ryan (Naura Hayden) and Col. Tom O'Bannion (Gerald Mohr), the latter's arm covered by a strange alien growth. The mission report is recounted by Dr. Ryan as she attempts to find a cure for Col. O'Bannion's arm.

While exploring Mars, Ryan is attacked by a carnivorous plant, which is killed using a freeze ray (nicknamed "Cleo") fired by Chief Warrant Officer Sam Jacobs. They also discover an immense bat-rat-spider creature, after mistaking its legs for trees, and the monster is repelled, again by Jacobs. When they return to their ship, the crew find that their radio signals are being blocked and the MR-1 is grounded by a force field. O'Bannion leads the crew to a Martian lake with a city visible on the other side. They cross in an inflatable raft, only to be stopped by a giant amoeba-like creature with a single spinning eye. The creature kills Jacobs and infects O'Bannion's arm. The survivors escape to the MR-1 and commence liftoff. Prof. Theodore Gettell, the ship's designer, dies of an apparent heart attack due to the stress of the lift-off from Mars. The survivors then return to Earth, where O'Bannion's infected arm is cured using electric shocks.

When the mission scientists attempt to examine the expedition's data recorders, all they find is a recorded message. An alien voice announces that the MR-1 crew were allowed to leave so they can deliver this message to Earth. The Martians have been watching human development throughout history, believe our technology has outpaced cultural advancement, and accuse mankind of invading their world. They warn humanity to never return to Mars or Earth will be destroyed in retaliation.

Cast

Production

Screenwriter Sidney W. Pink originally wrote a treatment called The Planet Mars, which told the story of an Earth trip to the planet Mars. "It was written on my kitchen table," said Pink later. "My kids were my critics, they'd tell me what was good and what just fell flat!"[2] Pink gave his treatment to Melchior, whom he'd met at a party; Melchior agreed to write the script if Pink allowed him to direct. While writing the script, Pink met Maurer, who was developing a new cinematic technique, CineMagic, which attempted to make drawings look like photographic images. However it soon became apparent the technique would not be able to deliver what had been promised.[3] "The damn Cinemagic didn't work like it should," said Pink later. "It was supposed to be sort of a 3-D effect. What we came up with was great anyway!"[2] Filming started on September 9, 1959, a month after Melchior completed his final draft.[3]

Release

American International Pictures released the film as a double feature with Circus of Horrors. It was the first of several movies Melchior made for the studio.[4]

"Arkoff and I had a working relationship," said Pink. "Neither of us trusted the other… which worked out well because I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Jimmy Nicholson was the brains of that operation. With Arkoff, you never got a straight count."[2]

Box office

The film was popular at the box office and enjoyed a long life on television.[2]

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews upon its release. Eugene Archer from The New York Times gave the film a negative review, criticizing the design of the planet Mars, likening it to "a cardboard illustration from Flash Gordon".[5]

Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a mixed review, awarding the film 2 out of 4 stars.[6]

Glenn Erickson from DVD Talk gave the film a negative review, criticizing the film's flat direction, dull script and overuse of stock footage. Erickson did offer some praise to the film's use of a red tinge once the characters arrived on Mars, which he said gave the sequences "a credibly alien look".[7]

Film critic Bruce Eder retrospectively praised the film, writing:

Danish-born director/screenwriter Ib Melchior brings a surprisingly light, deft touch to the proceedings, allowing the actors a chance to have fun with their roles -- especially Gerald Mohr, still looking and sounding a bit like Humphrey Bogart, as the stalwart mission commander, and Jack Kruschen as the good-humored technician in the crew -- without losing sight of the adventure and the story line, and meshing it all seamlessly with the special effects-driven sequences".[8]

Home media

The Angry Red Planet was first released by MGM on Region 1 DVD in 2001.[7] MGM later released the film on April 5, 2011 as part of a single-disc multi-feature Midnite Movies collection along with Morons from Outer Space, Alien from L.A. and The Man from Planet X. It was last released by Gaiam International as a single-disk four-movie Sci-Fi Classics collection titled (also including The Man from Planet X, Beyond the Time Barrier and The Time Travelers) on Sep 3, 2013.[9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wingrove, David. Science Fiction Film Source Book (Longman Group Limited, 1985).
  2. 1 2 3 4 David C. Hayes "Interview with Sidney Pink" Yahoo Contributor Network 31 March, 2005 accessed 15 April 2014
  3. 1 2 Mark McGee, Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures McFarland, p 161-168
  4. ↑ Gary A. Smith, The American International Pictures Video Guide, McFarland 2009 p 14
  5. ↑ Archer, Eugene. The New York Times, film review, May 5, 1960. Last accessed: February 21, 2011.
  6. ↑ Leonard Maltin (2013). Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: 2014 Edition : the Modern Era. Plume Books. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-14-218055-6.
  7. 1 2 Erickson, Glenn. "DVD Savant Review: The Angry Red Planet". DVD Talk.com. Glenn Erickson. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  8. ↑ Eder, Bruce. The Angry Red Planet at AllMovie. Last accessed: February 21, 2011.
  9. ↑ "The Angry Red Planet (1959) - Ib Melchior". Allmovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 11 January 2016.
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