Moon Zero Two (1969)

Country of Origin: UK
Year of Production: 1969
Running Times: 100m
Length:
Format: 35mm
Colour Format: Technicolor
Ratio:
Sound: mono

DIRECTION

Director: Roy Ward Baker

CREW

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Hammer Film Productions Limited/Warner Brothers
Producer: Michael Carreras
Production Manager: Hugh Harlow

SCRIPT
Script: Michael Carreras
Story: Gavin Lyall, Frank Hardman, Martin Davison

DIRECTION
Assistant Director: Jack Martin
Continuity: Josie Fulford

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Paul Beeson
Camera Operator: John Winbolt

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Spencer Reeve

MUSIC
Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell
Music: Don Ellis
Song Performed By: Julie Driscoll

SOUND
Recording Supervisor: A.W. Lumkin
Sound Mixer: Claude Hitchcock
Sound Editor: Roy Hyde
Dubbing Editor: Len Abbott
Sound System: RCA Sound System

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Costume Designer: Carl Toms
Wardrobe: Larry Stewart
Make Up: Ernest Taylor
Hair: Ivy Emmerton
Wigs: Leonard

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Les Bowie
Special Effects Photography: Kit West, Mick Alder
Special Effects Assistants: Peter Lawson, Colin Chilvers

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Art Director: Scott MacGregor
Assistant Art Director: John Lague
Titles: Stokes Cartoons Ltd
Construction Manager: Arthur Banks

OTHER CREW
Choreography: Jo Cook

LOCATIONS
Locations: Elstree Studios, Herts, England, UK

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With the permission of John Waddington Limited, the game Moonopoly is based upon the property trading game marketed by them under their registered trade name, Monopoly.

STUNTS
Stunt Advisor: Bill Weston

CASTING
Casting: Susan Whathough

CAST

James Olson (Bill Kemp)
Catherina Von Schell (Clementine Taplin)
Warren Mitchell (J.J. Hubbard)
Adrienne Corri (Liz Murphy)
Ori Levy (Karminski)
Dudley Foster (Whitsun)
Bernard Bresslaw (Harry)
Michael Ripper (1st card player)
Robert Tayman (2nd card player)
Neil McCallum (space captain)
Joby Blanshard (Smith)
Sam Kydd (Len the barman)
Keith Bonnard (junior customs officer)
Leo Britt (senior customs officer)
Carol Cleveland (hostess)
Roy Evans (workman)
Tom Kempinski (2nd officer)
Lew Luton (immigration officer)
Claire Shenstone (female hotel clerk)
Chrissie Shrimpton (boutique attendant)
Amber Dean Smith, Simone Silvera (Hubbard's girlfriends)
The Gogo's (Michelle Barry, Sue Baumann, Jane Cunningham, Irene Gorst, Sally Graham, Brenda Krippen) (bar dancers)

UNCREDITED CAST

Athol Coats (Mercer)
Tim Condren (yellow man)
Freddie Earlle (little man)
Martin Grace (red man)
Robert Lee (hotel employee)
Bill Weston (green man)

PLOT SUMMARY

A gang of crooks is planning to capture a small asteroid made of sapphire and crashing it into the moon so that they can salvage it. But the only place they can bring it down undetected is on a mining claim on the dark side of the moon and they murder the miner who owns it. But the salvage team the crooks have hired to help them retrieve the asteroid is also working for the miner's sister, who is paying them to search for her missing brother...

CAPSULE REVIEW

The best space western ever proclaims the poster. A lofty ambition indeed? Kitsch opening title cartoon and theme song. Incredible costumes and sets that fall time and style wise between 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Gerry Anderson's UFO (1970 - 1971). Some fun, over the top supporting performances. The plodding story and dull central performance (Olsen had just been nominated for an Oscar and found himself in this farrago – hope he got another agent) detract from the enjoyment though the go-go girls dance routine in the space bar - ripped off by Blur in one of the pop videos - is a sixties classic.

UK
Theatrical Release: Warner-Pathe Distributors Limited

USA
Theatrical Release: Warner-Seven Arts

USA
Rating: G

TIMELINE

1969
October
26: UK - theatrical release

1970
March
Day Unknown: USA - theatrical release

POSTER TAGS

The first moon "western"...

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Banditen auf dem Mond - German title
Luna cero dos - Spanish title
Luna zero due - Italian title

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Film Bulletin vol.39 no.1 (12 January 1970) p.18 (USA)
review

Films and Filming vol.16 no.3 (December 1969 pp.54-55 (UK)
credits, review

Hollywood Reporter vol.206 no.14 (29 May 1969) p.16 (USA)
credits

Hollywood Reporter vol.209 no.11 (29 December 1969) p.19 (USA)
review

The House That Hammer Built no.7 (February 1998) pp.361-363 (UK)
illustrated credits, synopsis, review

Kine Weekly 11 September 1969 (UK)
review

Monthly Film Bulletin vol.36 no.430 (November 1969) p.241 (UK)
credits, synopsis, review

Today's Cinema no.9654 (28 March 1969) p.5 (UK)
credits

Today's Cinema no.9737 (17 October 1969) p.10 (UK)
review

Variety 29 October 1969 p.28 (USA)
credits, review

KEYWORDS

the future, the moon, space travel, spaceships, asteroids, criminals, sapphires

Last Updated: 1 May, 2009