''First Men in the Moon'' is a 1964 British

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

, produced by

Charles H. Schneer Charles Hirsch Schneer (May 5, 1920 – January 21, 2009) was an American film producer, best known for working with Ray Harryhausen, the specialist known for his work in stop motion model animation. Life and career Born in Norfolk, Virginia, ...

, directed by

Nathan Juran Naftuli Hertz "Nathan" Juran (September 1, 1907 – October 23, 2002) was a Romanian film art director, and later film and television director. As an art director, he won the Oscar for Best Art Direction in 1942 for ''How Green Was My Valley'', ...

, and starring

Edward Judd Edward Judd (4 October 1932 – 24 February 2009) was a British actor. Biography Born in Shanghai, he and his English father and Russian mother fled when the Japanese attacked China five years later. His career was at its peak in the 1960s ...

Martha Hyer Martha Hyer (August 10, 1924 – May 31, 2014) was an American actress who played Gwen French in ''Some Came Running'' (1958), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her autobiography, ''Finding My Way ...

and

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Golden Globe Awa ...

. The film, distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

, is an adaptation by screenwriter

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The First Men in the Moon ''The First Men in the Moon'' is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells, originally serialised in '' The Strand Magazine'' from December 1900 to August 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901, who called it one of his "fantast ...

''.

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Might ...

provided the

stop-motion animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

effects, which include the Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows" and the large-brained Grand Lunar. The film was made five years prior to man first landing on the Moon.

Plot

In 1964, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

has launched a rocket flight to the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

. A multi-national group of astronauts in the UN spacecraft land, believing themselves to be the first lunar explorers. However, they discover a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

flag on the surface and a note mentioning Katherine Callender, which claims the Moon for

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Attempting to trace Callender in the records office in

Dymchurch Dymchurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village is located on the coast five miles (8 km) south-west of Hythe, and on the Romney Marsh. History The history of Dymchurch began with ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, south-east

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the UN authorities discover that she has died, but that her husband Arnold Bedford is still living in a nursing home known as "The Limes". The home's staff do not let him watch television reports of the Moon expedition because, according to the matron, it "excites him". Bedford's repeated lunar claims are dismissed as senile delusion. The UN representatives question him about the Moon, and he tells them his story, which is shown in flashback. In 1899, Arnold Bedford lives in a romantic spot, Cherry Cottage, next to a canal lock in Dymchurch. His fiancée, Katherine Callender, known as Kate, arrives by car (driving herself), visiting the house for the first time. It is implied that Bedford is in financial difficulties by a letter about his rent being well past due. They meet a nearby neighbour, inventor Joseph Cavor, who wants to buy the cottage, just in case his experiments should damage it. Kate agrees to this on Bedfords behalf. Bedford begins spending time at Cavor's house, where the inventor has a large laboratory. He has developed a substance,

Cavorite ''The First Men in the Moon'' is a scientific romance by the English author H. G. Wells, originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from December 1900 to August 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901, who called it one of his "fantasti ...

, that will let anything it is applied to or made of nullify the force of gravity. He plans to use it to travel to the Moon. Bedford has deeds drawn up and signed in Kate's name selling the cottage to Cavor for £5000...(in reality he is selling something that he does not own). Cavor tempts Bedford by telling him there are gold nuggets on the Moon. He has already built a spherical spaceship in the greenhouse next to the cottage. The sphere is lined inside with green velvet, and it has electric lights. There is an explosion at Cavor's house just as Kate arrives at the cottage. This is caused by Cavor's assistant, Gibbs, leaving for the local pub instead of watching the boiler used for processing the Cavorite. He shows her deep sea diving suits intended to keep them both alive while on the lunar surface. The production of Cavorite is increased. Kate brings some things for the trip: gin and bitters, chickens, and an

elephant gun An elephant gun is a large caliber gun, rifled or smoothbore, originally developed for use by big-game hunters for elephant and other large game. Elephant guns were black powder muzzle-loaders at first, then black powder express rifles, the ...

. But she gives Bedford an ultimatum: "Cavorite or me". Back at the cottage, Kate is served with a summons by a bailiff accompanied by a silent policeman. She has been charged with selling a property she does not own. Bedford and Cavor are just about to leave when Kate angrily hammers on the outside of the sphere wanting to know what he has done. They pull her inside just before the sphere launches. On the long journey to the Moon they eat only sardines. It is not explained how the craft is steered, but opening a blind causes the sphere to veer toward the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. They eventually crash land on the lunar surface, and both men don the diving suits. Kate is placed inside an air-tight compartment since she is unable to accompany them. While exploring the lunar surface, Bedford and Cavor fall down a vertical shaft, where there is breathable air. They discover an

insectoid An insectoid is an insect-like creature. Insectoid may refer to: * Insectoid robot * Insectoids in science fiction {{dab ...

population, the Selenites, living beneath the surface in large caverns. (Cavor coins this name for the creatures after the

Greek goddess A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

of the Moon,

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter o ...

). While being herded by them, Bedford attacks a group of Selenites out of fear, killing several, despite Cavor's horrified protests. After escaping, the two men discover that the sphere, still containing Kate, has been dragged into the underground city. They are attacked by a giant caterpillar-like "Moon Bull", which pursues them until the Selenites are able to dispatch it with their ray weapons. Cavor and Bedford see the city's power station, a

perpetual motion machine Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work infinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible, a ...

powered by sunlight. The Selenites quickly learn English and interrogate Cavor, who believes they wish to exchange scientific knowledge. Cavor has a discussion with the "Grand Lunar", the ruling entity of the Selenites. Bedford makes the assumption that Cavor, and presumably all humanity, is now on trial, he attempts to kill the Grand Lunar with the elephant gun, failing because of Cavor's interference. Now running for their lives, Bedford manages to find the sphere, and he and Kate are able to make an escape. Cavor voluntarily stays behind on the Moon. Bedford flies the sphere up a vertical shaft of light, shattering the massive window-like covering at the top, and he and Kate return to Earth. He concludes his story by mentioning that they came down in the sea off the coast of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

, their sphere sinking without trace. They managed to swim ashore, but Cavor's ultimate fate remained unknown to them. In the present, Bedford, the UN party, and newspaper reporters watch on television the latest events on the Moon. The UN astronauts have broken into the Selenite's underground city and find it deserted and decaying. The ruined city begins to crumble and collapse, forcing the astronauts to hastily retreat to the surface. Seconds later the entire lunar city is completely destroyed. Bedford realizes that the Selenites must have succumbed to Cavor's common cold virus to which they had no immunity.

Cast

as Bedford *

as Kate *

as Joseph Cavor *

Miles Malleson William Miles Malleson (25 May 1888 – 15 March 1969) was an English actor and dramatist, particularly remembered for his appearances in British comedy films of the 1930s to 1960s. Towards the end of his career he also appeared in cameo roles i ...

as Dymchurch registrar *

Norman Bird John George Norman Bird (30 October 1924 – 22 April 2005) was an English character actor. Early life Bird was born in Coalville, Leicestershire, England. A RADA graduate, he made his West End theatre, West End debut in Peter Brook's produ ...

as Stuart *

Gladys Henson Gladys Henson (27 September 1897 – 21 December 1982) was an Irish actress whose career lasted from 1932 to 1976 and included roles on stage, radio, films and television series. Among her most notable films were ''The History of Mr. Polly ( ...

as nursing home matron * Hugh McDermott as Richard Challis, UN Space Agency *

Betty McDowall Betty McDowall (1924 – 1993) was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1924. Her television appearances include episodes of ''Z-Cars'', ''The Saint'' and ''The Prisoner''. On stage, sh ...

as Margaret Hoy, UN Space Agency *

Huw Thomas Hywel Gruffydd Edward "Huw" Thomas (14 September 1927 – 12 March 2009) was a Welsh broadcaster, barrister and Liberal Party politician. Family and education Huw Thomas was born in Pen-bre, near Llanelli, and was a fluent Welsh speaker.Liberal ...

* as announcer *

Erik Chitty Erik Chitty (8 July 1907 in Dover, Kent – 22 July 1977 Brent, Middlesex), was an English stage, film and television actor. Early life Chitty was the son of a flour miller, Frederick Walter Chitty and his wife Ethel Elsie Assistance née Fra ...

* as Gibbs, Cavor's servant in Dymchurch *

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

* as the bailiff *

Marne Maitland James Marne Kumar Maitland (18 December 1914 – March 1992) was an Anglo-Indian character actor in films and television programmes. Biography Maitland was born in Calcutta, and educated at Bedales School before going up to Magdalene College, ...

* as Dr. Tok, UN Space Agency * Not credited on-screen.

Production

Development

Harryhausen was planning on following '' Jason and the Argonauts'' (1963) with a version of H.G. Wells' 1904 novel '' The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth'' when he met with writer

. Harryhausen had long wanted to film Wells' ''First Men in the Moon'' but producer Charles Schneer was not enthusiastic, in part due to worries about the film's period setting. Kneale thought it was an excellent idea, however, and he and Harryhausen managed to persuade Schneer to make it. Schneer said Kneale "is a very dour, straightforward, serious classicist. He was recognized in England as being the contemporary science-fiction screenwriter. I hired him because we needed his technical expertise. Then, we superimposed on that what we thought audiences would appreciate". Another writer was brought on to rework Kneale's script. According to Kneale: "They wanted to jazz it up, make it funnier than I had imagined". He says this inspired the casting of

. Kneale said in the book, Judd's character "was a blundering creature and it seemed important to keep that".Warren p 62 The writer says he knew that a country would get to the Moon relatively soon and discover there were no Selenites. This is why he added to the script that the Selenites were wiped out by a cold virus carried to the Moon by the professor, an idea Kneale says he took directly from ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

''.

Director

This was the third collaboration between producer Charles Schneer and director Nathan Juran. Schneer said Juran "was an excellent man for what he did, but he wasn't an actor's director. Many of our actors were used to more help from a director than he gave them. They felt a little adrift when they were expected to get on with their work without any great directorial assist. Jerry wasn't very patient with actors. He couldn't tolerate actors who wanted to know what their character's motivation was. He wanted to get on with the job he was hired to do".

Casting

Schneer cast Judd from his performance in ''

The Day the Earth Caught Fire ''The Day the Earth Caught Fire'' is a British science fiction disaster film starring Edward Judd, Leo McKern and Janet Munro. It was directed by Val Guest and released in 1961, and is one of the classic apocalyptic films of its era. The film o ...

'' (1961). Edward Judd was under contract to Columbia Pictures. "I had never done anything like that at the time, so I thought it would be fun", Judd said. "Since Lionel was already a great chum of mine, I knew we would have laughs on the set". Martha Hyer's character was not in the original drafts of the scripts but was introduced later.Kinnard p 54

Designs

Ray Harryhausen used NASA blueprints as inspiration for the UN's lunar lander when he was designing the film's sets. Sculptor Bryan Kneale constructed the Selenites from Harryhausen's designs.

Spacesuits used

The spacesuit type worn by the film's UN Astronauts is actually the Windak high-altitude pressure suit, developed for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Each was fitted with a 1960s-type aqualung cylinder worn as a backpack. These pressure suits would also be used in two ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' stories: William Hartnell's final story "

The Tenth Planet ''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...

" (1966) and the

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

-era "

The Wheel in Space ''The Wheel in Space'' is the mostly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968. In this seria ...

" (1968). They also appear in the original ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' trilogy as the costumes for Bossk and Bo Shek.

Shooting

Filming began on 1 October 1963. Schneer convinced Harryhausen the film's commercial prospects would be improved if it was shot in

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during ...

. "Ray was terrified of Panavision", said the producer. "All I had to do was suggest something different to him, and he would get nervous". "After you got past the first couple of reels, it was a funny film", said Juran. "Lionel was a swell actor. I liked him very much. His performance added immeasurably to the picture's entertainment value. He played it tongue-in-cheek but being such a good comic actor he controlled himself and never went too far. He made a great team with Edward Judd. Their personalities, one against the other, were just perfect". "It was fun to do, but it was bloody hard work," said Judd. "Lionel called it 'acting with chalk marks' because we were pointing at things that weren't there and dealing with blue backing and traveling mattes". Harryhausen would explain to the actors what the creatures would eventually look like just before they shot the scenes involving them. "Lionel and I didn't like Jerry's working methods too much," said Judd. "He was more of a technician than an actor's director. We always thought of him as an art director, which of course he had been".

Reception

Critical reception

Among contemporary reviews, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Ray Harryhausen and his special effects men have another high old time in this piece of science-fiction hokum filmed in

Dynamation Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for ''Mighty ...

", adding that "Wells' novel and has been neatly updated", and concluding that "The three principals play second fiddle to the special effects and art work, which are impressive in color, construction and animation". However, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote, "Only the most indulgent youngsters should derive much stimulation - let alone fun - from the tedious, heavyhanded science-fiction vehicle that arrived yesterday from England". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it "good of its type". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' called it "An enjoyable science fiction film". and ''Blu-ray.com'' highly recommended the film as "a fun and exciting viewing experience".

Box-office

''Kinematograph Weekly'' called the film a "money maker" at the British box office for 1964. Nonetheless the film was a box-office disappointment. Harryhausen felt this was due to the inclusion of too much comedy. Schneer said he preferred the film to ''Jason and the Argonauts'' because "it was set in the Victorian era, whereas ''Jason'' took place in a much further removed period of history. Also, I thought the humor in it was delicious, whereas there wasn't much humor in ''Jason''." The producer says Harryhausen felt "fantasy film fans are dead serious about these pictures and have no sense of humor. So, who am I to quarrel with him?" Kneale says the final film was "all right. It could have been better if it had been a bit less farcical; that would have been more imaginative."

Legacy

Schneer says that when the real Moon landing happened, NASA "had no footage showing the space capsule separating from the 'mother ship' and landing on the Moon's surface. All they had were shots of Neil Armstrong walking around". NASA went to Columbia Pictures and used the opening sequence of ''First Men on the Moon''. "They used those portions of it which were applicable to their needs," said the producer. Following the film, Harryhausen and Schneer did not work together for five years.

Comic book adaptation

* Gold Key: ''First Men in the Moon'' (March 1965)

Notes

* * * *

References

External links

* * * * * {{Ray Harryhausen 1964 films 1960s science fiction films 1960s science fiction adventure films British space adventure films British science fiction films Columbia Pictures films Films about astronauts Films based on works by H. G. Wells Films set in 1899 Films set in 1964 Films set in England Films shot in England Moon in film British monster movies 1960s monster movies Films using stop-motion animation Films directed by Nathan Juran Films adapted into comics Films scored by Laurie Johnson Films produced by Charles H. Schneer 1960s English-language films 1960s British films