******MARS-SIZED SPOILERS!******

I grew up admiring the gorgeous, inspirational space art by Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), who remains one of my favorite artists. I love his imaginative paintings of future space exploration, with astronauts setting foot on the moon, Mars, and even the Saturnian moon of Titan. Growing up in the 1970s and early 1980s, those paintings fueled my childhood dreams for space. Unfortunately, Bonestell’s artwork proved far more ambitious than the real-world space programs that followed.

The 1955 film “Conquest of Space” was directly inspired by Bonestell’s gorgeous work for the 1949 book “The Conquest of Space,” written by prominent (and controversial) rocket designers Werner von Braun and Willey Ley. That book was loosely adapted into a film by producer George Pal (“The Time Machine”), and was directed by noted sci-fi director Byron Haskin (“War of the Worlds,” TV’s “The Outer Limits,” “Robinson Crusoe on Mars”).

The 1949 book had no characters or story, and was a nonfictional projection of future objectives in space, such as the moon and Mars. This gave screenwriters Philip Yordan (“Dillinger,” “The Man from Laramie” ), Barré Lyndon (“The Greatest Show on Earth,” “The War of the Worlds”) and George Worthing-Yates (“Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,” “Tormented”) carte blanche to write whatever story they wished, so long as it fit within the artwork and ideas of the book.

These otherwise capable screenwriters hatched a raging melodrama populated with unlikable characters who slow the movie’s 80-minute runtime to a crawl…

“Conquest of Space” (1955)

Note: One of science fiction’s oldest designs for a permanent orbital space station is the wheel shape (“2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Solaris”), since its rotational spin would create a centripetal force to simulate gravity along its outer walls–depending upon the rate of spin. Werner von Braun championed this shape, but real-life space stations (the Salyuts, Mir, the ISS, the Tiangong) adopted modular designs that allowed onboard research to take advantage of simulated microgravity in the free fall of Earth orbit. von Braun and Willey Ley were Nazi rocket scientists who strategically arranged their capture by the Allies at the end of World War 2 during Operation Paperclip, and were quickly put to work on the US rocket program, based in Huntsville, Alabama. Despite their infamy, the ex-Nazis at Huntsville developed the powerful Saturn rocket boosters that would take humans to the moon during the Apollo program.

Note: The design of the Spaceship makes absolutely no sense for a lunar mission, with its giant, heavy, unnecessary wings. The moon lacks any atmosphere to support (or necessitate) a winged design. However, those wings come in handy after the mission objective changes to Mars. The looks of the Wheel and the Spaceship were directly based on artwork by Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), who worked on the film.

Also of Note: In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, the fuel tank stage of the Spaceship would later turn up as a piece of set-dressing in the cargo carrier habitat of Khan and his followers in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982).

Note: The Colonel (later becoming the General) is quickly established as a hard-ass, even to his son. Actor Walter Brooke (1914-1986) costarred in “The Graduate” (1967), as well as several episodes of TV’s “The Incredible Hulk” (1977-1982). Costar Eric Fleming (1925-1966) would later appear in the camp sci-fi classic “Queen of Outer Space” (1958) with Zsa Zsa Gabor. Fleming tragically died at age 41 when his canoe overturned in a raging sea while filming a TV-movie in Peru.

Note: Comedic actor Phil Foster (1913-1985) is best remembered as Frank DeFazio, the pizzeria-managing pop of Laverne DeFazio (Penny Marshall) in the sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” (1976-1983). Foster’s Sgt. Siegle is a stereotypically blue-collar, loutish astronaut–a cliché seen in space movies such as “Rocketship X-M” (1950), “Destination Moon” (1950), and “Armageddon” (1998).

Note: Among the many (forgivable) space science mistakes this admittedly 71-year old movie makes is one I still see in many sci-fi movies with two vessels orbiting the same planet. Unless the vessels are flying in tandem, you can’t simply fly over from one ship to another if they’re moving in different altitudes and orbits; the alignment to be done very gradually, one orbit at a time. Nevertheless, the scene aboard the rocket sled is spectacular for its time, with live actors, miniatures and matte paintings optically combined together. The sequence also features nice music by composer Van Cleave (1910-1970), who’d worked on many films and TV shows, including Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone.” He’d later compose the memorable score for director Byron Haskin’s “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” (1964) .

Note: Astronaut Cooper’s brief mental lapse is identified as “space fatigue” (similar to “battle fatigue,” later known as post-traumatic stress disorder). The scene foreshadows the General’s fate later on. William Redfield, who plays Cooper, would later costar in director Milos Forman’s Oscar-winning 1975 film adaptation of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

Note: Actor Ross Martin (1920-1981), who plays the ill-fated Hungarian astronaut Fodor (one of the nicest characters in this movie), would go on to have a thriving career in stage, movies and TV, with roles in “The Twilight Zone,” “The Night Gallery” and was best known for his costarring role in “Wild, Wild West” (1965-1969), where he played master-of-disguise Artemus Gordon to leading man Robert Conrad’s James West. The beloved, talented character actor, who was born in Soviet-era Ukraine, died from a heart attack at age 61 .

Note: The obnoxious Sgt. Mahoney is played by comedic actor Mickey Shaughnessy (1920-1985), who was subtly aged with lightly-graying hair to play the older character. Shaughnessy also played a jailhouse mentor to Elvis Presley in “Jailhouse Rock” (1957). Mahoney’s bluster and faux Irish accent make him sound like the stereotypical Irish cop of countless movies and TV shows, including Chief O’Hara (Stafford Repp) in TV’s “Batman.”

Note: Japanese Sgt. Imoto is played by actor Benson Fong (1916-1987), an American-born actor of Chinese descent, who played Tommy Chan (aka “Number Three Son”) in several Charlie Chan movies of the 1940s. One of the few likable characters of the movie, Imoto is forced to deliver a well-intentioned, if awkwardly racist monologue as he volunteers for the Spaceship’s mission to Mars:

“Some years ago, my country chose to fight a terrible war. It was bad, I do not defend it, but there were reasons. Somehow those reasons are never spoken of. To the Western world at that time, Japan was a fairybook nation: little people living in a strange land of rice-paper house; people who had almost no furniture, who sat on the floor and ate with chopsticks. The quaint houses of rice paper… they were made of paper because there was no other material available. And the winters in Japan are as cold as they are in Boston. And the chopsticks–there was no metal for forks and knives and spoons, but slivers of wood could suffice. So it was with the little people of Japan, little as I am now, because for countless generations we have not been able to produce the food to make us bigger. Japan’s yesterday will be the world’s tomorrow: too many people and too little land. That is why I say, sir, there is urgent reason for us to reach Mars: to provide the resources the human race will need if they are to survive. That is also why I am most grateful to be found acceptable, sir. I volunteer.”

Note: Actress/singer/dancer and sex symbol Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002) appeared uncredited as the crew’s televised entertainment before the Spaceship’s launch. Clooney was married to the late actor José Ferrer (“Cyrano,” “Dune”), and was the mother of the late Miguel Ferrer (“Twin Peaks,” “Robocop”). She was also the aunt of well-known actor/producer/director George Clooney, who costarred in his own space drama, “Gravity” (2013).

Note: Once again, the actors in this movie dial everything up to such cartoonish levels that the unknowingly ill-fated Fodor’s goodbye to his mother is almost comedic. And just whose bright idea was it to have the crew’s personal goodbye messages broadcast on a big screen TV in front of everybody?

Note: Two-timing Rosie (Joan Shawlee) seems a bit high-maintenance for a blue-collar type like Siegle, but I hated that Siegle’s humiliation becomes laughter fuel for the crew. This incongruously comedic tone makes it difficult to invest in such emotionally-stunted characters.

Note: I cut the movie slack for getting its space science wrong, since it was released six years before Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth in April of 1961. However, the G-forces experienced by the Spaceship as it leaves orbit for Mars are somewhat exaggerated, given that it wasn’t lifting off from Earth. Being built in orbit would allow the Spaceship to use Earth’s gravity as a slingshot for injection into a trans-Mars trajectory. The crazy G-force makeup effects were overseen by Wally Westmore, part of the Westmore makeup dynasty that includes Bud Westmore (“The Creature from the Black Lagoon”) and Oscar/Emmy-winner Michael Westmore (“Rocky” “Star Trek”).

Note: If this were a real spaceflight, Mahoney’s actions might’ve doomed the mission. His extra weight would require more fuel for Mars atmospheric entry and liftoff, not to mention the food and life-support he’d consume on the long voyage would require rationing from the remaining crew to compensate. There is a tragic 1954 sci-fi short story by Tom Godwin called “The Cold Equations” that deals with such deadly consequences from a space stowaway. For a veteran astronaut, Sgt. Mahoney is a certifiable idiot.

Note: The scene of the crew making an EVA repair to the Spaceship’s main antenna would be revisited in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” 13 years later. That repair job also ended in tragedy.

Note: The ‘planetoid’ is really a small asteroid, and its glow is more like a meteor entering an atmosphere with great speed and friction. The danger of spacesuit/spaceship-piercing micrometeorites is very real, and has been compounded by excessive artificial space debris left in Earth orbit as well. Even the tiniest piece–moving at speeds of thousands of miles per hour–would have many times the force of a bullet. Such pieces might also collide with satellites to create fast-moving killer clouds of orbiting debris in a phenomenon known as the Kessler Effect.

Note: One of the movie’s most genuinely unsettling moments is the sight of Fodor’s dead body tethered to the ship like a grim, cosmic scarecrow. Fodor’s death is seen by the increasingly unstable General as god’s divine judgment, as he rereads his Bible and worries if they’ve gone too far in their space ambitions…

Note: Siegle has a bizarre reaction to Fodor’s lifeless body hovering outside the window; instead of bereavement, he becomes inexplicably angry at Fodor’s corpse, telling it to “GET LOST!” Why can’t Siegle simply look away and shut up? Fodor is later given a dignified funeral in space, similar to what we saw for John Hurt in “ALIEN” (1979).

Note: Beautiful matte painting of the Martian surface by Bonestell. Mars’ features were largely unknown in 1955, so Bonestell gave it a gorgeous, marble-like surface.

Note: Naturally, Mahoney only witnesses the end of the conflict, and he ignores that his “old friend” just destroyed much of their ship’s water supply. Captain Merritt being forced to kill his crazed father feels like so much artificial melodrama which drains all of the awe and wonder of landing on another planet, which is what the movie should’ve focused on, instead of these overwrought, self-inflicted crises.

Note: Very recently, surface tests conducted by robotic probes have discovered Martian soil contains a high amount of toxic perchlorates; a chemical anion used in explosives such as fireworks and rocket fuels. This would rule Mars out as a garden spot, since the soil would have to be heavily cleansed (a waste of precious water) before it could be fertilized and used for planting. Even author Andy Weir’s scientifically commendable book (and later movie) “The Martian” got this one wrong, since the discovery of perchlorates in Martian soil occurred after Weir began writing the online serialized story which became his 2011 book.

Note: The movie only spends about a quarter of its 80-minute runtime on Mars, and so much of that is wasted on friction and infighting between the men, when it could’ve been better spent exploring the planet. Barney doesn’t press his clear-cut case for self-defense in the accidental death of his father, while arrogant stowaway Mahoney struts around, scowling at his skipper. If the Spaceship had room for a brig, Barney should’ve thrown Mahoney’s insubordinate ass into it.

Note: Once again, this would be highly unlikely without water or organic nutrients in the soil, but it gives this otherwise unlikable crew a brief moment of pause and wonder.

Note: Of the Spaceship One crew, I’d say Sgt. Imoto is the only one who truly acts like an astronaut; instinctively curious, with a deep desire to explore. He and Captain Merritt are perhaps the only characters who emerge from this messy melodrama relatively unscathed.

Note: Lucky for the Spaceship crew that the snow was water-based, and not carbon dioxide, which would be the more likely ‘snow’ on Mars. That said, water ice has been found on Mars at near-polar latitudes, by the 2008 Phoenix lander. In fact, the lander found water ice just beneath the surrounding soil. When exposed to the thin atmosphere, the ice quickly sublimated, but it was definitely present.

Note: So, with a sane-washing of the General’s dangerous mental collapse by the ship’s blustery stowaway, all is forgiven.

The End.

Summing It Up

Despite the wondrous space artwork by Chesley Bonestell, solid direction by Byron Haskin and ahead-of-its-time visual effects, 1955’s “The Conquest of Space” is a melodramatic mess. Like its more recent counterpart, Disney’s “Mission to Mars” (2000), the character histrionics and labored plot devices sabotage the otherwise fascinating idea of a crewed mission to Mars; a dream of the early Space Age that remains unfulfilled even today, in 2026. This is not a case of a movie simply being dated; it’s that most of this movie’s characters are just terrible people that I wouldn’t want to take a bus ride into Las Vegas with, let alone a months-long voyage to the planet Mars.

For unexplained reasons, commanding officer General Merritt (Walter Brooke) turns into a suicidal religious zealot halfway through the flight, forcing his first officer/son Capt. Barney Merritt (Eric Fleming) to ‘terminate his command’ after the dangerous Mars landing, which the general sabotages. The younger acting-skipper then faces his late father’s resentful best friend, the aging clichéd Irish stowaway Sgt. Mahoney (Mickey Shaughnessy), who isn’t even a legitimate member of the crew. You also have a hackneyed, comic-relief astronaut (Phil Foster), who doesn’t know crap about the basics of space travel, despite months logged in Earth orbit. The only characters who emerge somewhat unscathed are the aforementioned Capt. Merritt and Sgt. Imoto (Benson Fong); two crew members who demonstrate basic common sense, and who don’t wallow in wild theatrics.

In the few times I’ve seen this movie, I keep hoping it’ll magically improve with age somehow, but it doesn’t. While the visuals remain impressive for their time (thank you, Chesley Bonestell), the characters are such rotten people that spending eighty minutes with them is like being trapped in a hospital elevator with a group scheduled for a chronic flatulence study. The red planet Mars was once thought to be cursed, as many robotic spacecraft have been lost in its exploration. The insufferable, bumptious characters of “Conquest of Space” make me wish that some of those lost robots had swapped places with these guys.

Director Byron Haskin would helm the superior, if under-appreciated “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” nine years later, and director Ridley Scott would deliver the superlative Mars exploration movie with his film adaptation of Andy Weir’s “The Martian” in 2015. “Conquest of Space” should rank higher among these landmark Mars movies, but it doesn’t. The movie’s commendable spectacle can’t overcome the combined deadweight of its obnoxious crew and irrational screenplay.

Where to Watch

“Conquest of Space” is currently available on Flixfling, and can be digitally rented/purchased via Amazon Prime, YouTube and Apple TV. The movie is also available on Blu-Ray/DVD via DeepDiscount.com, GRUV.com and Amazon.