Trailer
Plot summary
An animated sequence explains the science of a trip to the Moon to a gathering of American industrialists, whose money the venture needs before an unnamed non-western power gets there first. Dr. Charles Cargraves, General Thayer and aircraft magnate Jim Barnes raise the millions privately after a rocket test fails and government funding collapses. At their desert base they build Luna, an atomic-powered single-stage ship meant to carry four men to the Moon. A public uproar over radiation safety leads to legal efforts to halt the expedition, and the three launch ahead of schedule. Joe Sweeney joins as radar and radio operator, replacing Brown, who is in the hospital with appendicitis.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Destination Moon (1950)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Lippert Pictures rushed the rival Mars film Rocketship X-M into theaters 25 days before Destination Moon, shooting it in 18 days on a $94,000 budget, which left Pal's film as the second post-war space adventure released.
- Chesley Bonestell's painted backdrop needed something to give it depth, so cracks were added, big in the foreground and small in the distance for perspective, and in some scenes midgets in small spacesuits were used to add to the feeling of depth.
- Irving Pichel, the film's director, was blacklisted after being subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 even though he was never called to testify, and he directed five more films before his death in 1954.
- Destination Moon was the first major American science fiction film to deal with the practical scientific and engineering challenges of space travel and to imagine what a crewed expedition to the Moon would look like.
- Composer Leith Stevens consulted numerous scientists, including Wernher von Braun, to get an idea of what space was like so he could capture it musically in the score.
