Early science fiction from Hammer, a precursor to Quatermass, which like that later film has an imported second-tier American star, Howard Duff (one of those heavy-set Americans like Edmond O’Brien who seemed to be popular in the immediate post-war years). This was based on a radio play, and is ostensibly about the effort to launch the first manned space flight but is actually mostly a murder mystery. Duff’s whining bitch of a wife nags him, he wants to get off with the European bobbed-haired assistant (Eva Bartok) – then the wife winds up dead. So Duff goes up in a space ship to prove his innocence!! It’s a silly idea and a dumb film – worse than dumb, boring, with poor acting, especially from the female scenes. The low budget really hurts the space flight stuff – but bad writing and handling kill the rest. Director Terence Fisher does spark up for a murder scene.
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