Spaceways

Last updated

Spaceways
Spaceways Poster.JPG
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Terence Fisher
Written byPaul Tabori
Richard Landau
Based onradio play by Charles Eric Maine
Produced by Michael Carreras
Starring Howard Duff
Eva Bartok
Cinematography Reginald H. Wyer
Edited by Maurice Rootes
Music by Ivor Slaney
Production
company
Distributed by Lippert Pictures (US)
Exclusive Films (UK)
Release dates
  • 24 June 1953 (1953-06-24)(United States)
  • 7 August 1953 (1953-08-07)(United Kingdom)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Spaceways is a 1953 science fiction drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Howard Duff, Eva Bartok and Alan Wheatley. It was produced by Michael Carreras for Hammer Film Productions Ltd. and Lippert Productions Inc., with Robert L. Lippert as uncredited co-producer. The screenplay was written by Paul Tabori and Richard Landau, based on a radio play by Charles Eric Maine. The film was distributed in the UK by Exclusive Films Ltd. and in the United States by Lippert Pictures.

Contents

Plot

Engineer Dr Stephen Mitchell is part of a British space programme that plans to launch a satellite that will permanently orbit Earth. At a cocktail party, it is announced to the programme's staff that the satellite project has been approved by the defence council. Mitchell's wife Vanessa is not enthusiastic about the new project, nor with having to live at its high security base. She sneaks away with Dr Philip Crenshaw, with whom she is having an affair. Dr Mitchell leaves the party with Lisa Frank, a mathematician on the project, who is in love with him. When Mitchell returns home, he has an argument with Vanessa; he had been made aware of her having passionately kissed Crenshaw after she left with him.

The satellite rocket soon launches, but it does not reach its maximum altitude. Afterward, it is discovered that Crenshaw and Vanessa have disappeared. Dr Smith secretly investigates their disappearance and comes to the conclusion that not only were the two murdered, but that they were murdered by Dr Mitchell, after which he hid their bodies in the spacecraft's fuel tanks. Smith approaches Mitchell with the accusation, while also telling him about Crenshaw being a spy, who had concealed having a degree from a German university.

Mitchell decides to go into space on the second rocket being launched, in order to try to prove his innocence. Smith discovers that there was a new team member added just prior to the disappearance, and that a security guard had died in an accident a week earlier. Soon after, Smith and the police discover that Crenshaw and Vanessa are actually at a seaside cottage. Crenshaw has been planning to head to the east instead of going to America, as he previously had said. During a violent scuffle between Crenshaw and Smith, Vanessa is accidentally killed.

After the rocket ship launches into space, Mitchell is surprised to see that Lisa is on board; she had previously convinced Toby to let her go on the flight instead of him. Despite the revelation that the bodies of Crenshaw and Vanessa are not on board, Mitchell and Frank attempt to jettison the spaceship's second stage, resulting in an explosion, causing their spacecraft to go out of control. Mitchell, however, releases the fail-safe, saving them from destruction and allowing the spaceship to return safely to Earth.

Cast

Production

Principal photography took place at Ray Studios, Windsor, England from mid-November 1952 to early January 1953. [1] Some of the scenes of the spaceship taking off were special effects shots taken from the Lippert film, Rocketship X-M (1950) [2] Some filming also occurred at Bray Studios in Berkshire. [3]

Critical reception

Monthly Film Bulletin said: "The first British science-fiction picture is a dull and shoddy affair. Too much footage is wasted on a kind of poor man's version of The Net, and the gadgetry and adventures when they do come are ludicrous and unexciting. Eva Bartok's mathematician may please the connoisseurs." [4]

Kine Weekly said: "Interplanetary melodrama, artfully coloured by pseudo-scientific jargon and detail. ... There is not a great deal of action during the first half, but the shrewd deployment of interesting and widely assorted types rivets the attention until the space-ship finally comes into its own. ... One of many, but better than most '"aerial extravaganzas," it'll entertain youngsters of all ages." [5]

Variety wrote: "Terence Fisher's direction is extremely methodical, as is the playing, and script constantly betrays its radio play origin by running to long sides of static dialog. Very little excitement is whipped up, although the finale rocket flight and danger to the hero and heroine, has a fair amount of suspense. ... Picture needs considerable editorial tightening." [6]

Boxoffice said: "The offering is believably plotted and capably enacted, while from the production standpoint the values of the piece are considerably bolstered by the injection of what appear to be authentic clips of rocket takeoff and flight. ...To appeal to feminine audiences, a logical romantic thread has been woven into the story." [7]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as “mediocre” and wrote: "Pretty lame British entry into science-fiction." [8]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "Why did anybody who read the radio play on which this is based think it was worth doing anything with it other than hurl it across the room? The plot has leads Howard Duff and Eva Bartok blasting off in pursuit of a satellite to prove Duff's innocence following an accusation of double murder. Terence Fisher's funereal pace kills this cheaply-made picture stone dead long before the dénouement." [9]

Glenn Erickson, writing in DVD Savant, noted: "The disappointment of Spaceways is finding out that it is really a lukewarm murder mystery in a science fiction setting". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence Fisher</span> British film director and film editor

Terence Fisher was a British film director best known for his work for Hammer Films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Duff</span> American actor (1913–1990)

Howard Green Duff was an American actor.

<i>The Last Page</i> 1952 British film

The Last Page, released in the United States as Man Bait, is a 1952 British film noir directed by Terence Fisher, starring George Brent, Marguerite Chapman and Diana Dors. The film was also known as Murder in Safety and Blonde Blackmail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert L. Lippert</span> American film producer

Robert Lenard Lippert was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in San Francisco, and at his height, he owned a chain of 139 movie theaters.

<i>The Flanagan Boy</i> 1953 film by Reginald Le Borg

The Flanagan Boy is a 1953 British film noir directed by Reginald Le Borg. It was made by Hammer Film Productions and stars Barbara Payton, Tony Wright, Frederick Valk and Sid James. It was based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Max Catto.

<i>A Tale of Five Cities</i> 1951 British-Italian film by Romolo Marcellini et al

A Tale of Five Cities is a 1951 British-Italian international co-production comedy drama film directed by Romolo Marcellini, Emil E. Reinert, Wolfgang Staudte, Montgomery Tully, Irma von Cube and Géza von Cziffra. The five cities cited in the title are: Rome, Paris, Berlin, London, and Vienna.

The Secret of The Purple Reef is a 1960 20th Century Fox CinemaScope DeLuxe Color film based on a short story by Dorothy Cottrell entitled "The Silent Reefs". It starred soon-to-be-famous actors Richard Chamberlain and Peter Falk. It is a Caribbean-based mystery involving the disappearance of a ship called the Cloud.

<i>The Broken Horseshoe</i> (film) 1953 film

The Broken Horseshoe is a 1953 British "B" crime film directed by Martyn C. Webster and starring Robert Beatty, Elizabeth Sellars, Peter Coke, and Hugh Kelly. It was based on a BBC television series of the same title from the previous year. A surgeon is drawn into a murder case.

<i>Wings of Danger</i> 1952 British film directed by Terence Fisher

Wings of Danger is a 1952 British second feature crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty and Kay Kendall. The screenplay, based on the 1951 novel Dead on Course by Trevor Dudley Smith and Packham Webb, concerns a pilot who is suspected of smuggling. It was released in the United States under its working title of Dead on Course.

<i>Mantrap</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Terence Fisher

Mantrap, released in the United States as Man in Hiding, is a 1953 British second feature whodunit directed by Terence Fisher, starring Paul Henreid and Lois Maxwell.

<i>Blood Orange</i> (1953 film) 1953 film by Terence Fisher

Blood Orange is a 1953 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Tom Conway and Mila Parély. It was released in the United States as Three Stops to Murder. A private eye investigating a jewel robbery at a London fashion house finds himself involved in a murder mystery.

<i>Mask of Dust</i> 1954 film

Mask of Dust is a 1954 British second feature motor racing drama film directed by Terence Fisher and starring Richard Conte, Mari Aldon and Peter Illing. It was based on the 1953 novel The Last Race by Jon Manchip White. It was released in the United States by Lippert Pictures as A Race for Life.

The Flaw is a 1955 British second feature crime film directed by Terence Fisher, and starring John Bentley and Donald Houston. It was a remake of the 1933 film of the same name. A racing car driver plots to murder his wealthy wife, but reckons without the interventions of the family lawyer.

<i>The Steel Key</i> 1953 British film

The Steel Key is a 1953 British second feature thriller film directed by Robert S. Baker and starring Terence Morgan, Joan Rice and Raymond Lovell.

<i>The Price of Silence</i> (1960 film) 1960 film by Montgomery Tully

The Price of Silence is a 1960 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully, and starring Gordon Jackson and June Thorburn, with Mary Clare, Maya Koumani and Terence Alexander in supporting roles. An ex-convict is blackmailed and suspected of murder.

<i>House of Blackmail</i> 1953 British film by Maurice Elvey

House of Blackmail is a 1953 British second feature drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Mary Germaine, William Sylvester and Alexander Gauge. Its plot follows a soldier and his girlfriend, who become mixed up with a blackmailer.

<i>Murder at 3am</i> 1953 film by Francis Searle

Murder at 3 a.m. is a 1953 British crime film second feature directed by Francis Searle and starring Dennis Price, Peggy Evans and Rex Garner. A Scotland Yard detective investigates a series of attacks on women.

Three Steps to the Gallows is a 1953 British second feature crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Scott Brady, Mary Castle and Gabrielle Brune. It was released in the USA by Lippert Pictures as White Fire.

Escape Route is a 1952 British black-and-white second feature thriller film, directed by Seymour Friedman and Peter Graham Scott, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.

<i>Dangerous Voyage</i> 1954 British film

Dangerous Voyage is a 1954 British second feature mystery crime film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring William Lundigan, Naomi Chance and Vincent Ball. It was distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated in the UK, and in the United States by Lippert Pictures as Terror Ship.

References

  1. ↑ "Original print information: Spaceways." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: 9 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 Erickson, Glenn. "Spaceways." DVD Svant, 30 November 2000. Retrieved: 9 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Howard Maxford (8 November 2019). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 27. ISBN   978-1-4766-2914-8.
  4. ↑ "Spaceways". Monthly Film Bulletin . 20 (228): 110. 1 January 1953 – via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ "Spaceways". Kine Weekly . 435 (2400): 21. 25 June 1953 – via ProQuest.
  6. ↑ "Spaceways". Variety . 191 (5): 16. 9 July 1953 – via ProQuest.
  7. ↑ "Spaceways". Box Office . 63 (10): 12. 4 July 1953 – via ProQuest.
  8. ↑ Quinlan, David (1984). British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. p. 378. ISBN   0-7134-1874-5.
  9. ↑ Radio Times Guide to Films (18th ed.). London: Immediate Media Company. 2017. p. 864. ISBN   9780992936440.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.