Conquest of Space
| Conquest of Space | |
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| Directed by | Byron Haskin |
| Produced by | George Pal |
| Screenplay by | James O'Hanlon |
| Starring |
Walter Brooke Eric Fleming Mickey Shaughnessy |
| Music by | Nathan Van Cleave |
| Edited by | Everett Douglas |
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Production
company |
Paramount Pictures Corp.
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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81 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1 million (US) |
Conquest of Space is a 1955 American Technicolor science fiction film from Paramount Pictures, produced by George Pal, directed by Byron Haskin, that stars Walter Brooke, Eric Fleming and Mickey Shaughnessy.
The storyline concerns the first interplanetary flight to the planet Mars, manned by a crew of five, and launched from Earth orbit near "The Wheel", mankind's first space station. On their long journey to the Red Planet, they encounter various dangers, both from within and without, that nearly destroy the mission.
Mankind has achieved space flight capability and built "The Wheel" space station in orbit 1,075 miles above Earth. It is commanded by its designer, Colonel Samuel T. Merritt (Walter Brooke). His son, Captain Barney (Eric Fleming), having been aboard for a year, wants to return to Earth.
A giant spaceship has been built in a nearby orbit, and an Earth inspector arrives aboard the station with new orders: Merritt is being promoted to general and will command the new spaceship, now being sent to Mars instead of the Moon. As General Merritt considers his crew of three enlisted men and one officer, his close friend, Sgt. Mahoney (Mickey Shaughnessy) volunteers. The general turns him down for being 20 years too old. Hearing that Mars is the new destination, Barney Merritt volunteers to be the second officer.
Right after the crew watch a TV broadcast from their family and friends, the mission blasts off for the Red Planet. The general's undiagnosed and growing space fatigue is beginning to seriously affect his judgement: Reading his Bible frequently, he has doubts about the righteousness of the mission. After launch, Sgt. Mahoney is discovered to be a stowaway, having hidden in a crew spacesuit. Their piloting radar antenna later fails, and two crew go outside to make repairs. They manage to get it working just as their monitors show a glowing planetoid, 20 times larger than their spaceship, coming at them from astern. The general fires the engines, barely managing to avoid a collision. But the planetoid's fast-orbiting debris punctures Sgt. Fodor (Ross Martin)'s spacesuit, killing him instantly. After a religious service in space, Fodor's body is cast adrift into the void.
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Wikipedia