Destination Moon - Once Again!

The poem that follows was inspired by the film that really opened the classic age of sci-fi films of the 1950s, George Pal’s somewhat eerily prescient, Destination Moon (1950). I also had in mind President Trump’s recent directive to NASA to have Americans return to the moon supposedly as a stepping stone to Mars and beyond. NASA has had its sights firmly set on missions to Mars and I wonder what impact this directive will have on NASA and the future course of space exploration. A lot will depend on finding the right answer to the questions posed in the last stanza of the poem I suppose. That may have been an important factor in the previous manned missions to the moon….finding the right answer.

Anyway, I close this year with my little poem and wish you A Happy New Year! Never stop wondering…..What If?

Once more unto the Moon, dear friends, once more!

We chose to go to the moon…..

In a George Pal sci-fi spectacular

Just a mere five years after The War,

When Truman was President of these here United States

And H-bomb production pushed up the stakes.

We chose to go to the moon….

In glorious Technicolor and mono sound

As Korea became yet another battleground,

While industry grew fatter with profit,

And a baby boom got set to sky-rocket.

We chose to go to the moon….

Committed and depicted up on the screen,

Beating them Commies so evil and mean!

While winds of a Cold War made us shake and shiver,

And we warmed up with sessions of duck and cover.

We chose to go to the moon….

Believing that we were in a race,

In which we had to set the pace,

To be first to put a man on the moon,

And get it done and done real soon.

We chose to go to the moon…..

With faith in our industry and enterprise

Asking: What’s the payoff? What’s our prize?

Knowing: the race is on and we’d better win it;

Control the moon and all others will submit!

We chose to go to the moon…..

Not yet ready to catch and match the fiction,

Of a Woody Woodpecker demonstration,

Filled with optimism and basic principles,

And all kinds of kids’ cute cartoon visuals.

We chose to go to the moon….

When Kennedy set out a nation’s challenge,

One that would not be easy to manage

And one that would be hard to achieve

But one in which all could believe.

We chose to go to the moon…..

Having once lost a race into space,

Now a new race began to help us save face

Where the goal was to win and claim first prize:

Global pre-eminence and all that it belies.

We chose to go to the moon…

And did we rush in headlong haste -

To land a man on the moon and be the first

To safely return him to earth! Ah, there’s the rub!

Dangers abounded while Time stood poised to drub.

We chose to go to the moon….

With men who had the right stuff,

But would all this prove to be enough,

With the aim just to win a sprint,

To plant a flag and leave a footprint?

We chose to go to the moon….

And by Mercury, Gemini and Apollo we did!

Ethereal images both ghostly and splendid

Hailed us from another world with words well-timed

“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

We had chosen to go to the moon….

And for a moment we stood there as if in a trance,

Struck dumb by the stark desolation and silence,

In awe at a blue marble suspended in a velvet black sky,

And then we began to fiddle and fidget and wonder WHY?

We then chose to leave the moon…..

When Cynicism set in as adventure turned routine,

And the latest sitcom was the thing to be seen.

A blanket of boredom spread over a fickle world

Chilled by millions and billions at the moon that were hurled.

Selene: Greek moon goddess

We choose now to return to the moon…..

When what had once been revered and respected;

When what held our world balanced and protected;

And of our imagination sparked and illuminated,

Had for too long been ignored and taken for granted.

Do we now choose to go to the moon…

Because others are there for reasons suspect?

To corporatize a chunk of space unchecked?

To have a stepping stone to Mars and yonder?

Or to help us understand, know and wonder?

 *********************

2018 will open with a post on the classic 1958 sci-fi film…..

THE FLY!!!!!

©Chris Christopoulos 2017

The Colossus of New York (1958)

An under-rated, admirable and well-crafted sci-fi film that explores concepts that are relevant to modern audiences.

Directed by Eugène Lourié
Story written by Willis Goldbeck
Screenplay: Thelma Schnee
Music by Van Cleave
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date: 1958
Running time: 70 minutes

Cast

John Baragrey: Dr. Henry Spensser
Mala Powers: Anne Spensser
Otto Kruger: Dr. William Spensser
Robert Hutton: Dr. John Robert Carrington
Ross Martin: Dr. Jeremy 'Jerry' Spensser
Charles Herbert: Billy Spensser

There’s something about The Colossus Of New York that I still find to be eerie and disturbing. It is one of the lesser known vintage sci fi films from the 1950s that I believe deserves much greater attention. While watching the film once again recently, I was reminded of the Cybermen characters from the Doctor Who series in which hapless human beings are forced to undergo an “upgrade” by having their humanity and their very emotions stripped away as they are turned into cybernetically augmented humanoids. There have been instances though when the essential humanity of an “upgraded’ individual has managed to break through the impassive impenetrable façade of a Cyberman.

So, what is this technological Frankenstein movie all about?

Following an accident in which he was killed, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Jeremy Spensser has his brain transplanted into the body of a huge cyborg by his scientist father, William Spensser. William wishes to save his genius son's mind so that it can continue to serve mankind, BUT……

What will be the effect on Jeremy Spensser’s brain?

Will there be irreversible changes to his personality?

Will the very essence of his humanity be at stake?

Read on for more.....

"SURVIVORS": A Poem Inspired By The 1951 Sci-Fi Film, "Five"

SURVIVORS

From Big Ben to the Eiffel Tower

Doomsday warnings wail hour after hour:

Imminent collapse of the human race!

And in a flash the world is laid to waste.

A shocked raggedy-doll stumbles and staggers

Along aimless paths seeking survivors,

While calling out plaintive piteous pleas

Of, “Can anyone help me please!”

The path leads Raggedy-doll to another:

A sensitive Poet and Philosopher

Waving absurdity laid bare and unfurled

Of a once cheap honky-tonk of a world.

Here comes a beetle-browed financier,

Well – just a mere assistant cashier

Counting out a life paid in denial and delusion;

Here he enters in wide-eyed confusion.

Supporting him is the Black Samaritan

Strong of shoulder, pride and passion,

Who once dreamt of being something
more,

Only to end up minding a door.

“I am one who was once blind but can now see;

Who once had settled for a piece of security

In a city where I had never seen the lights,

Nor till now what is important in life.”

The four soon become five

When they save one just barely alive,

Through iron willed-soul so black and depraved

And from whom they will have to be saved.

Beetle-brow cashier now on vacation

Has arrived at his final destination

Which he has yearned for in his dreams

For a whole life-time to him it seems.

“I often dreamt of going on vacation,

But my work was my life’s obligation.

And so I sat behind self-made prison bars

Dreaming of sleeping under the stars!”

The need is felt to stay alive 

As once again four become five 

When Raggedy-doll gives birth to future hope 

Without which our survivors would not cope. 

Iron-will’s hope hides in a fascist fantasy 

That seeks salvation through supremacy 

By force of power, violence and destruction: 

And all that sow the seeds of annihilation. 

“I climbed Mt. Everest. I alone. Always alone. 

And there I’ll sit atop the mountain on my throne 

Invincible and possessed of a special immunity 

With a plundered world spread out below me!”

Clinging to his tattered rags of self-delusion, 

Iron-will’s life force leaks away with the radiation 

Of an inner poison of violence and domination, 

That once robbed a new world of a wise Samaritan.

What of the Poet, Raggedy-doll and Future Hope?

Will they leave behind the Past’s mistakes as they grope

Their way to a new Eden that heals and mends;

Where people work together, live together, like friends?

*****************

Thanks for reading my little poem inspired by and based on the science fiction film,

“FIVE.”

©Chris Christopoulos 2017

The Blob (1958)

Although not a masterpiece, this film is a cultural gem

Practically nothing is known about an incident that occurred in a small rural town in Pennsylvania in July 1957. It involved a mysterious extra-terrestrial blob-like entity that crashed to Earth inside a meteorite. Not only that, but the alien entity turned out to be both aggressive and destructive as it set about devouring and dissolving the citizens of this small rural community.

Almost nothing is also known about the then teenage pair, Steve Andrews and his girlfriend, Jane Martin who witnessed the crash of the meteorite and who set about investigating it. As the teenage pair witnessed the alien creature’s destructive power, they faced the problem of being confronted by a wall of adult skepticism and anger. Meanwhile, the blob continued to engulf more and more people, while growing bigger and bigger……

Directed by Irvin Yeaworth
Produced by Jack H. Harris
Written by Kay Linaker, Theodore Simonson
Story by Irving H. Millgate
Music by Ralph Carmichael, Burt Bacharach
Cinematography Thomas E. Spalding
Edited by Alfred Hillmann
Production company: Fairview Productions, Tonylyn Productions, Valley Forge Films
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Running time: 86 minutes
Budget: $110,000
Box office: $4 million

Cast

Steve McQueen as Steve Andrews
Aneta Corsaut as Jane Martin
Earl Rowe as Lieutenant Dave
Olin Howland as Old Man
Stephen Chase as Dr. Hallen
John Benson as Sergeant Jim Bert
George Karas as Officer Ritchie
Lee Payton as Kate
Elbert Smith as Mr. Martin
Hugh Graham as Mr. Andrews
Keith Almoney as Danny Martin

Trailer

Read on for more....

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

A sci-fi film so terrible yet so much fun to watch!

Directed by Nathan H. Juran
Produced by Bernard Woolner
Written by Mark Hanna
Music by Ronald Stein
Cinematography: Jacques R. Marquette
Edited by Edward Mann
Distributed by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation
Running time: 66 minutes
Budget: $89,000
Box office: $480,000 (USA)

Cast

Allison Hayes as Nancy Fowler Archer
William Hudson as Harry Archer
Yvette Vickers as Honey Parker
Roy Gordon as Dr. Isaac Cushing
George Douglas as Sheriff Dubbitt
Ken Terrell as Jess Stout
Otto Waldis as Dr. Heinrich Von Loeb
Eileen Stevens as Nurse
Michael Ross as Tony the Bartender/Giant
Frank Chase as Deputy Charlie

Trailer

The husband of an unhappily married rich socialite returns to her after having left her only because he now needs money. Meanwhile, philandering hubby, Harry happily continues his affair with another woman aptly maned, Honey Parker. After an explosive confrontation at a bar, his wife, Nancy drives off until she encounters a large spherical object on the road. The object’s sole occupant is an enormous alien……

Despite rumours of UFOs in the area, will anyone believe Nancy?

What effect will Nancy’s close encounter have on her?

Read on for more

Terror from the Year 5000 (1958)

A low budget lacklustre sci-fi with uneven performances, sloppy direction, uneven editing and a multitude of plot holes. So bad, it’s oddly good!

The 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction film, Terror from the Year 5000 (a.k.a. Cage of Doom in the UK) was produced by Robert J. Gurney Jr., Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, and Gene Searchinger. It was directed by Robert J. Gurney Jr., and starred Ward Costello, Joyce Holden, John Stratton, Salome Jens, and Fred Herrick. The screenplay was based on the short story Bottle Baby by Henry Slesar, that was published in the science fiction magazine Fantastic (April 1957). American International Pictures released the film on a double bill with The Screaming Skull.

The story involves Prof. Erling and his financial backer, Victor who have constructed a prototype time machine which they use to obtain various objects from the past. On one occasion they discover that one item - a modernist Venus de milo-like statuette – that materialized in the machine, radiometrically dates to the year 5200 AD! It turns out that 20th-century objects that are placed in the machine appear to be "traded" for objects from the future by someone or something. It also transpires that Victor has been secretly trying to get a living intelligent specimen from the future to materialize in the time machine.

What does the future hold in store for humanity?

What present danger is humanity faced with now!

Directed by Robert J. Gurney Jr.
Produced by Robert J. Gurney Jr., Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson, Gene Searchinger
Written by Robert J. Gurney Jr., Henry Slesar
Music by Richard DuPage
Cinematography Arthur Florman
Edited by Dede Allen
Running time: 66 minutes

Cast

Ward Costello as Dr. Robert Hedges
Joyce Holden as Claire Erling
Frederic Downs as Prof. Howard Erling
John Stratton as Victor
Salome Jens as Future Woman / Nurse
Fred Herrick as Angelo
Beatrice Furdeaux as Miss Blake
Jack Diamond as First Lab Technician
Fred Taylor as Second Lab Technician
Bill Downs as Dr. Blair
William Cost as Joe the Bartender

Movie Clip

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Teenage Monster (1958)

Is it a Western?

Is it a Horror?

Is it a Sci-fi?

NO!

It’s a monster case of Teenage angst!

Directed by Jacques R. Marquette
Produced by Jacques R. Marquette, Dale Tate
Written by Ray Buffum
Music by Walter Greene
Cinematography: Taylor Byars
Edited by Irving M. Schoenberg
Distributed by Marquette Productions Limited
Running time: 65 minutes
Budget: $57,000 (approx.)

Cast

Anne Gwynne: Ruth Cannon
Stuart Wade: Sheriff Bob Lehman
Gloria Castillo: Kathy North
Chuck Courtney: Marv Howell
Gil Perkins: Charles Cannon
Norman Leavitt: Deputy Ed
Gabe Mooradian: Fred Fox
Stephen Parker: Charles Cannon as a Boy
Jim McCullough Sr: Jim Cannon
Frank Davis: Man on Street
Arthur Berkeley: Man with Burro

In 1880 in a small town in the American southwest, a young boy is exposed to the rays from a meteor and becomes a grotesque teenage killer monster who is hidden from a hostile world by his mother.

Trailer

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