Cosmic Voyage (1936 film)
| Kosmicheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Vasili Zhuravlov |
| Written by | Aleksandr Filimonov Konstantin Tsiolkovsky |
| Produced by | Boris Shumyatskiy |
| Starring | Sergei Komarov K. Moskalenko Vassili Gaponenko |
Production company | |
Release date | January 1936 |
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUSSR |
| Language | Russian |
Kosmicheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella (known in English as Cosmic Voyage and The Space Voyage) is a 1936 Soviet science fiction produced by Mosfilm.
Plot
In the year 1946, the Soviet space program is undergoing turmoil. Professor Sedikh, who is planning to lead the first manned exploration to the moon, is denounced by his rival Professor Karin as being too old and too mentally unstable for the mission. Professor Sedikh, aided by his assistant Marina and a youth named Andryusha, disregard Prof. Karin’s authority and make a successful landing on the moon. Although a few problems occur at the moon, including the discovery of a damaged oxygen tank and Professor Sedikh’s becoming trapped under a fallen boulder, the expedition is a success and the cosmonauts return to Moscow.
Cast
- Sergei Komarov...Pavel Ivanovich Sedikh
- K. Moskalenko...Professor Marina
- Vassili Gaponenko...Andryusha Orlov
- Nikolai Feoktistov...Capt. Viktor Orlov
- Vasili Kovrigin...Professor Karin
Production
Kosmicheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella was initially conceived in 1924 by Russian filmmaker Vasili Zhuravlov, but it was not pursued for production until 1932, when Komsomol (the Communist Union of Youth) recommended the creation of film that would spur an interest in space studies. Zhuravlov consulted with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the noted aeronautical theorist and rocket science engineer, on the screenplay. Tsiolkovsky died shortly after the film was completed.[1]
Two spaceships in the film were named after the Soviet leaders Josef Stalin and Kliment Voroshilov. The film’s cosmonauts enter liquid-filled chambers to buffer the impact of takeoff and landing, and they communicate their landing to the Earth by spelling out "CCCP" (the Russian-language acronym for "USSR") with reflective substances spread across the lunar surface.[2]
Kosmicheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella was shot as a silent film and only had a brief release in early 1936 before being removed from circulation by Soviet censors, who felt that an animated sequence of cosmonauts hopping across the gravity-free lunar surface was antithetical to the spirit of "socialist realism." It was not widely seen again until the 1980s.[3]
References
- ^ Phil Hall (July 9, 2010). "The Bootleg Files: The Space Voyage". Film Threat. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
- ^ Glenn Erickson (October 26, 2006). "Kosmicheskiy reys: Fantasticheskaya novella". DVD Talk. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
- ^ David Jeffers (July 25, 2007). "Hijack at the Cosmodrome". Seattle International Film Festival SIFFBlog. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
External links
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