This 1950 sci-fi classic produced by George Pal is notable for its attempt to be scientifically accurate (for its time), and a striking early use of Technicolor. Four adventurers (or rather, three adventurers and a Brooklyn mechanic snagged at the last minute) take off in an experimental rocket, not sufficiently tested but in a hurry to avoid a court order that would prevent its takeoff as well as to beat the Russians. They nearly lose a guy on the way, and almost lose one or all on the moon, but everything turns out all right. The plot (based on a novel and cowritten by Robert Heinlein) is pedestrian and drags a bit -- there are long sections with no dialogue but brooding and bombastic music -- and the characters are pretty colorless and cliched. But Walter Lantz contributed a nifty Woody Woodpecker cartoon that is included early on to raise support from financiers, and Chestley Bonestell rendered a gorgeous 13-foot painting to depict the surface of the moon.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
