First Men in the Moon (1964 film)
A 1964 British sci-fi film adapting H.G. Wells' lunar novel.
First Men in the Moon (also released as H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon) is a 1964 British science fiction film. Charles H. Schneer produced it, Nathan Juran directed, and the cast includes Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, and Lionel Jeffries. Columbia Pictures distributed the movie, which screenwriter Nigel Kneale adapted from H. G. Wells' 1901 novel *The First Men in the Moon*. Ray Harryhausen created the stop-motion animation effects, featuring the insectoid Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Calves," and the large-brained Grand Lunar.
The story begins in 1964, when a United Nations rocket lands on the Moon. The multinational crew, expecting to be the first lunar visitors, instead finds a battered Union Jack flag and a handwritten note from about 65 years earlier. The note, written on the back of a court summons for a Katherine Callender of Dymchurch, England, claims the Moon for Queen Victoria.
Authorities trace the summons and discover that Arnold Bedford, Katherine's fiancé, is still alive in a nursing home. Staff prevent him from watching TV reports of the Moon mission, as the matron says it "excites him." His claims about the Moon are dismissed as senile delusions. When UN representatives question him, Bedford recounts his story in flashback.
In 1899, Arnold Bedford lives at Cherry Cottage in Dymchurch with his fiancée, Katherine "Kate" Callender. A letter reveals his rent is overdue. Their neighbor, inventor Joseph Cavor, wants to buy the cottage in case his experiments damage it. Kate agrees to sell on Bedford's behalf. Bedford begins visiting Cavor, who has developed a gravity-nullifying substance called Cavorite. Cavor plans to use it to reach the Moon. Bedford has deeds drawn up in Kate's name selling the cottage to Cavor, though he does not own it.
Cavor tempts Bedford with talk of gold nuggets on the Moon and has built a spherical spaceship. An explosion at Cavor's house occurs when his assistant, Gibbs, leaves for the pub instead of watching the boiler. Kate brings supplies, including an elephant gun, and gives Bedford an ultimatum: "Cavorite or me." She is served with a summons for selling a property she does not own. Angry, she hammers on the sphere, and Bedford and Cavor pull her inside just before it launches.
The sphere crash-lands on the Moon. Both men don deep-sea diving suits. Exploring, they fall down a shaft into breatha
- Release year
- 1964
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Director
- Nathan Juran
- Producer
- Charles H. Schneer
- Screenwriter
- Nigel Kneale
- Special effects
- Ray Harryhausen
- Distributor
- Columbia Pictures
Quick Facts
- Director
- Nathan Juran
- Producer
- Charles H. Schneer
- Screenplay
- Nigel Kneale / Jan Read
- Based On
- The First Men in the Moon · H. G. Wells
- Starring
- Edward Judd / Martha Hyer / Lionel Jeffries
- Music
- Laurie Johnson
- Cinematography
- Wilkie Cooper
- Editing
- Maurice Rootes
- Studio
- Ameran Films
- Distributor
- Columbia Pictures
- Released
- 1964 · 08 · 06 · UK · ref1= · df=y
- Runtime
- 103 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film's plot begins in 1964, when a United Nations rocket lands on the Moon and discovers a Union Jack flag and a note from 65 years earlier. The note leads to Arnold Bedford, an elderly man in a nursing home, who recounts his 1899 journey to the Moon with inventor Joseph Cavor. In flashback, Bedford and Cavor build a spherical spaceship using Cavor's anti-gravity substance, Cavorite, and accidentally launch with Bedford's fiancée Kate Callender aboard. They crash on the Moon, explore underground caverns, encounter insectoid Selenites, and face a giant 'Moon Calf.' Bedford kills several Selenites in fear, while Cavor communicates with the Grand Lunar. Bedford and Kate return to Earth, leaving Cavor behind. In the present, the UN astronauts find the Selenite city deserted and crumbling, and the commentator speculates that the Selenites may have died from a disease brought by Cavor's cold, though this is not confirmed.
Reader's Guide
First Men in the Moon (1964) is significant as a mid-20th-century adaptation of H.G. Wells' classic novel, notable for Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation of the Selenites and Moon creatures. The film's framing device—a modern prologue and epilogue—was conceived by screenwriter Nigel Kneale to address producer Charles Schneer's concerns about believability in an era of real space exploration. Kneale also introduced the idea that the Selenites were wiped out by a cold virus carried by Cavor, a plot point he took from The War of the Worlds. The film used Windak high-altitude pressure suits for the UN astronauts, later reused in Doctor Who and Star Wars. The cast included Edward Judd, Martha Hyer, and Lionel Jeffries, with director Nathan Juran described by Schneer as not an 'actor's director.' The film's legacy includes its visual effects and its place in the Harryhausen filmography.
Did You Know?
- Ray Harryhausen provided stop-motion animation for the Selenites, Moon Cows, and the Grand Lunar.
- The spacesuits worn by UN astronauts were Windak high-altitude pressure suits, later used in Doctor Who and Star Wars.
- Screenwriter Nigel Kneale added the prologue and epilogue to make the story believable to modern audiences.
- The Selenites were wiped out by a cold virus carried to the Moon by Cavor, an idea Kneale took from The War of the Worlds.
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