---by Micheal
Destination Moon isn't technically a B-movie. It was in color and it won an Oscar. But it's a worthwhile starting point for a trek through 50s B movies because it was one of the first 50s science fiction flicks -- a topic which the B-movie industry jumped into with gusto. Unlike a lot of later movies, Destination Moon has no monsters or alien civilizations. Instead, it presents a fairly serious story of a manned expedition to the moon.
Why is this movie fun?
A rocket into space was not new to movie screens -- Flash Gordon had been rocketing around since the 1930s -- but Destination Moon was the "Star Wars" wow-movie that really touched off a decade of space-themed science fiction movies. Sure, the pacing is slow by modern tastes, and the special effects are hardly special by today's standards, but set all that modernist elitism aside. Destination Moon is fun to watch for knowing that it was the Star Wars of its day.
Quick Plot Synopsis
Private industry moguls decide that men must reach the moon as soon as possible. They build a rocket which does, indeed, make it to the moon. Due to landing trouble, the crew burn too much fuel to take off from the moon and return. After lightening the ship of all non-essentials, the ship is still 160 pounds overweight. One of the crew must stay behind. With some ingenuity and desperation, everyone does blast off for the return to earth.
Cold War Angle
Like a great many 50s sci-fi films, anxiety over the Soviets and nuclear war is woven into the plot. When several industrialists question the need to risk their millions on the outlandish moon project, the General Thayer character says: "We're not the only ones planning to go there. The race is on! And we'd better win it, because there is absolutely no way to stop an attack from outer space. The first country that can use the moon for the launching of missiles will control the earth."
Even though those sinister "others" are never mentioned again during the movie, the urgency driving the whole plot is the space race to beat the Soviets for national security reasons! -- ten years before that actual race really started.
Destination Moon is quite naive on what it really took to get men on the moon. (A dozen industrialists build a rocket within one year, and launch a crew to the moon on their first shot.) But in 1950, just five years after the end of WWII, audiences didn't know all that. Destination Moon showcases American optimism about the future in space. Some industrialists' deep pockets, a few clever engineers with slide rules and some talented aircraft workers can get the job done! You have to admire their spunk.
Next up in Joy of B: Same year, but opposite end of the quality spectrum.
Showing posts with label B-movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label B-movies. Show all posts
8.13.2007
8.06.2007
The Joy of B-Movies
---by Micheal
I've recently rediscovered the joy of watching old "B" movies from the 50s and early 60s. In our modern media age of hyper-slick everything, there's actually something refreshing about those old movies.
I tried to share this joy with my kids (both teenagers) but they turn their noses up at them. My daughter has a rule that she won't watch anything that isn't in color. For her, movies are a visual landscape in which she can immerse herself. Black and white movies are barren deserts to her.
My son lives for spectacular special effects. They absolutely must be convincingly realistic. For him, movies are supposed to be alternate worlds of wonder. Low budget B-movies, with cheap effects, are like getting socks for Christmas. Bor-ring. If a special effect doesn't look 100% realistic, it ruins the whole movie for him.
Perhaps it's just because I'm an old coot that I still appreciate B movies. When I was a kid, these old Bs weren't so far behind the curve. Sure, the acting was often poor. Yes, you could sometimes see the little wires holding up the rocket ships -- but that was somehow part of the fun. We knew they were models. That didn't detract at all. What mattered was the story.
As a kid, I would immerse myself into the story. The actors, skilled or otherwise, represented characters -- much as a stage actor would "play" Henry V, or MacBeth. No one thinks the man on stage really is MacBeth, but they let him represent MacBeth in order to tell the story. It was the story that mattered.
The same goes for B-film actors. The villain in a B western didn't have to be convincingly bad on screen. I knew he represented human badness -- greed and treachery. The hero, likewise, could be stiff and wooden. It didn't matter. I knew he represented strength and courage. The story, and the interplay between the characters, is what mattered.
Similarly, the sets could be laughably sparse. A few flat wooden store fronts and a hitching post represented a whole western town. I could see it all in my mind. I didn't need to see it all on the screen. My imagination would even fill in the colors -- a yellow painted general store, a light blue saloon, etc. A few metalic walls and blinking lights represented the inside of a space ship. It didn't matter that the radio was navy surplus, or that they controlled the ship with big steam valves. It was just a place for the story to unfold.
Ah, but I've digressed. As I was saying, I recently rediscovered old B movies. I have been watching them and really enjoying them. In subsequent entries, I'll share a bit of the joy I found in some of my growing old film collection.
I've recently rediscovered the joy of watching old "B" movies from the 50s and early 60s. In our modern media age of hyper-slick everything, there's actually something refreshing about those old movies.
I tried to share this joy with my kids (both teenagers) but they turn their noses up at them. My daughter has a rule that she won't watch anything that isn't in color. For her, movies are a visual landscape in which she can immerse herself. Black and white movies are barren deserts to her.
My son lives for spectacular special effects. They absolutely must be convincingly realistic. For him, movies are supposed to be alternate worlds of wonder. Low budget B-movies, with cheap effects, are like getting socks for Christmas. Bor-ring. If a special effect doesn't look 100% realistic, it ruins the whole movie for him.
Perhaps it's just because I'm an old coot that I still appreciate B movies. When I was a kid, these old Bs weren't so far behind the curve. Sure, the acting was often poor. Yes, you could sometimes see the little wires holding up the rocket ships -- but that was somehow part of the fun. We knew they were models. That didn't detract at all. What mattered was the story.
As a kid, I would immerse myself into the story. The actors, skilled or otherwise, represented characters -- much as a stage actor would "play" Henry V, or MacBeth. No one thinks the man on stage really is MacBeth, but they let him represent MacBeth in order to tell the story. It was the story that mattered.
The same goes for B-film actors. The villain in a B western didn't have to be convincingly bad on screen. I knew he represented human badness -- greed and treachery. The hero, likewise, could be stiff and wooden. It didn't matter. I knew he represented strength and courage. The story, and the interplay between the characters, is what mattered.
Similarly, the sets could be laughably sparse. A few flat wooden store fronts and a hitching post represented a whole western town. I could see it all in my mind. I didn't need to see it all on the screen. My imagination would even fill in the colors -- a yellow painted general store, a light blue saloon, etc. A few metalic walls and blinking lights represented the inside of a space ship. It didn't matter that the radio was navy surplus, or that they controlled the ship with big steam valves. It was just a place for the story to unfold.
Ah, but I've digressed. As I was saying, I recently rediscovered old B movies. I have been watching them and really enjoying them. In subsequent entries, I'll share a bit of the joy I found in some of my growing old film collection.
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