Conquest Of Space

George Pal never forgave Paramount for cutting the budget and adding a love story subplot to his planned follow-up to DESTINATION MOON. The film was a financial disaster and ended Pal's uneasy relationship with the studio. In addition it marked the end of the cycle of "realistic" space films, at least until the spectacular success of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. A spaceship takes off for Mars from a floating space station in spite of protests from the captain (Brooke), who considers the flight a hubristic attempt to reach God and sets out to sabotage the voyage. He is proven wrong when the crew lands on Christmas day, about to die from thirst, and providence--thumbing it...