Flight to Mars, (1951) Was directed by Lesley Selander, and Written by Arthur Strawn. It was filmed in Supercinecolor, and the print I viewed was clean and bright, if not sharp. This was nifty stuff for a grown up science fiction picture. Destination Moon came out a year earlier, and frankly was much better. This is not so evident at the start of Flight to Mars. It begins well enough. Spoiler Alert, I will be talking about the film. In truth, it seems like the story had two writers, the first influenced by the Science and personalities of those involved in the Mission. Told through the eyes of the Investigative Journalist Steve Abbott Played straight as a hard hitting shot of gin, by Cameron Mitchell, Abbot happened to get in good with the crew of four guys and a girl. The Project Flight commander, Doctor Jim Barker, played by Arthur Franz, and his jilted fiancé, Carol Stafford , played by Virginia Huston. Also on board is a Scientist Doctor Lane played by Jon Litel, designed the craft, and last but not least the groups mathematician and observer Professor Jackson , played by Richard Gaines. Good enough for a start. On the plus side, the musical score was competent, yet somewhat exaggerated in style; cue military music followed by big opening shot fanfare, etc. The ship design was nicely done, and as it turns out, it was so popular that the same ship was used in three other space movies that followed. "Queen of Outer Space (1958) World without End (1956) and the space movie with the stowaway Monster, It the Terror from Beyond Space (1958) So far so good.On the other hand, Once they land on Mars, it's like another writer took over, one who was more into Flash Gordon. Yes, there are people on mars, and they look like us, and they are costumed in the suits used in the fore mentioned, Destination Moon. They treat us friendly at first, but in the end, want to steal our ship so they can go off to conquer earth. On Mars we meet a varied cast of characters, A kindly council member who defends the earth people, his lovely daughter Alicia Played by Margurite Chapman, who falls for the dashing captain, The bad guys who plot against the Earth people are led by the nasty Ikron, played by Morris Ancrum. Plots against the Earthlings ensue, and only by wits and moxie, do we foil our foes.A kid even back then might have thought it talky, and boring, once the ship crashes, and they start exploring the Martian habitat. Ooops, it seems Mars is running out of it's resources, and needs to conquer the Earth. On the plus side again there was some beautiful costume design for the ladies of Mars. and the rumor has it that the movie was shot between five and eleven days.Consider also the science fiction movie competition it had. Also released in 1951; The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing, and When Worlds Collide. Those define Awesome. Mars would have to wait to make a cinematic comeback. Seven very cheesy Stars out of Ten.

OK. As far as sci-fi flicks go, this is a mildly competent low-budget space movie. But it launches into eye-popping glory when barely- clad Martian women suddenly appear (and thoughtfully lend some clothing to the previously fabric-laden Earth woman). A mini-skirt suggests something that would cover posteriors. These take it one step beyond tennis dress short and into swimsuit country when we are treated to views of matching underwear, which the skirts don't cover. Other than that, the film is pretty awful, including an ending that seems as if filming was halted by the studio precisely at 3:00 pm or whatever so they could start shooting the next film. This film does mark a high point for Monogram studio--the set design rises far and above what they usually do. If you grew up during the Cold War, you will have affection for this film, despite its faults. The haminess of the dialog and acting, along with the matte drawings of the futuristic city will bring anyone back to the charms and fears of fifties America. So despite it's cheesiness, Flight to Mars is a small gem.

It is said that there are some people out there who actually ADMIRE Monogram's movies. Well -- and why not? Monogram Studios lived on a kind of Cost Plus basis; cost, plus enough to pay the rent and buy a pizza and a bottle of robust muscatel every once in a while. Sure, they're cheap. But let's face it: they're coarse, fast, Philistine, vulgar, but exhilarating. They have no pretensions at all. They're designed to divert the audience for an hour or so at the bottom of a double bill. So what if John Wayne gallops through the Wild West along a road lined with telephone poles? This isn't art, it's entertainment.Take this movie, "Flight to Mars." At the beginning, when we're first meeting the characters, a man might introduce his female companion abruptly, avoiding any tedious subtlety: "Professor, this is my fiancée and assistant, who is a rocket scientist and a beautiful woman. She loves me but is growing impatient with me because I'm always wrapped up in my scientific work. Perhaps you could steal her from me, marry her, give her the babies and the picket-fenced home she yearns for. If necessary I will die on this journey to see her dreams realized. Also, she likes it a little rough." It saves a lot of writing and shooting time, doesn't it? That's what people mean when they say a narrative is "fast". (This one was shot in five days.) Why should we have to hint about these things? I mean, what the hell is this, a cheap sci fi movie or Henry James? Actually this is a particularly well-funded example of a Monogram movie. It's in color, for one thing. "Cinecolor" to be exact. (You can tell it's not any other "color" you'd recognize.) And look at the cast. The female lead is dismissible, as is usual with Monogram, but the male leads are definitely up there on the B List. Cameron Mitchell as the reporter, yet to hit his stride as a male lead, which, come to think of it, he never really did. And Arthur Franz as the pipe-smoking head scientist, the pride of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. And -- for science fiction fans -- how about THIS pair of aces: both Morris Ankrum AND John Litel! There's not really much point in describing the plot in detail. The five crew members crash land on Mars where they find an underground civilization inhabited by organisms whose evolution was isomorphic with ours, right down to their having five digits and willowy babes in short skirts. And they picked up English from listening to our broadcasts. American broadcasts, that is, judging from their speech. They're led by a sinister cabal who try to hijack the space ship, build many imitations of it, and colonize earth. They do not succeed.The special effects aren't very special. The men walk around a couple of spare sets, wearing black costumes with stylized lightning bolts emblazoned on their chests and scarlet capes billowing behind them. Their names consist exclusively of English phonemes -- Alzar, Terris, Ikron. The lissome Martian who falls for Arthur Franz is named Alita, with an Indo-European diminutive appendage, and she already knows what kissing is.Overall, I found it as snappy as it was intended to be, but dull too. The story is that of any Buck Rogers 1930s serial. Once the earthlings and the Martians meet and it's established that they have a common language, and that the Martians have a sinister agenda, that's it. In two hours, even an indifferent screenwriter could turn this into a story of Nazi spies in World War II. The plot is done by the numbers, the dialog has no sparkle, the acting is pedestrian.However, dedicated aficionados of Monogram productions should enjoy it. After all, Jean-Luc Goddard, the contrarian French egghead, dedicated "A Bout de Soufflé" to Monogram, so they can't have been all that bad.

Before I start being critical, let me point out that Image has released some excellent transfers of 1950s sci-fi from the Wade Williams/Corinth Films library on DVD. Because of their past track record, I went in with high hopes for this film, only to find that while the color looked pretty good for a Cinecolor film from this time period, the print used for the DVD was full of scratches, dust specks and splices...splices that made sections of conversation inaudible. Adding to the disappointment is that Image is charging about $10 more for this than most of their other Wade Williams titles. Part of the price may stem from the extras, which include two 25 minute interviews with leading man Cameron Mitchell by David Del Valle, which are a welcome addition to the package. But the quality of the overall presentation makes the higher cost seem like a questionable pricing practice.