SEE! The breathtaking sight of Earth as seen from outer space!
12 men are invited to be trained for a government project so secret that even they can’t know the details or discuss their qualifications with each other.
Director and second lead Richard Carlson is generally remembered these days as the leader of the expedition that found ‘The Creature from The Black Lagoon’ (1954) or the man who took on ‘It Came From Outer Space’ (1953) but, at the same time, he was making this serious study of the future of manned space exploration.
It was written by respected science fiction author Curt Siodmak, who had plenty of history in the film business. He’d written the screenplay for ‘The Wolf Man’ (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr and his novel ‘Donovan’s Brain’ had already been filmed more than once. However, the ‘science’ part of things was obviously not his strong suit. The premise of ‘Riders to the Stars’ (1954) is that unmanned capsules sent into space have come back structurally weakened by the bombardment of cosmic rays. So much so in fact that it threatens the future of space exploration. These days we know that’s complete bunk of course. Thing is they knew it back in 1954 as well. In a similar lack of accuracy, all the altitude measurements quoted at various points during the film are all way too low.
But, allowing for artistic licence (& lack of decent research), the film does have certain merits. It is a serious take on the subject with an emphasis on the psychological effects of space travel, which I believe was the first time this had been addressed on film. Of course, in subsequent years, we’ve became only too familiar with the unbalanced astro-nut going space happy and raving about god and man’s place in the universe. And, to be fair, when that happens here, it’s dealt with in a more realistic way.
How did the Crimson Ghost get this gig?
Unfortunately, the budget was not high so we are treated to some wobbly SFX and a bit of stock footage but other films of the period offended far worse in these categories. What is tiresome is the dreary romantic subplot featuring our maverick hero who doesn’t play by the rules (well, everyone tells us he doesn’t – I saw little evidence of it myself!) and the lady scientist who stares dreamily at the stars.
Other characters don’t get too much of a look in but I enjoyed the one who throws a strop and refuses to take part in the mission when he learns what it is. ‘One thing I learned in the Army was never to volunteer for anything’ he says, storming out. Hang on, why did you agree to take part in the first place then? No one made you!
And probably best not to mention the theme song really…
Mark David Welsh 