First Men in the Moon (1964)

Country of Origin: UK / USA
Year of Production: 1964
Running Times: 103 mins
Format: Lunacolor     Dynamation      Panavision (released in Cinerama in Germany)     35mm     70mm (blow-up)
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound:

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Columbia
Producer: Charles H. Schneer
Associate Producer: Ray Harryhausen
Production Manager: Ted Wallis

SCRIPT
Script: Nigel Kneale, Jan Read
Novel: H.G. Wells

DIRECTION
Director: Nathan Juran
Assistant Director: George Pollard

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Wilkie Cooper
Camera Operator: Harry Gillam
Lunacolor: Pathe

EDITING
Editor: Maurice Rootes

MUSIC
Music: Laurie Johnson

SOUND
Sound Recording: Buster Ambler, Fred Loin

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Ray Harryhausen
Selenite Designer: Brian Kneale
Technical Staff: Les Bowie

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: John Blezard
Title Designer: Sam Sullivan?

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Eileen Head
Technical Advisor: Arthur Garrett
Thanks To: NASA; The Ministry of Aviation

LOCATIONS
Locations: Shepperton Studios

CAST
Edward Judd (Arnold Bedford)
Lionel Jeffries (Joseph Cavor)
Martha Hyer (Kate Callender)
Erik Chitty (Gibbs)
Betty McDowall (Maggie Hoy)
Miles Malleson (Dymchurch registrar)
Gladys Henson (nursing home matron)
Laurence Herder (Glushkov)
Marne Maitland (Dr Tok)
Hugh McDermott (Richard Challis)
Paul Carpenter (reporter from the Express)
Huw Thomas (announcer)
Gordon Robinson (Sergeant Andrew Martin)
Sean Kelly (Colonel Rice)
John Murray Scott (Cosmonaut Nevsky)
Norman Bird
Betty McDowall
Peter Finch (Baliff's man - uncredited)

A team on United Nations astronauts arrive on the moon to find that someone has beaten them to it - they find a tiny Union Jack flag and a note proclaiming the moon as the property of Queen Victoria. Investigations lead to an aged author, Arnold Bedford, who tells how he, his fiancé Katherine Callender and an eccentric inventor, Joseph Cavor, had made it to the moon in 1899. He also tells them of the strange creatures they met there...

A wonderfully dotty adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel, with cracking performances (particularly from the ever wonderful Lionel Jeffries) and some great Ray Harryhausen monsters. The script by Nigel Kneale and Jan Read crackles with one-liners and plenty of great business Jeffries, Judd and Hyer. No classic, but great fun nonetheless.

AVAILABILITY

UK
Theatrical Distributor: BLC (Columbia)
Video Distributor: Columbia Tristar (CVRPS2 - double bill with Earth vs the Flying Saucers)

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Video Distributor: RCA / Columbia
Laserdisc Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Video; Pioneer

Finland
Rating: K-12

Germany
Rating: 12

Sweden
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: U

1964
August
16: UK - theatrical release

November
20: USA - theatrical release

December
11: West Germany - theatrical release

1965
July
12: Sweden - theatrical release

1966
February
11: Finland - theatrical release

1983
December
22: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1987
June
8: UK - television broadcast (on ITV (Thames Television))

1989
June
19: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

2001
December
28: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

2003
January
19: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

H.G. Wells' Astounding Adventure in Dynamation!

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Base luna chiama terra - Italian title
Ensimmäiset miehet kuussa - Finnish title
Die Erste Fahrt zum Mond - German title
Först på månen - Swedish title
Første mand på månen - Danish title
La gran sorpresa - Spanish title
Les premiers hommes dans la lune - French Belgian title

SEE ALSO
First Men in the Moon (1919)

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Daily Cinema no.8942 (22 July 1964) p.17
credits, review (by M.H.)

The Dark Side 54 p.18
review

Eagle 12 Augsut 1964
competition (winners receive 100 Mach X rocket models)

Hollywood Reporter vol.182 no.35 (16 October 1964) p.3
credits, review (by James Powers)

Kinematograph Weekly no.2965 (30 July 1964) pp.6; 8
article (Sparkling campaign from Columbia for Schneer's adventure double); credits, review (by Graham Clarke)

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.31 no.368 (September 1964) p.134
credits, review, synopsis

Motion Picture Herald vol.232 no.9 (28 October 1964) p.153 (Product Digest)
credits, review (by William R. Weaver)

Showtime September 1964
competition (Spot the Difference)

Sight and Sound vol.3 no.4 (April 1993) p.70
note

Variety 5 August 1964 p.6
credits, review (by Rich)

Widescreen Review no.61 (June 2002) p.87 (USA)
illustrated DVD review

NEWSPAPERS

Sunday Citizen 9 August 1964
competitions (Trip to the Stars, winner takes 4 day trip to London, including a day at Shepperton Studios)

Sunday Citizen 18 August 1964
competitions (part two of Trip to the Stars)

BOOKS

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991 - 1992 p.136
credits, review

Reference Guide to Fantastic Films p.140
credits

OTHER SOURCES

British National Film Catalogue vol.2 (1964)
credits

astronauts, book into film, insects, monsters, the moon, scientists, space travel, writers

Last Updated: 19 February, 2010