The 1950 film Destination Moon was one of the first hard sci-fi films ever made in Hollywood (and one of the few such films made in Hollywood ever ). The story and the script for the privately financed mission to the Moon were created by famous science fiction author Robert Heinlein. Noted space artist Artist Chesley Bonestell contributed to the lunar set design and painted the backdrops. George Pal, noted for directing many sci-fi films including The Time Machine, produced this film while Irving Pichel directed it.
All four, along with some of the actors, are interviewed during this episode of the TV show “City at Night”, which was recorded on the set of the film:
- City at Night – On the Set of “Destination Moon” (1950 Kinescope) on Vimeo
- Three Scifi Pioneers Talk About Making the First Great Space Movie – IO9
The City at Night – On the Set of “Destination Moon” (1950 Kinescope) from Sci Fi Bob Ekman on Vimeo.
You can watch the entire movie as well: Destination Moon – Video Dailymotion
Funny to see how the lunar scenery that they claimed would be so true to life was radically different from what was actually on the Moon. In reality, there was no flat cracked ground with little dust. The main reason was, at that time, it was thought that most craters were volcanically formed rather than by asteroid impact.
Thanks for that. Pretty cool.
Bob Clark