DESTINATION MOON 1950 (IMAGE)

This has often been called the first science fiction film.

George Pal produced this epic little film about mans first attempt to reach the moon.

Warner Anderson stars as Dr. Charles Cargraves a scientist whose latest rocket project has failed and now he and his friend General Thayer (Tom Powers) have the sad task of trying to start all over again.

Thayer gets the idea to build a rocket that will take them to the moon and instead of using government funds, he wants private industry to back the project. The rocket finally gets built, but not without difficulty.

Despite government objections the rocket blasts off and after a few trial and tribulations does reach the moon, however getting back may not be so easy.

When I first saw this as a kid I was bored to death as there were no monsters, but seeing this today I find it very interesting and fun. This film tries to be accurate as it can be for the times and there are wonderful set painting by Chesley Bonestell. The story was written for the screen by Rip Von Ronkel and Robert Heinlein.

This is a fascinating look at how space travel would be from a 1950 perspective and most of it was spot on. Producer Pal even included a Woody Woodpecker cartoon in this feature as Woody was the reason Pal became famous before he made movies and George felt he owed Woody everything.

The print is excellent and I really recommend you see this film. If you didn't like it as a kid and haven't seen it since, give it another try. The rest of the cast includes John Archer, Dick Wesson and Erin O' Brien-Moore.