First Men in the Moon (1964)

 

Ray Harryhausen's name should be enough to have fans clamouring to see this. But maybe hold off on that thought a little longer, as this is not the same type of story where mythical beasts or monsters reside. In fact, this is a rather loose adaptation of HG Wells' story, but with a few twists and tweaks.

When a UN moonlanding happens (in fact, this film was made before the real moonlanding), they discover a British flag and a piece of paper. Flabbergasted, a search is begun to find out who could have possibly been there before this modern day landing. It turns out that everything leads back to a man called Arnold Bedford, who then recounts the story of how he got to the moon in 1899.

See, Bedford is a bit of a douchebag. He is a fraud, a liar and a swindler. But he's charming, so naturally he has a beautiful fiancée who forgives him everything. They come into contact with eccentric inventor Cavor (a manically overjoyed Lionel Jeffries) who has invented Cavorite, a substance that cancels gravity.

Don't question the lack of science here. Just go with it.

In short order, they shoot off to the moon, where they even discover a society of insectoid beings called Selenites. But things don't always work out and even though Cavor stays behind, he makes sure Bedford and girlfriend make it back to Earth, where of course no one believes them. 

The modern day astronauts indeed discover the remnants of the underground city Bedford spoke of, but everything is crumbling to dust and not a single being is left alive. See, Cavor apparently had a nasty cold and he infected the Selenites, thus dooming their entire civilisation. 

Wow, that just turned extremely bleak.

It's a fun film, but not the most noteworthy of the Schneer/Harryhausen productions. It is very colourful though and there is no denying the artistry of the designers and Harryhausen's work. But the film does take a weird shift towards seriousness shortly after encountering the Selenites. For a large part, this film feels like a bit of a goofy comedy and then all of a sudden violence and doom enter the picture for no apparent reason. 

See, people try to make out as if the Selenites are evil, but they truly are not. Cavor retains his curiosity, but Bedford goes all bananas and several Selenites are killed for... what exactly? It is a strange shift in tone and comes completely out of left field. Not to mention the depressing ending of the Selenite society. 

Yikes.

In the end, 'First Men in the Moon' is a fun little timewaster, but it isn't among the top films associated with Harryhausen. This will be for the hardcore aficionados only, probably.