First Men in the Moon
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
The narrator is a London businessman who withdraws to the countryside to write a play, by which he hopes to alleviate his financial problems. Bedford rents a small countryside house in Lympne, in Kent, where he wants to work in peace. He is bothered every afternoon, however, at precisely the same time, by a passer-by making odd noises. After two weeks Bedford accosts the man, who proves to be a reclusive physicist named Mr. Cavor. Bedford befriends Cavor when he learns he is developing a new material, cavorite, which can negate the force of gravity.
When a sheet of cavorite is prematurely processed, it makes the air above it weightless and shoots off into space. Bedford sees in the commercial production of cavorite a possible source of "wealth enough to work any sort of social revolution we fancied; we might own and order the whole world". Cavor hits upon the idea of a spherical spaceship made of "steel, lined with glass", and with sliding "windows or blinds" made of cavorite by which it can be steered, and persuades a reluctant Bedford to undertake a voyage to the moon; Cavor is certain there is no life there.
On the way to the moon, they experience weightlessness, which Bedford finds "exceedingly restful". On the surface of the moon the two men discover a desolate landscape, but as the sun rises, the thin, frozen atmosphere vaporizes and strange plants begin to grow with extraordinary rapidity. Bedford and Cavor leave the capsule, but in romping about get lost in the rapidly growing jungle. They hear for the first time a mysterious booming coming from beneath their feet. They encounter "great beasts", "monsters of mere fatness", that they dub "mooncalves", and five-foot-high "Selenites" tending them. At first they hide and crawl about, but growing hungry partake of some "monstrous coralline growths" of fungus that inebriate them. They wander drunkenly until they encounter a party of six extraterrestrials, who capture them. The insectoid lunar natives (referred to as "Selenites", after Selene, the moon goddess) are part of a complex and technologically sophisticated society that lives underground, but this is revealed only in radio communications received from Cavor after Bedford's return to earth.
Bedford and Cavor break out of captivity beneath the surface of the moon and flee, killing several Selenites. In their flight they discover that gold is common on the moon. In their attempt to find their way back to the surface and to their sphere, they come upon some Selenites carving up mooncalves but fight their way past. Back on the surface, they split up to search for their spaceship. Bedford finds it but returns to Earth without Cavor, who injured himself in a fall and was recaptured by the Selenites, as Bedford learns from a hastily scribbled note he left behind.
Chapter 19, "Mr. Bedford in Infinite Space", plays no role in the plot but is a remarkable set piece in which the narrator describes experiencing a quasi-mystical "pervading doubt of my own identity. . . the doubts within me could still argue: 'It is not you that is reading, it is Bedford—but you are not Bedford, you know. That's just where the mistake comes in.' 'Counfound it!' I cried, 'and if I am not Bedford, what am I? But in that direction no light was forthcoming, though the strangest fancies came drifting into my brain, queer remote suspicions like shadow seem from far away... Do you know I had an idea that really I was something quite outside not only the world, but all worlds, and out of space and time, and that this poor Bedford was just a peephole through which I looked at life..."
By good fortune, the narrator lands in the sea off the coast of Britain, near the seaside town of Littlestone, not far from his point of departure. His fortune is made by some gold he brings back, but he loses the sphere when a curious boy named Tommy Simmons climbs into the unattended sphere and shoots off into space. Bedford writes and publishes his story in The Strand Magazine, then learns that "Mr. Julius Wendigee, a Dutch electrician, who has been experimenting with certain apparatus akin to the apparatus used by Mr. Tesla in America", has picked up fragments of radio communications from Cavor sent from inside the moon. During a period of relative freedom Cavor has taught two Selenites English and learned much about lunar society.
Cavor's account explains that Selenites exist in thousands of forms and find fulfillment in carrying out the specific social function for which they have been brought up: specialization is the essence of Selenite society. "With knowledge the Selenites grew and changed; mankind stored their knowledge about them and remained brutes—equipped," remarks the Grand Lunar, when he finally meets Cavor and hears about life on Earth. Unfortunately, Cavor reveals humanity's propensity for war; the lunar leader and those listening to the interview are "stricken with amazement". Bedford infers that it is for this reason that Cavor has been prevented from further broadcasting to Earth. Cavor's transmissions are cut off as he is trying to describe how to make cavorite. His final fate is unknown, but Bedford is sure that "we shall never… receive another message from the moon".

Review: And Cavor's audiences with the Grand Lunar, which take place in the book after Bedford has returned to earth, are reduced in the movie to a single hearing which happens while Bedford and his girl (keep reading) are still on the moon: rather than just hear it described, we see it happen, which is, of course, a much more cinematic handling.While Bedford and Cavor make a stag trip in the novel, the movie adds a woman, Kate Callender (Martha Hyer), Bedford's fiancee.
As an American in Britain, she's a bit of a traveler herself; she symbolizes Britain's exploratory, empire-building, "new world"-seeking, colonizing impulses (indeed, upon arrival, Cavor claims the moon for Her Majesty); and she's the only person involved in the mission who has enough sense to bring a gun.While all the performances are equal to the task (especially Lionel Jeffries' comically high-strung Cavor, plus a one-scene appearance by the impish Miles Malleson as a city clerk), this isn't an actors' picture, but an effects picture.
A message attached to the flag identifies the real first Moon landers, and the authorities on Earth get in touch with one of them, an aging Edward Judd, who tells the strange tale of his turn-of-the century expedition with Professor Cavor (Jeffries) and Judd's fiance' (Hyer)..
While not as popular or as exhilarating as the earlier film perhaps, it’s nonetheless a delightful yarn and one of the team’s best overall efforts.Starting off in a modern-setting as the ‘first’ landing on the Moon is taking place (about 5 years before the actual fact), the astronauts are flabbergasted to find the Union Jack and a note indicating that an English scientist had already claimed it back in 1899!
We’re then introduced to the character played by Edward Judd (currently institutionalized in old folks’ home) – who, with his fiancée Martha Hyer, had accompanied Professor Lionel Jeffries on that fateful yet unsung trip to the Moon; the story proper is then told in flashback.
Judd is his typical roguish self, while Hyer adds charm and loveliness to the already attractive scenery (of Victorian England and the imaginative lunar landscape with its cavernous interiors).It takes quite some time to get to the scenes on the Moon and, once there, we’re treated to just two of Harryhausen’s trademark (albeit marvelous) creations – a couple of giant caterpillars, whom our heroes have to fend off, and the mass of Selenite inhabitants, who seem eager to study the intruding Earthlings (the script, co-written by famed sci-fi expert Nigel Kneale, is at its most introspective during Jeffries’ trial before The Grand Lunar).
Further reason why the expedition proves insufficiently exciting is the fact that we learn precious little of Life on the Moon…and it all concludes on a somewhat anti-climactic note (even more disappointing because Wells was basically repeating himself!).That said, the film does looks great in color and widescreen (luckily, the DivX copy I watched didn’t suffer from the distracting jerkiness which had plagued my recent viewings of other vintage sci-fi titles on this format), and Harryhausen’s various props – such as the makeshift space-gear (actually diving-suits), the spherical ship, and “Cavorite” (the substance invented by Jeffries which enables the flight into outer space and back, simply by being applied as a coating on the spaceship’s surface!), add to the fun and pervading sense of wonder.
By the way, Peter Finch famously appeared in an unbilled cameo in this film as a messenger for the local bailiff (apparently, he visited the set and then offered his services to replace an actor who had failed to show up!).Ultimately, rather than being considered a visionary sci-fi epic, the film rightfully belongs amid the long-running cycle of entertaining (if somewhat juvenile) adventure films based on classic literary tales – 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1954), AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956), FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON (1958), JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH (1959), THE LOST WORLD (1960), MASTER OF THE WORLD (1961), the aforementioned MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON (1962), THE LOST CONTINENT (1968), THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (1975), etc..
No spoilers here other than to say I still find this film as intriguing and interesting now as I did almost 40 years ago.For pure fantasy buffs and sci-fi fans "First Men in the Moon" is a fun flick to enjoy.Grab the popcorn, take the phone off the hook, and enjoy this DVD..
But if he does it, it will have to be without the special special effects of Ray Harryhausen who created an enchanting, but very dangerous world on the moon.Judd's story is how he and his fiancé Martha Hyer got involved with an eccentric scientist Lionel Jeffries.
He tells the tale of how he and his fiancée (Martha Hyer) accompanied brilliant scientist Professor Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) to the moon through use of a special gravity-defying substance called Cavorite.
Beautiful sets, great Ray Harryhausen special effects and a script by venerable Nigel Kneale, adapted from the story by H.G. Wells.
However, Cavor stops the transmission, probably cornered by the Selenites, with a final message of "Uless", meaning probably "Useless." The film version does expand the story quite well, especially in the performances of Lionel Jeffries as Joseph Cavor, Edward Judd as Arnold Bedford, and Martha Hyer as Kate Callender.
He also, by not leveling with his girlfriend Hyer, gets her tangled up in the trip to the moon, and ends up endangering her as well as Jeffries and himself.Ms Hyer's performance is not in the original story (as Arlene Dahl's appearance in the film version of JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is not in that book either.
Nathan Juran directed this adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel that stars Lionel Jeffries as Inventor Joseph Cavor, who creates a method to propel his sphere into space by deflecting the gravitational pull of the Earth.
This was the first Science Fiction Movie I ever saw,and it still holds up.Lionel Jefferies is excellent as Cavor-and Edward Judd provides good contrast as Arnold Bedford.The framing sequence was a good way to set up modern readers for an account of a trip to the moon in 1899.The film is not exactly like the book,but the book was actualy written in the early 20th Century-when knowledge of the moon was limited.The film does away with the really impossible things Wells imagines about the moon,but retains the idea of an ant-like colony of workers living below the moon's surface.The way to explain the disappearance of the Selenties by the late 1960s was also done in an ingenious and realistic fashion which Wells himself used in one of his later novels..
With names appearing on the billboard such as Nathan Juran (director of the delirious "The Brain from Planet Arous" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad"), Nigel Kneale (writer of the exquisite "Quatermass" trilogy), Ray Harryhausen (notorious visual effects designer of "Jason and the Argonauts" and "It Came from beneath the Sea") and H.G. Wells (legendary novelist of "The War of the Worlds" and "Food of the Gods"), I was already preparing for a vastly entertaining and completely relaxing Sci- Fi adventure.
Every aspect about this film simply provokes a big fat smile on your face, whether it's Lionel Jeffries' over-the-top nutty scientist performance, Harryhausen's stupendous moon caterpillar creation or just the complete negligence of all the most basic laws of science.
Nigel Kneale (creator of Quatermass) and Jan Read write the screenplay, Ray Harryhausen provides the stop-motion effects, and the cast is made up of Lionel Jeffries, Edward Judd & Martha Hyer.
He tells a fantastical story of the time in 1899 when Professor Joseph Cavor (Jeffries), Katharine and himself, went to the Moon and met an alien race known as the Selenites.Nathan Juran's movie opens with a booming piece of music by Laurie Johnson, the sort of score opening that promises either end of the world like dramatics, or something resembling the onset of War. We then open with astronauts on the Moon finding the Union Flag of Great Britain; the tone is set for some H.
So this is one for nostalgists like me, who as a youth looked forward to a Saturday afternoon viewing of something Harryhausen inspired, completists of the great man's work and of course for lovers of B movie sci-fi schlock.
Once the Second (actually the first) Moon Landing Occurs it is a Visual Vista of Technicolor, Widescreen Delights with Ray Harryhausen Doing His Magic.The Film Boasts a Fine Musical Score, with Eerie Sound Effects and Equally Eerie Moon Creatures.
It's also worth noting that the movie is titled "First Men IN the Moon", not "First Men ON the Moon".The story (based on H.G. Wells) is a lot of fun and the pseudo-science doesn't altogether ignore the laws of physics, giving the Victorian era space expedition an air of fantastical plausibility.
Lionel Jeffries steals every scene as the moon-eyed Cavor, & Edward Judd -- who preferred playing the villain over leading man -- nailed the charming but deceitful Bedford.
Sandwiching the original story as a flashback in a modern moon landing was very clever and worked perfectly.Since every science fiction movie in the 50's and 60's needed a pretty woman to be saved by the hero from evil-looking aliens, they had to add the character of Kate Callender.
Ray Harryhausen's special effects are also terrific - the leader of the moon civilization shown as a shadowy figure behind a crystalline wall is especially striking.I haven't seen the DVD yet, having taped this years ago off the Sci-Fi Channel, but I'm glad they've restored this classic.
The special effects on the moon are excellent, especially Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion giant caterpillar (moon calf).This movie is a must if you are a collector of sci-fi films like me.Rating: 4 stars out of 5..
Ray Harryhausen's stop motion work on the 'moon-calfs' and on the Selenites is very good (unfortunately, the few animated Selenites serve to emphasise the less effective 'man-in-a-costume' nature of the rest of their kin).
Once on the moon, the trio run into trouble with a race of technologically advanced bug-eyed creatures that Cavor calls Selenites.First Men In The Moon is an entertaining sci-fi yarn boasting great performances, solid direction from Nathan Juran, and some impressive visual effects (for the day), including a couple of nice Ray Harryhausen Dynamation creatures; but what I like best about the film is that it sticks steadfastly to H.G. Wells fanciful scientific invention, no matter how absurd it all gets.
If the book was to be adapted for the screen these days, I have no doubt that much of the content would be drastically altered to make it seem more plausible, but in the process, Wells' story would be robbed of its innocent Victorian futurism charm.In Juran's 1964 movie, it's all intact: the crazy sphere with blinds coated in Cavorite, the massive caterpillar-like moon cows (sadly, not a thing, as we have since discovered), the weird and wonderful lunar vegetation, and the intelligent insectivorous beings (mostly realised via men in unconvincing rubber suits) who must create their own oxygen to breathe (which leaves one wondering how they evolved).
Well before Armstrong,Aldrin and Collins ,there were explorers on the moon.This is a moderately good Welles adaptation,not as good as Pal's "time machine" (1960).A good idea was to have transposed the action to the (sixties)present and to have made the whole movie a long flashback.The ending preserves the writer's spirit.The bad idea was to have included a female character (Kate) who does not bring anything to the plot.The first part is almost treated as a comedy .I think Lionel Jeffries's Cavor is perhaps too eccentric .Cavor is a scientist but his work verges on rush job .His conversation with the Selenites -they seem to be out of a fifties flick- deals with the usual Man-is-an -evil-creature subject , which is frequent in sci-fi from "the day the Earth stood still" to "Plan nine outer space" to "planet of the apes" (1967).
What exactly happens next is really up to you to find out yourself.Aside from two dumb characters, occasionally cheesy effects and a story that occasionally drags, the film is a treat for the eyes and is quite enjoyable--particularly if you are a fan of sci-fi or the work of Ray Harryhausen..
This reflects Wells's concerns and his use of the Selenites as a warning of the growing inhumanity he saw on Earth (the Morlocks in 'The Time Machine' are another example).The characters are well drawn and Lionel Jeffries never fails to move me as he makes his fateful decision to stay on the moon, true to his need to learn and placing himself as a hostage for the human race..
Dotty and excitable scientist Joseph Cavor (a marvelously hearty performance by Lionel Jeffries), dashing young Arnold Bedford (likable Edward Judd), and Arnold's feisty fiancé Katherine "Kate" Callender (a sweeting and appealing turn by the lovely Martha Hyer) travel to the moon in a sphere invented by Cavor.
This 1964 production has several things going for it: an interesting premise of 19th century astronauts exploring the moon, the always-satisfying special effects from master creator Ray Harryhausen, and a great Laurie Johnson score.
Though Bernard Herrmann was originally sought for the production, the studio couldn't afford his asking price; thus, Johnson filled in and produced a great accompaniment for the on-screen activities.The first half of the movie is a bit light, as it deals with Mr. Cavor (Lionel Jeffries), developer of "Cavorite" and his recruitment of Mr. Bedford (Edward Judd) and his fiancé' "Kate" in the planning of an excursion to the moon.
An encounter with a "moon calf," along with an "audience" with the Selenite leader, are just two of the marvelous effects in this movie.Though not one of the best of Harryhausen's works, it is still an enjoyable treat for sci-fi fans and a family film that stands the test of time..
Even though I haven't read HG Wells' original story "First Men In The Moon" from 1901 - I did take the time to read Wikipedia's synopsis of it - And just by reading over that, I'm convinced that this 1964, Technicolor film, pretty much, disgraced his story, for the most part.For one thing - The eccentric Cavor character in this picture was clearly portrayed as being nothing but a blathering idiot.
FMITM can't be compared to Ray Harryhausen's best films like Jason And The Argonauts or Mysterious Island, but this version of H.G. Wells' ingenious novel, while simplifying much of the story, is an engaging little sci-fi fantasy in the main: the sort of fantasy movie they used to make before Star Wars came out!
Falling in with Edward Judd's rascally Bedford and his accidentally along for the ride fiancée Kate (Martha Hyer), Cavor undertakes a trip to the moon, discovering an alien race of insects named The Selenites, who seem to behave perfectly reasonably towards the invaders considering numbers of them are pushed into caverns or shot!Indeed, the irony of this is surely unintended: we are meant to look upon the intrepid adventurers as heroes!
By coincidence it so happens that another film based on a novel by Wells, The Time Machine, was way better in its older version, than in its modern version where everyone had been dumbed down and special effects had taken over.I gave "First Men in the Moon" a 7 but it was almost worth an 8.Antoine.
The scenes on the Moon where our heroes encounter the Selenites have a sense of wonder completely absent from today's movies.The film was criticised on its release for disrespecting Wells by being humorous, but the original book also is full of humour.
This adaptation of H.G. Wells "First Men in The Moon" sets the hallmark for Creativity and Imagination in Sci-Fi !Directed by the underrated Nathan Juran, and Spectacular Special effects by the Grand Master of Dynamation Ray Harryhausen highlight this wonderful romp in outer space and into the Moon itself .Professor Joseph Cavor(Lionel Jeffries) invents a substance Cavorite , that when is painted onto the surface of an object and dries, deflects gravity itself, and allows the object to escape Earth's orbit .So he has a sphere to use to travel to the moon with Arnold Bedford(Edward Judd) and Katherine Callender(Martha Hyer).
There on the moon they encounter insect-like aliens hungry for knowledge.Interesting to note that this film was of course made before man actually reached the lunar surface (1969).
These guys are mainly men in rather cheap basic looking rubber suits but some of the main aliens are animated by Ray Harryhausen including the wonderful lunar centipedes.Visually the whole film is very striking offering some lovely matte paintings, sets, models, and that typically dapper Victorian attire that you see in many Wells and Verne adaptations.
Also starring Erik Chitty as Gibbs, Betty McDowall as Margaret "Maggie" Hoy, Miles Malleson as Dymchurch Registrar, Laurence Herder as Glushkov, Gladys Henson as Nursing Home Matron and Network's Peter Finch as Bailiff's Man. Jeffries is splendid as the eccentric professor, Judd is okay, and Hyer is likable, it should be mentioned that the real moon landing happened five years after this film, the story of an anti-gravity paint that can propel the characters to the moon is bonkers, and the facts of the space vacuum and lack of oxygen are not fully acknowledged, but it is just fun fantasy, with the great stop-motion special-effects of Ray Harryhausen, a pleasant light-hearted science-fiction adventure.
When the intrepid crew of Professor Cavor's (Lionel Jeffries) home made space sphere lands on the moon, they are quite unprepared to deal with the inhabitants of 'an empire Caesar never dreamed of'.Still, one can have some fun with the elements introduced in the story, chief among them the idea of 'cavorite', a metallic paste invented by it's namesake that negates the force of gravity and propels the professor, Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd) and his fiancée Kate Callender (Martha Hyer) on their fanciful mission.