Flight To Mars (1951)

Too much of everything

Admirable film.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

With all the urgency of consuming a candy bar under a shade tree in August, the crew of this particular spaceflight heads towards the red planet after strolling up to the big rocket to strap themselves in like cosmic sardines.Things are cool until the rocket gets messed up causing the space travelers to have to consider remaining on Mars - if they can safely land there at all. Cameron Mitchell is a doubting writer, John Litel is the confident commander, and pretty Virginia Huston masquerades as the 'girl next door', all the way up to the moment when she gulps down a bourbon... and again when she starts whipping Cameron and Arthur Franz for womanizing.Quiet film with enough novelty value to keep one interested especially when we see the Martian babes strutting around in tiny red mini-skirts.

From a screenplay written by Arthur Strawn and directed by Lesley Selander comes this film offering entitled " Flight to Mars. " It was made in the 1950s' and for many a teenage boy proved to be very interesting. A group of Spacemen from Earth decide to travel to the red planet Mars to explore the possibility of life there. Their ship is imaginative for the time and yet none of us noticed they traveled to the forth planet using only common clothes. We were too busy ogling the shapely long legged, high heeled Martian Beauties. Boarding their spaceship we also never noticed the crew members wore army jackets, fatigues and common gas masks, their rocket ship was equipped with Army bunk beds and the only female crew-member wore her flowing High school hoop skirt. The script calls for good dialog and the cast members do well to maintain a great story. In point of fact, this is a good movie and with actors like Morris Ankrum it does a good job. Although greeted peacefully, they soon discover, they are doomed. All in all, I would recommend this movie to young minds and move this film into the annals of the Classics. ****

OK. As far as sci-fi flicks go, this is a mildly competent low-budget space movie. But it launches into eye-popping glory when barely- clad Martian women suddenly appear (and thoughtfully lend some clothing to the previously fabric-laden Earth woman). A mini-skirt suggests something that would cover posteriors. These take it one step beyond tennis dress short and into swimsuit country when we are treated to views of matching underwear, which the skirts don't cover. Other than that, the film is pretty awful, including an ending that seems as if filming was halted by the studio precisely at 3:00 pm or whatever so they could start shooting the next film. This film does mark a high point for Monogram studio--the set design rises far and above what they usually do. If you grew up during the Cold War, you will have affection for this film, despite its faults. The haminess of the dialog and acting, along with the matte drawings of the futuristic city will bring anyone back to the charms and fears of fifties America. So despite it's cheesiness, Flight to Mars is a small gem.

Before I start being critical, let me point out that Image has released some excellent transfers of 1950s sci-fi from the Wade Williams/Corinth Films library on DVD. Because of their past track record, I went in with high hopes for this film, only to find that while the color looked pretty good for a Cinecolor film from this time period, the print used for the DVD was full of scratches, dust specks and splices...splices that made sections of conversation inaudible. Adding to the disappointment is that Image is charging about $10 more for this than most of their other Wade Williams titles. Part of the price may stem from the extras, which include two 25 minute interviews with leading man Cameron Mitchell by David Del Valle, which are a welcome addition to the package. But the quality of the overall presentation makes the higher cost seem like a questionable pricing practice.