The Angry Red Planet ** (1959, Gerald Mohr, Nora Hayden, Les Tremayne) – Classic Movie Review 7593

So then, once again, Mars attacks! Earthlings get more than they bargain for when they are chased by angry plants after they land on Mars to explore.

Director Ib Melchior’s 1959 sci-fi adventure monster movie The Angry Red Planet, made by Sino Productions and released by American International Pictures, was shot in just nine days for only $190,000 and is really, really bad, but it is quite appealing, as well as hilarious in places. The point is, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, though a sow’s ear might have curious charms of its own.

It stars Gerald Mohr as Colonel Thomas O’Bannion, Nora Hayden as Dr Iris ‘Irish’ Ryan, Les Tremayne as Professor Theodore Gettell, Jack Kruschen as CWO Sam Jacobs, Paul Hahn as Major General George Treegar, J Edward McKinley as Professor Paul Weiner and Tom Daly as Dr Frank Gordon.

It was shot a long way from Mars at the Hal Roach Studios, 8822 Washington Blvd, Culver City, California.

The 40-foot alien – a mix of rat, bat, spider and crab – is a 15-inch puppet manipulated by Bob Baker, who worked on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Eek!: The Angry Red Planet (1959).

The Angry Red Planet is directed by Ib Melchior, runs 83 minutes, is made by Sino Productions and released by American International Pictures (US) and British Lion Film Corporation (UK), is written by Ib Melchior and Sidney W Pink, is shot in colour by Stanley Cortez, is produced by Norman Maurer and Sidney W Pink, and is scored by Paul Dunlap.

More than a quarter of the film’s $190,000 budget – $54,000 – was spent turning the footage into the ‘Cinemagic’ process, used for all scenes on the surface of Mars. Producer Norman Maurer was trying to simulate turning live-action footage into hand-drawn animation, so the backgrounds would look as real as the live action footage. It started with a film-developing mistake when one reel was accidentally double exposed, producing a psychedelic glare that gave Mars a distinctive look that they developed for effect but also to disguise the cheap Martian monsters and scenery.

Pink wrote the screenplay at his kitchen table, asking his kids to be its critics. The first draft, called The Planet Mars, included many different monsters and a Martian city, junked for budgetary reasons.

The spacecraft’s acceleration couches are aviation ejection seats, designed and made by the Weber Aircraft Corporation. The space helmets have no face-plates so the actors’ breath will not fog any glass.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7593

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com