Dennis the Menace - Junior Astronaut (1963)

   Another one from an American sitcom.  These images are from Dennis the Menace which ran on CBS from October 4, 1959 to July 7, 1963 and stared Jay North as the titular star.

   This is another series I didn’t know anything about even though, from what I can gather, some episode did actually air in the UK – renamed Just Dennis - in the early to mid 60s.  A few years before my time!

   These images are from episode 15 of series 4 and the plot is as below:

   Mr. Wilson is named chairman of a saving-stamps campaign for the Junior Astronauts. As chairman, he arranges a contest at Dennis' school in which the student who collects the most stamps wins a trip to Cape Canaveral to meet an astronaut. Dennis and Johnny Brady are leading the contest, but then Dennis comes down with Chicken Pox and can't continue. But, Dennis does get a special message that makes him feel better. Guest appearance by Project Mercury spokesman "Shorty" Powers as himself.

   Which might leave you to correctly guess that Dennis the astronaut is all just a dream sequence from the start of the episode, but a nicely done one all the same.

Steve

Six Days on Luna One (USSR1965)

Russian translation of the 1963 Czech book "Šest dnů na Luně 1" (1963). Illustration by Teodor Rotreckl

For much more of this and lots of other lovely stuff, go here:- http://dreamsofspace.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Russian  You'll love it.

 

 

Steve

Galaxy Boy Troop (1963)

Galaxy Boy Troop is a Japanese children's TV series that combined marionettes with traditional animation.

It ran for two seasons from April 7, 1963 to April 1, 1965, for a total of 92 episodes. The series also aired in France as "Le Commando De La Voie Lactee" although I'm fairly certain we never had it over here.

In the first season, the eponymous Galaxy Boy Troop, headed by a boy named Rob, travels across the galaxy to find a material that can restart Earth's dying Sun.  And in the second season, the Troop fights off an alien invasion of Earth.

As ever thanks to Tim for the heads up on this wonderfully obscure find.


Steve

The Twilight Zone - The Parallel (1963)

An astronaut, Major Robert Gaines, is orbiting the Earth in his space capsule. Suddenly, his communication systems stop functioning and he blacks out, waking up on Earth with no memory of his return. He appears to be none the worse for his experiences and is released to the custody of his family however.....


 Steve

The Twilight Zone - Death Ship (1963)

An interplanetary expedition from earth finds an exact duplicate of their ship and themselves crashed on the planet they were surveying. Should they stay or risk taking off and crashing.

Steve

The Crawling Hand (1963)

The hand of a dead astronaut washes up on the beach and possesses the college student who takes it home. The student is slowly transformed by the hand and begins killing people in a small town.

 

Steve

Mechte Navstrechu (1963)

Mechte Navstrechu is another one of  those Russian films which was bought by Roger Corman and given a western edit and dub.

For those keeping a track on this chop-shop movie-making process, Corman purchased the US and UK rights to Nebo Zovyot (1960)  THE SKY IS CALLING which became BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN.  Planeta Bur (1962)  PLANET OF STORMS which became VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET and VOYAGE TO THE PLANET OF PREHISTORIC WOMEN. As well as Mechte Navstrechu (1963) A DREAM COME TRUE or ENCOUNTER IN SPACE which is probably better known over this way as Queen of Blood (1966) or occasionally Planet of Blood.  And I'm reliably informed that Queen of Blood contains a little bit of the first two Russian films as well.

Now while this may not be very respectful to the originals, their creators or the fine art of cinema in general, it did give us a glimpse of some amazing film making which might not have otherwise come to our attention.  And now that the Iron Curtain is down and the Internet is up and running, we can seek out and appreciate the originals for their truly wonderful craftsmanship and vision and acknowledge that it was every bit as good if not better than the stuff coming out of the west at the same time.


Steve

Not Really A Spacesuit but... 1

Hello and welcome to the first; "Not Really A Spacesuit but..."

As well as the dozens and dozens of spacesuits still pending in the image banks I've also got a few captures that for technical reasons are not actually spacesuits as such but are close enough to merit a look.. or, as in this case, have some special significance to us over here at the; Say; Hello Spaceman blog.

We're going to start with this recent find which is from the lesser known Hammer film; These are the Damned.  Its a very odd film this, well more like three completely different films bolted together.  There are rebellious biker gangs, incestuous undercurrents between seaside siblings, secret government bases and scary intelligent Wyndhamesque children.  Its a strange brew and quite dark and cynical for it's time and I really like it.

But all that aside, what's of interest to us here is an appearance of the Pathfinder helmets we've been previously tracking through various TV shows.  In These are the Damned it's used as part of a radiation suit for which it is every bit as effective.  The film was eventually released in 1963 but actually made in 1961 so this marks one of the early uses of this prop.  I'm sure there are even more still out there.


Steve

The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

The Mouse on the Moon is the 1963 British film adaptation of the novel by Leonard Wibberley and the sequel to The Mouse that Roared. In this one, the people of Grand Fenwick, an independent micro state within England, take themselves off to the moon in a rocket propelled by exploding wine.

Rather than being a farce, though, the film is actually a sly satire on the space race and the cold war.

Following the discovery that it’s only export has a tendency to combust, the Prime Minister of Grand Fenwick asks the American Government for financial support but rather than telling them the truth he says it is to fund Grand Fenrick’s space program.

Little believing that the duchy’s attempts will amount to very much, they give them the money and more, for the positive publicity of the act.  Not to be outdone in the propaganda stakes, the Russians respond by gifting them an old rocket.

The PM’s plan is to explode the rocket on launch, thus hiding the fact that most of the funds have been spent on updating the plumbing of Grand Fenwick.  It's to this end that Professor Kokintz, the local scientist, is charged with setting up the pyrotechnic display.  However once Kokintz hooks up with Vincent Mountjoy, the Prime Minister’s son, and discovers that he has aspirations of becoming an astronaut, the two of them plan to make the rocket space worthy and genuinely set their sights on getting to the moon.

Which is why, on the launch day, before delegates from America, Russia and Britain, the rocket unexpectedly ascends into the heavens to begin its three week trip to the moon.

Potentially humiliated, the Super Powers are then forced to rush their own space programs forward, intending to still win this very literal space race with their faster ships.

Unfortunately for them, Kokintz and Vincent arrive much quicker than anticipated and are on hand to greet both the superpowers upon their arrival, even inviting them back to their ship for tea to discuss who gets to claim ownership of the moon

Realising that the real victory will actually be in whoever returns home first, the Americans and Soviets both race back to their ships only to end up burying themselves into the deep lunar dust in their haste.  And so when Kokintz and Vincent return to Grand Fenwick during their own memorial service, it's with the hitch-hiking astronauts from  the other two countries.

I remember watching this one years ago and being entertained by the silliness without actually being old enough to understand what it was saying.  I would love to see it again now but it seems to have become somewhat of a forgotten classic.


Steve

Strange Adventures #150 (1963)

Strange Adventures #150 from March 1963.  I have little more to add to that except to say that it's a bit of a lovely looking cover, this one. And I'm strangely drawn to the colour scheme of the suits.


Steve

The Outer Limits - The Man who was Never Born (1963)

The Man who was Never Born was the 6th episode of the first season of The Outer Limits.

An astronaut returning to Earth finds himself flung into the distant future of 2148, where he meets the last mutated remnants of humanity living alone on a ruined Earth.

In an attempt to prevent this future from happening, spaceman Reardon takes Andro the mutant with him, returning through the time rift intent on altering history.  From there on it all goes a bit pear-shaped before coming good at the very end but with a cost that’s somewhat spelled out in the story's title. 

Note the design of the helmet and suit then keep watching

Steve

Ikarie XB-1 (1963)

A Czechoslovakian film in origin, Ikarie XB-1 was made in 1963 but is better known round our way as Voyage to the End of the Universe, the dubbed and edited version released in the states the following year.

It’s the year 2163 and the good ship Ikarie XB-1 is on a mission to Alpha Centauri and the mysterious white planet which orbits it.  Travelling at near-light speed, the 40 strong crew encounter perils ranging from a nuclear armed space wreck that has been drifting since the 20^th century, a deadly radioactive dark star (?) and the psychological effects of a 28 month journey upon the crew.

In its original form it’s a film that was way ahead of its time, with a thoughtful script and some very impressive sets.

The suit design is also somehow more plausible than a lot of what was hypothesised in other films of this era.  There’s a functionality to them that gives them such practical traits as corrugated joints, armoured chest pieces and magnetisable boots.

Steve

Spacemen Magazine #7 (1963)

Issue 7 of Warren's Spacemen Magazine.  This is the second of only two issues published in that year and unusually has a photo cover rather that the prefered fully painted artwork.

The still is clearly from; 12 To the Moon. Which is technically the films second cover and seems a rather lackluster movie to be blessed with such exposure.

Steve