From the Earth to the Moon (film)
| From the Earth to the Moon | |
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| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Produced by | Benedict Bogeaus |
| Screenplay by | Robert Blees James Leicester |
| Story by | Jules Verne |
| Starring | Joseph Cotten George Sanders Debra Paget Don Dubbins |
| Music by | Louis Forbes |
| Cinematography | Edwin B. DuPar |
| Editing by | James Leicester |
| Studio | Waverly Productions RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 1958 |
| Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
From the Earth to the Moon (1958) is a Technicolor science fiction film adaptation of the Jules Verne novel of the same name. It starred Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, Debra Paget, and Don Dubbins. The film began as an RKO Pictures movie but when RKO went into bankruptcy the film was released by Warner Brothers.
[edit] Plot
Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, munitions producer Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotten) announces that he has invented a new explosive, "Power X", which he claims is much more powerful than any previously devised. Metallurgist Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders) scoffs at Barbicane's claims and offers a wager of $100,000 that it cannot destroy his invention, the hardest metal in existence. Barbicane stages a demonstration using a puny cannon and demolishes Nicholl's material (and a portion of the countryside).
However, President Ulysses S. Grant (Morris Ankrum) requests that Barbicane cease development of his invention, as other, nervous countries warn that continuing work on Power X could be considered an act of war. Barbicane agrees, but when he discovers that pieces of Nicholl's metal retrieved from the demonstration have somehow been converted into an extremely strong yet lightweight ceramic, he cannot resist the chance to construct a spaceship to travel to the Moon. He recruits Nicoll to help build the ship. Meanwhile, Nicholl's daughter Virginia (Debra Paget) and Barbicane's assistant Ben Sharpe (Don Dubbins) are attracted to each other.
After completing the spaceship, Barbicane, Nicholl, and Sharpe board it and, amid much fanfare, take off. Once they are in outer space, the strongly religious Nicholl reveals that he has sabotaged the vessel, believing that Barbicane has flouted God's laws. However, when it is discovered that Virginia has stowed away, Nicholl cooperates with Barbicane in a desperate attempt to save her. Sharpe is knocked out, and he and Virginia are placed in the safest compartment of the ship. Barbicane and Nicholl then fire rockets that send the young couple on their way back to Earth, while the two scientists land on the Moon in another section, with no way off. However, they are able to signal to the young couple that they have managed to reach the Moon safely.
[edit] Cast
- Joseph Cotten as Victor Barbicane
- George Sanders as Nicholl
- Debra Paget as Virginia Nicholl
- Don Dubbins as Ben Sharpe
- Patric Knowles as Josef Cartier
- Carl Esmond as Jules Verne
- Henry Daniell as Morgana
- Melville Cooper as Bancroft
- Ludwig Stössel as Aldo Von Metz (as Ludwig Stossel)
- Morris Ankrum as President Ulysses S. Grant (uncredited)
- Robert Clarke as Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
- Les Tremayne as Countdown Announcer (uncredited)
[edit] External links
- From the Earth to the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
- From the Earth to the Moon at the TCM Movie Database
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