Rocketship X-M

There were essentially two kinds of sci-fi films popular during the 1950s:  the serious-minded, manifest destiny space dramas and the radioactive, monster-on-the-loose variety.  Rocketship X-M manages to straddle the line between them both, following the exploits of a moon mission gone wrong that finds its crew landing on the desolate landscape of Mars instead.  Rushed into production to beat George Pal’s more prestigious Destination Moon – which it did – director Kurt Neumann (The Fly) sneaks some fun pulpy ideas into the second half the of the picture, making this a low-budget gem in nearly every respect.

 

Playing up the technical aspects of spaceflight, XM is staffed by gung-ho adventurers (including Lloyd Bridges), one scientist and a female chemist who, of course, suffers from the curse of professional frigidity.  The script – with contributions from the famously blacklisted Dalton Trumbo – gets lost in tech talk for a while until the familiar hazards of outer space pop up; namely meteorites, fuel loss and a diminishing oxygen supply.  But once the tiny ship is tossed onto the red planet, things get considerably more interesting with the discovery of a ruined Martian civilization populated by murderous neanderthal mutants. 

 

Rocketship X-M certainly isn’t going to score points in the technical category.  Outer space is hung with papier-mache planets and gravity itself seems to vary from scene to scene.  But it’s all pulled off imaginatively and with that sense of wonder missing in more stately sci-fi adventures of the era; particularly the Mars sequence with makes up the entire third act.  Shot in Red Rocks Canyon and Death Valley, Nuemann creates a convincingly alien environment with nothing more that clever photography and a red tint to the screen (more on that later).  To top it off, Rocketship X-M concludes with a downbeat ending that took some real courage.

 

One of the films acquired by the infamous Wade Williams, Rocketship X-M has never been lucky enough to get a restoration.  And the latest DVD incarnation by Cheezy Movies find the film still languishing in digital obscurity.  A colorized version that pumps up the hues to look like faded lobby cards, this isn’t a transfer that will make many waves…and all-but destroys the effective Martian red tint.  But the fact that Rocketship X-M is still out there at all gives one reason to hope.  And the Cheezy Movies version is at least narratively complete and blessedly free from most nicks and scratches.  You get the gist, but the movie deserves so much more.  At least it’s ridiculously affordable!

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