Destination Moon (1950 Movie)

1950’s Destination Moon offered a serious look at space exploration based on the science of its time and counts as a classic science fiction film.

What Is It?

As the movie begins, an attempt to launch a satellite into orbit fails, possibly as the result of sabotage by foreign interests wanting to beat the United States into space. Because of the failure, government funding is withdrawn, but rocket scientist Dr. Charles Cargraves along with his collaborator General Thayer approach aircraft builder Jim Barnes about continuing the project with corporate sponsorship and possibly expanding its scope to send men to the Moon. Barnes is reluctant at first, but Thayer sways him to their cause and then this group manages to convince the leaders of several large U.S. corporations to help fund the project. A rocket is built, but its fate is put in jeopardy by a court order that could cancel the launch because of the threat of potential radiation from the rocket’s atomic engine. To avoid getting shut down, they decide to launch early with Barnes, Thayer, Cargraves, and radio operator Joe Sweeny as the crew. The rocket has a successful takeoff but faces several challenges in its quest to get to the moon and back.

Cast: John Archer, Warner Anderson, Tom Powers, Dick Wesson, Erin O’Brien-Moore

Crew: Irving Pichel (Director), George Pal (Producer), James O’Hanlon (Writer), Rip Van Ronkel (Writer), Robert A. Heinlein (Writer)

Original Release: 1950

Legacy

Though somewhat dated now, Destination Moon delivers an engaging and scientifically accurate (for its time) film about near-space travel, and it stands out as an important milestone in the development of sci fi cinema.

A Closer Look

Produced by George Pal–who would become the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg of his day–this movie was his first foray into science fiction and it was very much a landmark for its time. The genre had mostly been relegated to horror films, B-Movies, or Saturday afternoon serials, with few attempts at serious science fiction during the first twenty years or so of talking films. Movies like Frankenstein, King Kong, and Things to Come all make it to that short list, but the first two are more heavily associated with the horror genre and only the latter entry stands out as true science fiction. After that film, Destination Moon would be the next major science fiction entry and it was actually a pretty big deal when it came out.

It was produced with a notable budget for its day ($500k!) and George Pal had enough film-savvy to turn it into a crowd-pleaser that made it very much an early precursor to the mega-dollar blockbusters that would become the norm thirty or so years later. Pal and his writers (which included Robert A. Heinlein, whose works it was loosely based on and he later wrote a novelette adaptation of the film) approached the material with serious intent, planning on producing a film that would accurately portray travel to the moon based on the scientific knowledge of the time. But they did not turn out a stolid, tedious movie nor an exploitive film full of bug-eyed monsters and helpless heroines fleeing in distress. Destination Moon follows a rather matter-of-fact presentation of its concept, but it still manages to liven it up with things like a Woody Woodpecker cartoon to explain the science and the Joe Sweeny character added for comic relief (though he avoids turning into a buffoon). And of course the special effects were first-rate for the time and many of them still hold up today in a retro-movie sense (with the possible exception of the spacewalk scenes).

The science is quite solid, especially for a 1950’s science fiction film, as it was believed that a V-2 style rocket (which the ship in the film closely resembles) would be capable of carrying explorers to our nearest cosmic neighbor. Rocket scientists would later decide that multi-stage ships would be the better way to go for near-space travel, but the spaceship used in the film was believable at that time. And while the moonscapes are inaccurate, they’re really not that far off and they do look pretty cool and add a bit of visual flair to the film. The movie does have some of the cowboy ethic to it as the maverick space travelers jump on their rocketship and take a daring trip into the frontiers of space, but that’s part of what lends to the broad appeal of the film and it doesn’t detract too much from its more serious tone.

The acting is decent enough for a movie of this genre and this period, with Dick Wesson as Joe Sweeny stealing most of the scenes he is in. There is a dearth of female characters, though, as space travel is portrayed as man’s work with the women left to worry about their husbands from Earth. But then that’s not much different from how the U.S. space program actually unfolded a decade later.  (For an alternative history where women play a more important part in the space program, I highly recommend the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind.)

And while Destination Moon may look a bit dated to the jaded modern-day audiences expecting an onslaught of eye-popping CGI effects from their sci fi blockbusters, the more discerning fan will be able to look past that and see this for the classic it is. The movie treated space travel intelligently and managed to deliver a story that is both engaging and scientifically sound (again, for its day). It’s great fun to watch, and much easier to sit through than many of the B-Movie cheapies that came out around that time or even the more serious genre efforts like Rocketship X-M, This Island Earth, or Pal’s later Conquest of Space. And Destination Moon only runs about ninety minutes, so it’s a quick watch and well worth the time.

The Story Continues

Destination Moon proved to be a hit at the Box Office, pulling in five million dollars in receipts against a $500K budget.  But a direct sequel to the film was never ordered, probably because the studio considered it too much of a risk (this was many years before the Blockbuster Franchise Era took control of Hollywood).  In 1955, George Pal would take another trip into space when he produced Conquest of Space which could be considered a continuation of what Destination Moon started.  That takes place at a time when the space program is further down the road in its development and humans have built a space station that is orbiting the Earth.  A mission to Mars is launched from that station and the film follows the challenges of reaching the Red Planet.  That one proved less successful at the Box Office, though, and George Pal would shift his attention to other sci fi and fantasy adventures, most notably 1960’s The Time Machine.

Should It Be Rebooted?

Destination Moon is very much a film of its era, and a reboot would not work very well unless it was taking a retro-sci fi approach.  But interestingly enough, this movie suggests that private industry would be the one to lead the charge on space travel because of a lack of interest on the part of the government. That’s not how the space program actually got started, but to an extent that is where we are today. In that sense, a remake could act as a call to action on the part of the corporate world to step up and keep space exploration alive.  It could go the retro route, or use the modern-day setting and target a destination further in the solar system like Mars.  That could result in an interesting film that pays homage to the original while also blazing a bold new path.

Interesting Facts

The Woody Woodpecker short used in the film to explain the science of space travel was later updated by NASA and used to educate the public on the fundamentals of space exploration.

Rocketship X-M came out that same year and also followed an attempted expedition to the out lunar satellite, and it beat Destination Moon to the theaters. It can be considered that era’s version of a mockbuster because it was a cheap attempt to capitalize on the publicity of the George Pal film. Destination Moon had been in production much longer with a bigger budget and it received a fair amount of advanced promotion while also experiencing a delay in release. The studio responsible for Rocketship X-M rushed it into production on a cheaper budget and it arrived in theaters one month ahead of Destination Moon. It proved less successful, though, and has been relegated to B-Movie status while the George Pal film stands out as a classic of sci fi cinema.

The launch of the spaceship occurs at 7:50 AM. The launch of Apollo 8–which was the first mission to orbit the moon–occurred at 7:51 AM.

Where Can You Watch It?

Destination Moon has been released on DVD, though it appears to be out of print, and interestingly it has never received the Blu-ray treatment.  It is available to purchase VOD at an economical price from sellers like Amazon.com.  It is not available for streaming on any of the major services, but you can find it on YouTube

Further Reading

Wikipedia
IMDb.com