First Men in the Moon

First Men in the Moon - 1964 | 103mins | Sci-Fi, Adventure | Colour

The Production Team

Director: Nathan Juran.
Producer: Charles H. Schneer.
Script: Nigel Kneale and Jan Read. (from the novel by H.G. Wells)
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper.
Editing: Maurice Rootes.
Production Design: John Blezard.
Sound Department: Buster Ambler and Red Law.
Special Effects: Les Bowie, Kit West and Ray Harryhausen.
Original Music: Laurie Johnson.

The Cast

Edward Judd - Arnold Bedford
Martha Hyer - Katherine Callender
Lionel Jeffries - Joseph Cavor
Hugh McDermott - Richard Challis
Betty McDowall - Margaret Hoy
Erik Chitty - Gibbs
Laurence Herder - Glushkov
Gladys Henson - Nursing Home Matron
Miles Malleson - Dymchurch Registrar

Plot Synopsis

Tongue-in-cheek humour from director Nathan Juran and outstanding special effects from stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen mix well in this enjoyable 1964 adaptation of HG Wells' classic sci-fi fantasy. When astronauts in the year 1964 discover a Union Jack during the initial moon landing they are confused by evidence of an unrecorded prior space flight, Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd) explains all retrospectively from his nursing home. Back in 1899, eccentric Victorian inventor Joseph Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) discovers a revolutionary antigravity paint called ‘cavorite’ and uses it to build the world's first spaceship resembling a deep-see diving vessel. Cavor intends to take Bedford on the lunar expedition but his fiancée Kate (Martha Hyer) is accidentally taken along for the trip to the moon in the homemade space vehicle. Once on the moon they encountered an alien ant-like civilisation living under the surface, Cavor and Kate are then captured by the Selenite creatures and menaced by a moon caterpillar in this colourful flight of fantasy.