201 - ROCKETSHIP X-M (5/27/1950; NR; 77m)

a.k.a. EXPEDITION MOON (which is what the X-M stands for)
a.k.a. DESTINAZIONE LUNA (Italy: Destination Moon)

Ad: "ZOOM through the Universe the Screen's First Story of Man's First Conquest of Space! GASP at the Daring Courage of Four Men and a Girl as They Thunder Between Planets on a Runaway Rocket! You've Read About It! You've About It! Now SEE it! ROCKETSHIP X-M!"
Ad: "The screen's FIRST story of man's conquest of space!"
Ad: "The Most Amazing Story Ever Filmed!"
Ad: "The Future is Here!"
Ad: "The Most Astounding SPACE ADVENTURE of All Time!"

Plot: Astronauts overshoot the moon, land on Mars and encounter mutant aliens.

Exec: Robert L. Lippert
(203-Jungle Goddess; 208-Lost Continent; 210-King Dinosaur;
520-Radar Secret Service; 611-Last of the Wild Horses)
Exec: Murray Lerner (Square Dance Jubilee)
Prod/Dir/Scr: Kurt Neumann (The Fly; Return of the Vampire)
Dialogue Dir: Clarence Marks (Kronos; The Deerslayer)
Scr: Dalton Trumbo (Spartacus; Papillon)
Scr/Additional Dialogue: Orville Hampton (208; Alligator People)
Cin: Karl Struss (419-The Rebel Set; won Oscar/Sunrise)
Ed: Harry Gerstad
(411-The Magic Sword; won Oscars/High Noon; Champion)
SFX/Photo FX Des: Jack Rabin
(107-Robot Monster; 317-Viking Women and the Sea Serpent;
602-Invasion USA; L01-World Without End)
SFX/Matte Painter: Irving A. Block (*317/L01)
SFX: Don Stewart (actor/American Ninja)
Cos: Richard Staub (Kronos; Swing in the Saddle)
M/U: Don Cash (106-The Crawling Hand; Red Planet Mars)
PDes: Theodore Holsopple (adir/409-The Indestructible Man)
ADir: Theobold Holsopple (set/701S-Once Upon A Honeymoon)
PMgr: Betty Sinclair (320-The Unearthly; actor/Crazy Knights)
Set: Clarence Steensen
(802-The Leech Woman; Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine)
Sound Eng: Tom Lambert (Gun Crazy; Oregon Passage)
Score: Ferde Grofe (Valentino)
Arranged By: Albert Glasser (sco/317/602; *309-Amazing Colossal Man; 313-Earth Vs. The Spider; 315-Teenage Caveman; 319-War of the Colossal Beast; 409-The Indestructible Man; 414-Tormented;
517-Beginning of the End; 611-Last of the Wild Horses)

Colonel Floyd Graham / Lloyd Bridges*
Major William Corrigan / Noah Beery Jr.*
Dr. Lisa Van Horn / Osa Massen (Cry of the Werewolf)
Harry Chamberlin / Hugh O'Brian (Son of Ali Baba; The Shootist)
Dr. Karl Eckstrom / John Emery (Kronos; The Girl Can't Help It)
Dr. Ralph Fleming / Morris Ankrum*
first reporter / Patrick Ahern (The Court Jester)
Martian / Sherry Moreland (Stop, You're Killing Me)
second reporter / John Dutra (No Way to Treat a Lady)
third reporter / Judd Holdren (309; 413-Manhunt in Space)
fourth reporter / Katherine Marlowe (The Phenix City Story)

Trivia: ROCKETSHIP X-M is considered by some to be a ground-breaking sci-fi movie, because it was the first American film to depict space travel seriously for an adult audience. It was made very quickly to beat George Pal's Destination Moon to the theaters, and is considered the better of the two. Its unhappy ending was very unusual for its time (or today for that matter). Both movies led the way for the sci-fi flick explosion of the 1950's. By the way, the exterior Martian scenes were filmed in Death Valley, California.

Born in 1913, California native LLOYD BRIDGES was most famous in the late 1950's for his role as scuba-adventurer Mike Nelson (!) on TV's Sea Hunt: "By that time, my lungs were aching for air." Most people today recognize him for his roles in Airplane 1 & 2 and Hot Shots 1 & 2. His early films included Here Comes Mr. Jordan and High Noon. In a dark moment of his career, he became a government witness for the House Un-American Activities Commission, after acknowledging that he had been a prior member of the Communist Party. (Many actors' careers were ruined during this Hollywood Communist "witch-hunt" led by Senator Joe McCarthy during the 1950's). Two of Lloyd Bridges' sons are also successful actors: Jeff Bridges (also TV's Sea Hunt; The Last Picture Show; Starman); and BEAU BRIDGES (see 523-VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS). Both brothers appeared in The Fabulous Baker Boys, co-starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Lloyd Bridges passed away on March 10, 1998.

Born in 1916, son of character actor Noah Beery Sr. and nephew of actor Wallace Beery, NOAH BEERY JR. started acting in movies at age 7. He's known best for his role on TV's Rockford Files. Some of his better films are: Sergeant York; Of Mice and Men; and Red River.

Character actor MORRIS ANKRUM (1897-1964) was a professor of economics at USC before starring in B-Westerns, but was also in many A-pictures. His later sci-fi films include: 1951-Flight to Mars; 1953-Invaders from Mars; 1955-Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy; 1956-Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers; 1957-Half Human; 1957-Zombies of Mora Tau; Kronos; The Giant Claw; 517-BEGINNING OF THE END; 1958-From the Earth to the Moon; 1958-How to Make a Monster; and Giant from the Unknown.

Last Updated: 6/20/1999