From Earth to the Moon and The First Men in the Moon Wikipedia pages

Le voyage dans la lune (operetta)
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Jacques Offenbach
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Le voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is an opéra-féerie in four acts and 23 scenes by Jacques Offenbach. Loosely based on the novel From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, its French libretto was by Albert Vanloo, Eugène Leterrier and Arnold Mortier.
It premiered on 26 October 1875 at the Théâtre de la Gaîté. The production was revived at the Théâtre du Châtelet, on 31 March 1877.


Contents  [hide]
1 History 1.1 Genesis
1.2 Production
1.3 Revival
2 Roles
3 Synopsis 3.1 Act 1
3.2 Act 2
3.3 Act 3
3.4 Act 4
4 Musical numbers 4.1 Act 1
4.2 Act 2
4.3 Act 3
4.4 Act 4
5 Recordings
6 Libretto
7 References

History[edit]
Genesis[edit]
The idea for the work was presented to Jacques Offenbach while he was head (director) of the Théâtre de la Gaîté, but due to the need to raise the necessary money he did not take up the project. Eventually Albert Vizentini, the new directeur of the Gaîté, took up the idea, and Offenbach's contribution was limited to that of composer.[1]
Albert Vanloo and Eugène Leterrier, in association with Arnold Mortier (columnist at Figaro), wrote the libretto. They were hoping for a repeat of the success of the novels of Jules Verne (another, the novel Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours, had been adapted for the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin by Verne himself in 1874) and the public taste for grand spectacles.
A few days after the premiere of Voyage dans la Lune, Jules Verne complained about its similarities to his work : "Two days after the first production of Voyage à la lune [sic] the loans to the authors from "From the Earth to the Moon" as the point of departure and from "Centre of the Earth" as the dénouement seem to me incontestable.".[2] This dispute does not seem to have continued, or may have been settled amicably, for by 1877, Jacques Offenbach based his Le docteur Ox on another Jules Verne novel, with his agreement.
Production[edit]



Christian (Vlan) and Zulma Bouffar (prince Caprice) in Le voyage dans la Lune, in the charlatans scene.
The première of the opéra-féerie Voyage dans la lune occurred on 26 October 1875 at Théâtre de la Gaîté in Paris. The French correspondent for The Times wrote "The piece is, I think, a success, less great, probably, than that of [the 1874 play] Le Tour de Monde en Quatre-Vingt Jours,[3] but which will be marked."[4]
No expense had been spared on the scenery - the 24 majestic sets by Cornil, Fromont and Chéret replicated places (such as the Observatory of Paris, a high-furnace, a lunar passage or a volcano) and created original architectural conceits (such as a glass palace or mother-of-pearl galleries). The use of "trucs", trap-doors and artifices accentuated the surprise-effects on the spectators. The producers even borrowed a dromedary from the Jardin d'Acclimatation. The 673 costumes were designed by Alfred Grévin, and the two ballets choreographed by M. Justament. The principal roles were taken by Zulma Bouffar (in the principal boy role of Prince Caprice - reviews stated she "sang with esprit and acted with intelligence and finesse"[5]), Christian (Vlan), Pierre Grivot (Microscope), Tissier (Cosmos) et Mlle Marcus (Fantasia). At the première, the Ronde des Charlatans, interpreted by Zulma Bouffar and Christian, won an encore.
The success of the show, whose première raised 3,898 francs, led to the theatre's receipts passing 10,018 francs with its seventh performance.[6] Le Voyage dans la Lune left its mark on the year in which it first appeared : seven Parisian winter revues in 1875-1876 made reference to it (Voyage de la Lune à Paris, Mme Angot dans la Lune, Le Voyage du Soleil, Les Voyageurs pour Belleville, Les Voyageurs pour la Lune, Allons voir la Lune, mon gars !, La Lune à Paris).[7]
The rôle of Caprice was portrayed by Mme Peschard from 16 December 1875 until 16 February 1876, since Zulma Bouffar had to honour a two-month engagement at Saint Petersburg. From 28 February 1876, the rôle of Popotte returned to Thérésa. For her, Jacques Offenbach added four airs to the score. Le Figaro noted : "Thérésa and her songs produced a great effect. There were two especially, in the third act, that she detailed with an exquisite finesse and art."[8]
Le Voyage dans la Lune was also put on in London, at the Alhambra Theatre, on 15 April 1876, and Vienna, at the Theater an der Wien, on 16 April 1876.[9]
The last performance at the Théâtre de la Gaîté occurred on 25 April 1876 after 185 performances and 965,000 francs in ticket receipts.[10]
Revival[edit]
The work was revived at the Théâtre du Châtelet from 31 March 1877[11] with most of the original cast. After two months, with ticket receipts of 226,457 francs, its 247th and last performance night was on 31 May 1877.[12]
Roles[edit]

Role
Voice type
Premiere cast, 26 October 1875
 (Conductor: Albert Vizentini)
Cast (Châtelet), 31 March 1877
 (Conductor: )
King Vlan baritone Christian Christian
Cosmos bass Tissier Tissier
Prince Quipasserparla tenor Habay Habay
Microscope tenor Pierre Grivot Guillot
Cactus tenor Laurent Courtès
Cosinus  Étienne Scipion Jacquier
Parabase  Legrenay Beuzeville
Phichipsi  Colleuille Colleuille
Rectangle  Jules Vizentini Guimier
Oméga  Mallet Auguste
Coefficient  Chevalier Prudhomme
A-Plus-B  Henry Panot
A guard  É. Scipion Jacquier
A bourgeois  J. Vizentini Jacquier
A poet  Chevalier Chevalier
A male forge-worker  Barsagol Thuillier
Grosbedon  Chevalier Prudhomme
The commissaire bass Gravier 
A slave merchant  Van-de-Gand Gillot
A Sélénite  Bousquet 
Prince Caprice soprano Zulma Bouffar Zulma Bouffar
Princess Fantasia soprano Noémie Marcus Lynnès
Queen Popotte mezzo-soprano Adèle Cuinet Marcelle
Flamma soprano Blanche Méry Noel
Adja soprano Maury Géron
Phoebé  Dareine Lévy
Stella  Davenay Alice Régnault
A forge worker (female)  Z. Bied Rébecca
Hyperba  Baudu Durand
Microma (or Ita)  Blount Capiglia
Bella  Godin 
Citizens, Courtiers, Astronomers, Blacksmiths, Artillery men, Moon-Dwellers, Counsellors,
 Maids of Honour, Guards, Stockbrokers and Speculators
Synopsis[edit]
Act 1[edit]
1st scene: Prince Caprice
On some part of the Earth, on a large square in the capital, king Vlan is preparing a festival in honour of his son, prince Caprice, who has returned from a long journey undertaken for his education. On Caprice's arrival, king Vlan cedes him the crown, but Caprice refuses it, not wanting to govern or to marry but instead to have liberty, movement, air, space... The moon, then rising, gives him an idea for his next destination. He thus asks his father to get him to this unknown and unexplored place. Vlan gives in and asks Microscope, the kingdom's greatest scholar, to find a way of getting there. Microscope replies that this mission regards the Observatory.
2nd scene: At the Observatory
Questioned, the astronomers do not reply and demand a commission. Furious at this evasion, Caprice crosses them off and proposes to do the same to Microscope if he does not find a way to the moon. Microscope arranges that they meet 8 days later in his forge, and says he will find a way to the moon in the interim.
3rd scene: At the forge
The forge-workers finish their work when Vlan and Caprice arrive 8 days later. Microscope unveils his means of getting to the moon : a shell launched by a cannon. Due to the probability that the mission will go wrong, Microscope is forced to accompany Caprice. Vlan accedes to his son's insistent demands and also joins them on the trip.
4th scene: The departure
Vlan, Caprice and Microscope get into the shell. The artillery-men light the fuse and, with a huge detonation, the shell hurtles towards the moon.
Act 2[edit]
5th scene: The moon
Hearing mysterious voices, we see a town with strange architecture.
6th scene: The arrival
The "sélénites" (moon-dwellers) fearfully observe a black point in the sky, and one asks another if it may be something sent by the "terriens" (Earth-people) to exterminate them. Cosmos, king of the moon, and his counsellor Cactus calm their people - science has proved that the Earth is uninhabited. With a horrendous crash, the shell crash-lands on a house and Vlan, Caprice and Microscope get out, as the "sélénites" hide. The 3 men get observe what seem a desolate planet, and their mood blackens, since only apples remain for provisions. Some "sélénites" get up, and Cosmos reappears to ask the "terriens" where they have come from. Their insolent reply makes him condemn them to prison, but Cosmos's wife Popotte and daughter Fantasia arrive. It is Fantasia's birthday, and she asks her father to take pity on the prisoners and free them as her birthday present. Cosmos accepts and proposes that the "terriens" visit his palace.
7th scene: The glass palace
Cosmos and Cactus show Vlan, Caprice and Microscope the moon's civil service. On the moon, working for the king is not a happy job and if there are no candidates the fattest person is picked.
8th scene: The mother-of-pearl galleries
Caprice courts Fantasia, but she does not understand, not knowing what love is, since it does not exist on the moon other than as a disease - when one wants to have a child, one asks oneself if there is an area of commerce in which it can prosper.
9th scene: The park
Caprice, despairing of princess Fantasia and her inability to love him, eats an apple. The princess, astonished by his absence, goes to look for him. Attracted by this fruit (unknown to her), she tastes it. Calling it a "charming gift that she formerly ate on the Earth", she immediately falls in love with Caprice, sending the palace into an uproar.
10th scene: The roaming shadows
11th scene: Cosmos's gardens
Grand ballet of the Chimères.
Act 3[edit]
12th scene: The consultation
The kingdom's doctors examine Fantasia, shut up in her chamber, mad with love. She escapes and finds Caprice. To save her, Caprice suggests making Cosmos amorous by giving him an apple-based drink. Due to her incurable sickness of love, Cosmos proposes to sell Fantasia, as is the habit on the moon when a woman ceases to please. Caprice promises Fantasia that he will buy her.
13th scene: The women market
On the moon, the women market is the equivalent of the stock-market. Microscope is charged by Caprice with buying the princess and, visiting Quipasseparla ("Who Goes There", king of the stock-market), he negotiates with him just in case the 'stock-price' goes up. Quipasseparla does not accept and is intoxicated to prevent him from participating in the sale. Vlan and Caprice arrive, dressed as charlatans. They suggest an elixir that will, among other things, slim down fat people. This elixir is very precious, and only a king is worthy of it, so Cosmos is its happy beneficiary. Cosmos tastes it and panics, believing himself poisoned - in fact, they have made him discover alcohol. Quipasseparla wins Fantasia at the sale.
14th scene: The land of the paunchy
Quipasseparla and his harem arrive in the land of the paunchy where they stop at an inn. Microscope arrives, followed by Popotte, who is in turn by Cosmos, who has fallen madly in love with her. Popotte does not return his love and so he had made her drink the elixir that will make her fall in love, but Microscope happens to be passing at that moment and she has instead fallen in love with him! Vlan and Caprice arrive in search of Fantasia. Vlan stops for dinner, whilst Caprice finds Fantasia again and flees with her. Furious at being in love and at being trumped by his wife, Cosmos arrives... The inn goes mad, Vlan and Microscope are unmasked despite their fake paunches. The royal guards go in pursuit of Caprice and Fantasia and bring them back. Quipasseparla renounces the princess. Winter immediately follows summer in this country and so they only get back to the capital under the snow.[13]
15th scene: 50 degrees below zero
Grand ballet of the snowflakes: this scene gave rise to the popularity of snow dances, the most famous of which is that in The Nutcracker.[14]
Act 4[edit]
16th scene: The imprisonment of the apple-bearers
The moon-women discover love, but king Cosmos does not hear of it. Vlan, Caprice and Microscope are brought before a court and condemned "to pass five years inside an extinct volcano, where they will be wholly deprived of any kind of nourishment".
17th scene: The glacier
Brought to the top of the volcano, they take their places in a basket with Cosmos to be lowered into the crater.
18th scene: The crater
Arriving at the bottom, Popotte cuts the cord, reproaching her husband for want to cause Microscope to perish. Fantasia is found to have stowed away in the basket, wanting to die with Caprice. In this desperate situation, Cosmos promises the prisoners their liberty if they can find a way out.
19th scene: The interior of the volcano
They search for a way out amidst rumbles and detonations. The volcano begins to erupt.
20th scene: The eruption
21st scene: The rain of ash
22nd scene: The volcano's summit after the eruption
 Caprice, Fantasia, Cosmos and Vlan lying on the ground, having fainted. Microscope has hidden in a crevice, and wakes them. Popotte rushes to them - they are saved.
23rd scene: Le clair de terre (The earth-light - a pun on clair de lune (moonlight))
Musical numbers[edit]
Overture[15]
Act 1[edit]
1. Chorus: 'Quelle splendide fête' (Chorus.)
2. Couplets du roi Vlan: 'Vlan, Vlan, je suis Vlan' (Vlan, Chorus.)
3. Chorus: 'Rataplan, rataplan' (Chorus, Vlan, Microscope.), Couplets of prince Caprice: 'Ah ! j'en ai vu!' (Caprice, Chorus.)
4. Romance de Caprice: 'Ô reine de la nuit' (Caprice.)
5. Chorus des astronomes: 'Les cieux!' (Chorus TB.)
6. Chorus des forgerons: 'À l'ouvrage!' (Chorus.)
7. Valse chantée: 'Monde charmant que l'on ignore' (Caprice.)
8. Final: 'En route pour la lune!' (Chorus, Microscope, Vlan, Caprice.), Chorus des artilleurs: 'Nous sommes les petits artilleurs' (Chorus, Vlan, Microscope, Caprice.)
Entr'acte
Act 2[edit]
9. Chorus (derrière le rideau): 'Ah !' (Chorus.)
10. Chorus: 'C'est un point noir' (Chorus.)
11. Rondo de l'obus: 'Dans un obus qui fend l'air' (Caprice, Microscope, Vlan.)
12. Couplets de Fantasia: 'Tu devais le jour de ma fête' (Fantasia.)
13. Chorus et marche: 'Salut à notre roi' (Chorus.)
14. Entrée des conseillers
15. Madrigal: 'Je regarde vos jolis yeux' (Caprice.)
16. Morceau d'ensemble: 'Ne jamais rien faire' (Flamma, Chorus, Cosmos, Popotte, Microscope, Vlan.)
17. Duo des pommes: 'Mon Dieu ! qu'ai-je ressenti là?' (Fantasia, Caprice.)
18. Ballet des chimères
Entr'acte
Act 3[edit]
19. Chorus des gardes: 'Je suis le garde' (Chorus.)
20. Couplets de demoiselles d'honneur: 'Elle disait: ah! viens encore' (Flamma, Chorus SA.)
21. Ariette de la princesse: 'Je suis nerveuse' (Fantasia.)
22. Chorus du marché: 'C'est le marché' (Chorus.)
23. Rondo de Quipasseparla: 'Le prince Quipasseparla' (Quipasseparla, Chorus.)
24. Chorus: 'Ah ! quelle musique' (Chorus.), Ronde des charlatans: 'Ohé, ohé petits et grands' (Caprice, Chorus.)
25. Adieux des demoiselles d'honneur: 'Adieu notre compagne!' (Chorus, Fantasia, Cactus, Popotte, Quipasseparla.), Scène de la vente
26. Final de la neige: 'Courons tous' (Chorus, Quipasseparla, Fantasia, Caprice, Popotte, Vlan, Cosmos.)
27. Ballet des flocons de neige
Entr'acte
Act 4[edit]
28. Ronde des pommiers: 'Holà ! que chaque fillette' (Chorus SA.)
29. Chorus du tribunal: 'Voici le tribunal' (Chorus.)
30. Le volcan (melodrama)
31. Clair de terre (finale): 'Terre! Terre!' (Chorus.)
Recordings[edit]
Extracts are available on :
Entre Nous : Celebrating Offenbach - David Parry - Opera Music 2007 (Ouverture, Ariette de la Princesse, Final de la neige, Ronde des Charlatans)[16]
Offenbach Romantique - Marc Minkowski - Archiv Produktion 2006 (Ballet des Flocons de neige)
Can Can - Antonio de Almeida - Philips 1987 (Ouverture, Ballet des Flocons de neige)
Offenbach au menu - Quatuor gastronomique - Maguelone 1993 (Duo des pommes)[17]
Recordings listed on operadis-opera-discography.org.uk
Libretto[edit]
Le Voyage dans la Lune (French Wikisource)
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Sur le plateau, souvenirs d'un librettiste, Albert Vanloo, librairie Ollendorff, s. d. cited in Jacques Offenbach, Jean-Claude Yon, Editions Gallimard, 2000.
2.Jump up ^ BNF, Département des Manuscrits, N.A.Fr.17.004, ff 278-280 cited in Jacques Offenbach, Jean-Claude Yon, Editions Gallimard 2000
3.Jump up ^ SIC : Le Tour du Monde en Quatre-Vingts Jours
4.Jump up ^ The Times – N° 28,457 – Wednesday, October 27, 1875.
5.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 28 October 1875, Courrier des Théâtres
6.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 3 November 1875, Courrier des Théâtres
7.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 3 February 1876, Courrier des Théâtres.
8.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 29 February 1876, La Soirée Théâtrale
9.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 19 April 1876, Courrier des Théâtres
10.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 26 April 1876, Courrier des Théâtres
11.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 1 April 1877, La Soirée Théâtrale
12.Jump up ^ Le Figaro, 2 June 1877, La Soirée Théâtrale
13.Jump up ^ The Scène de la vente in the third act parodies the number of the same name in the opéra-comique La dame blanche, written in 1825 by Boieldieu : Source - Jacques Offenbach, Jean-Claude Yon, Editions Gallimard 2000
14.Jump up ^ Victoria & Albert Museum, Diaghilev Exhibition, January 2010
15.Jump up ^ The air Scintille, diamant ! from the Contes d'Hoffmann has its origins in the Ouverture from Voyage dans la Lune. This apochryphal number of the Contes d'Hoffmann was written in 1905 for its Berlin production. Source - http://www.forumopera.com/opera-n18/hoffmann.htm Forum Opéra
16.Jump up ^ Milnes, R. Review of Entre Nous Opera Rara CD set. Opera, November 2007, 1388-90.
17.Jump up ^ Laurent, F. Review of 'Offenbach au menu!' Maguelone CD MAG11188. Diapason, January 2012 (598), p93.
SourcesAmadeus Almanac (26 October 1875), accessed 22 May 2009


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Categories: Operas
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The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
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For the 1940 film, see Baron Prášil (film).

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Barongc3.jpg
Japanese DVD cover

Directed by
Karel Zeman
Written by
Karel Zeman
 Josef Kainar
Jiří Brdečka
Music by
Zdeněk Liška
Cinematography
Jiří Tarantík
Release date(s)
September 21, 1962

Running time
85 min (original)
 83 min (Japanese release)
 80 min (other releases)[1]
Country
Czechoslovakia
Language
Czech
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (Czech: Baron Prášil) is a 1961 Czechoslovak romantic adventure film directed by Karel Zeman, based on the tales about Baron Münchhausen. The film combines live-action with various forms of animation and is highly stylized, often evoking the engravings of Gustave Doré.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

Plot[edit]
The film begins with footsteps leading to a pond. The camera continually moves upwards to show the flight of butterflies, birds, and a progression of historical aircraft ending with a rocketship travelling through space and landing on the moon.
The astronaut/cosmonaut leaves his spacecraft and sights other footsteps on the moon leading him to an old phonograph, then a crashed rocket with a plaque reading Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon. Taken to a dinner table, the surprised space traveller meets the characters from Verne's book and Baron Münchhausen. Inviting him to their table, the characters believe that the cosmonaut is a man actually from the moon, and kindly treat him as a small child.
The Baron decides to take him to Earth in a fanciful airship held up by a herd of winged horses. The Baron dresses the spaceman, called "Joey" in the English dubbed version and "Tonik" in the original Czech, in 18th Century costume where they land in 18th Century Turkey. Speaking in an unintelligible voice that he calls the "language of diplomacy" the Baron presents Joey to the Sultan. However Joey's lack of knowledge of diplomatic protocol and his falling in love with Princess Bianca, a damsel in distress held prisoner by the Sultan, leads to a series of romantic and fanciful adventures that transform the modern scientific space traveller into a hero rivalling the Baron.
Among the exciting and satiric adventures are sword and sea battles with the Turks, being swallowed by a giant fish, and ending the conflict between two warring kingdoms.
Cast[edit]
Miloš Kopecký as Baron Münchhausen
Rudolf Jelínek as Tonik
Jana Brejchová as Princess Bianca
Karel Höger as Cyrano de Bergerac
Naděžda Blažíčková as Court Dancer
Karel Effa as Adjutant
Josef Hlinomaz as Spanish General
Zdeněk Hodr as Nicole
Miloslav Holub as Enemy General
Miroslav Homola as Chess Player
Rudolf Hrušínský as The Sultan
Eduard Kohout as General Ellemerle
Otto Šimánek as Ardan
František Šlégr as Pirate Captain
Václav Trégl as Sailor
Jan Werich as Ship's Captain
Bohuš Záhorský as Admiral
Richard Záhorský as Barbicain
Reception[edit]
The film was released internationally during the 1960s, including a 1964 American dub under the title "The Fabulous Baron Munchausen."[3] Howard Thompson of The New York Times described it as "a delectable oddity with a perky, intriguing music track."[4] César Santos Fontenla of Triunfo called the film "a masterpiece" and added: "the film is undoubtedly the most exciting experiment so far in animation and in combining different techniques ... The Méliès influence is present throughout the film, which reaches the same level of poetry as the works of that old master."[2]
When the film was screened at the British Film Institute in the 1980s, it served as an influence for Terry Gilliam, who was then making his own version of the Munchausen stories, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.[5] According to Gilliam:

I remember when I was doing Baron Munchausen seeing a picture in a [British Film Institute] catalogue from Karel Zeman's Baron Munchausen and saying, "Wow, what is this?" and eventually seeing the film, and saying, "Wow, that's great," because he did what I'm still trying to do, which is to try and combine live action with animation. His Doré-esque backgrounds were wonderful. The film captured the real spirit of the character.[6]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/freak.php?p=baronprasil&dz=0
2.^ Jump up to: a b Santos Fontenla, César. "De Cyrano a Gagarin". Triunfo. Europeana. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
3.Jump up ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054665/releaseinfo
4.Jump up ^ Thompson, Howard (23 December 1984). "Critics' Choice: Cable TV". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 May 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Zipes, Jack (2011). The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films. New York: Routledge. p. 43.
6.Jump up ^ Gilliam, Terry (2004). Terry Gilliam: Interviews. Mississippi: Jackson University Press. pp. 132–133.
External links[edit]
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen at the Internet Movie Database


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Categories: 1962 films
Czech-language films
1961 films
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Films with live action and animation
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Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne
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Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne
Voyage - Inspired by Jules Verne (game box art).jpg

Developer(s) Kheops Studio[1]
Publisher(s) The Adventure Company[2]
Designer(s) Alexis Lang
Platform(s) Windows
Release date(s) NA 18 August 2005[3]
UK 3 March 2006[4]

Genre(s) Adventure game
Mode(s) Single player
Distribution CD (2)



 Ardan jumps across the surface of the moon in a minor minigame.
Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne (known as Journey to the Moon in the United Kingdom)[4] is a point-and-click adventure game with pre-rendered graphics,[5] developed by Kheops Studio and published by The Adventure Company for the PC in 2005.[1][2] The game's story focuses on a French adventurer's journey to the moon in the 19th century,[6] and the ancient lunar civilization he subsequently finds.[5]
Voyage is loosely based on the novels From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon by science-fiction author Jules Verne,[6] and the novel The First Men in the Moon by science-fiction author H.G. Wells.[7] Reactions to the game were generally mixed.[8] In particular, some reviewers praised it for immersing the player in the look and feel of the 19th century;[9] others have criticized it for featuring dated graphics and dull textures.[10]
While staying true to most adventure game conventions, Voyage has some unique features for its genre.[9] These include two dexterity minigames which take advantage of the reduced gravity in the game's lunar setting, and an "Intelligence Management System", in which a score is assigned to the player for every puzzle he solves, and for certain actions.[9][11] The Adventure Company introduced this feature to motivate players to replay the game to increase their cumulative score.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Gameplay 1.1 Intelligence Management System
2 Synopsis 2.1 Setting
2.2 Characters
2.3 Plot
3 Development
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

Gameplay[edit]
The main focus of Voyage is puzzle-solving.[5] The player can move by clicking, and can swivel the camera 360 degrees.[12] There are several types of puzzle in Voyage including those involving native plant life on the moon, mechanical puzzles, audio puzzles, and mathematical puzzles.[13][14] Many of these puzzles require the player to decipher and use the native language of the moon.[15]
Voyage features two unique dexterity minigames. Using a low-gravity setting, the first minigame requires the player to collect floating bubbles in a can,[13] and the second requires the player to execute large jumps across the surface of the moon.[9] These two minigames form only a minor part of the game.[9] The game also has several timed sequences requiring the player to complete puzzles under a time limit.[14] The consequence of failing a puzzle of this sort is death, after which the player is able to return and replay the puzzle.[14] Players can also be killed as the result of taking incorrect actions related to the game's story.[14]
A critical aspect of gameplay in Voyage is the inventory system, which allows the player to pick up and keep dozens of different items.[15] However, the maximum quantity of a given item that the player may keep in his inventory at any one time is three.[16] One of the main uses of the inventory is to combine items together to make new items.[5] This process of breaking and reforming items in the inventory comprises a large portion of the puzzle aspect of the game.[5] The inventory can also be used to create meals which the player can consume; this ability plays a major role in several puzzles.[16] Another use of the inventory is to create hybrid lunar plants, which play a critical role in the earlier puzzles of the game.[16]
Intelligence Management System[edit]
The "Intelligence Management System" featured in Voyage is a score assigned to the player by the Selenites, the natives of the moon.[11] For each puzzle the player solves, and for certain actions, this score is increased, and the Selenites treat the player with more respect.[11] During an interview with GamersInfo, Benoît Hozjan, Managing Director and co-founder of Kheops Studio, described the system, saying:[7]
“ For Voyage, you have the universe famous 'lunar IQ'. For instance, during a quiz, players who answer randomly should have fewer points, the players will be not restricted but it will take much more time to progress... The player will have different ways to enter a new room. Sometimes the clues are very subtle but almost each time there are 2 or 3 clues to solve a challenge and a higher IQ may help you! ”
In the same interview, Alexis Lang, the Lead Game Designer at Kheops, commented that: "[A] low score does not mean that you are stupid in any way, it just means that some pompous and bombastic lunar people think that your character is dumb!"[7] This reflects the fact that the "Intelligence Management System" is designed primarily to earn the respect of the Selenites. However, Hozjan also said that he hopes "players will try to increase their score and certainly share their experience through forums."[7] The Adventure Company has marketed the system as bringing a degree of replay value to Voyage, as players can replay the game to achieve a higher score.[2]
Synopsis[edit]
Setting[edit]
Voyage is set in 1851. President Barbicane of the 'Gun Club' decides to build an enormous cannon in Baltimore to shoot a shell, capable of supporting human life, towards the moon in the hopes of a successful landing.[6] Voyage's protagonist, Michel Ardan, volunteers to travel in the aluminium shell.[6] After the game's brief introduction in the shell, Ardan lands on the moon and discovers the Selenites, as well as a complex ecosystem of lunar plants.[17] The main accessible areas in the game are the moon's surface, and the underground Selenite civilization.
The 'Selenites' are the subterranean inhabitants of the moon, and are a highly intelligent society maintained by hierarchy and secret.[6] They possess blue skin, large black eyes and transparent cerebral lobes on the sides of their heads.[9] They are divided into castes. The Selenites live in a large complex under the surface of the moon from which they rarely venture, with the exception of the 'exiles'. The Selenites "banish [these] dregs of their society, the criminals and psychotics,"[13] to the surface of the moon. There are three Selenite exiles with whom the player can interact; they live on the surface and sleep in their isolated underground stables at night. Each exile has two different plants on either shoulder with which they share a special bond.[13]
Characters[edit]
The player character is Michel Ardan, an eccentric and intrepid French scientist who is enthusiastic, daring and cheerful.[6] President Barbicane, the President of the Gun Club, and Captain Nicholl, an engineer, are both found dead at the start of the game, not having survived the flight to the moon.[6] A woman called Diana features in the game's backstory, as a woman whose ancestors made contact with the Selenites.[6] Apart from these human characters, there are also several Selenite characters such as the Supreme Moon Ruler, the High Dignitary, Scurvy, Scruple, and the three exiles.[6]
Plot[edit]
Voyage begins as Ardan awakes in the shell and discovers his two dead companions: Barbicane and Nicholl.[18] He finds a note written by Barbicane, explaining that he and Nicholl sacrificed themselves for Ardan, as there was insufficient oxygen to support three men.[18] Ardan also finds a note that Barbicane had concealed in his hat from Diana, and a love letter from Diana to Nicholl. Diana had been attempting to gain passage to the moon by seducing these men, but had failed.[18] Once Ardan successfully lands the shell on the moon, he must solve a series of puzzles on the surface in order to gain access to the hidden civilization below.[18] There he encounters the Selenite race.[18] Following this, Ardan focusses on finding a way to leave the moon and report his findings to Earth.[18] During his adventure, Ardan acquires a 'Belbaab Conch' shell, which allows him to talk to a rooster, who tells him what happened to Barbicane and Nicholl.[18] After acquiring what he needs, Ardan travels back to Earth in the shell.[18] He lands in the ocean and manages to swim to a nearby island, where he meets another famous Jules Verne character, Captain Nemo.[18]
Development[edit]
Journey to the Center of the Moon was announced for the PC at E3 2005.[19] The Adventure Company collaborated with developers Kheops Studios for the release.[1][2] Benoît Hozjan, the co-founder of Kheops Studio, became Managing Director of the game, while Alexis Lang became the Lead Game Designer.[7]
Journey to the Center of the Moon was later renamed Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne.[20] Benoît Hozjan explained the change, saying that Journey to the Center of the Moon "seems to be confusing and some people thought that it could be the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth," another Verne-inspired PC game, "so marketing decided to change it."[7] The name was changed on July 7, 2005, a few months after the game's announcement.[20]
Benoît Hozjan explained Kheops Studio's choice of Jules Verne's work as a basis for Voyage, saying that: "Jules Verne's novels provide the two core elements of adventure games: dreams and challenges. Characters are ordinary men engaged in concrete challenges that are [a] great inspiration for puzzles."[7] He further went on to say that the game is influenced by Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, which documents the lead up to the lunar trip, but draws more heavily from the sequel Around the Moon, which recounts the actual voyage.[7] The main difference, Hozjan said, was that in the novel the protagonists fail to reach the moon, whereas in Voyage the trip is a success.[7] Additionally, Alexis Lang attributed the inspiration for the Selenites to H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon, explaining that: "[Wells] pictured a very ancient Selenite civilisation horrified at human roughness. Wells was more misanthropist than Verne. To balance this fact, we've added a touch of irony in our story and chosen a very optimistic and joyful main character."[7]
The Adventure Company announced the release of the Voyage demo on August 3, 2005.[21] The demo included the game's introduction in the shell. Voyage, originally slated for a September 27 release,[20] was shipped to stores ahead of schedule on August 16, 2005.[3] The game retailed for US$19.99.[3]
Reception[edit]

Review scores

Publication
Score (/100)

2404

86

Just Adventure

83

Quandary

80

Adventure Gamers

80

Game Chronicles

79

Jolt Online Gaming UK

76

BonusStage

75

GameOver Online

73

Gamezone

68

G4

60

ICGames

60

GameSpot

60

In general, Voyage received mixed reviews upon its release.[8] According to Metacritic, reviewers have given Voyage scores between 60% and 86%.[8] One of the more positively received aspects of the game was its ability to recreate the mood of 19th century science-fiction, with GameSpot writing that the game "nicely re-creates the whimsical mood of 19th-century sci-fi [and] a sense of wonder fills every pixel of the graphic design."[9] In contrast, Game Over Online Magazine said that once the player leaves the capsule and arrives on the moon, instead of viewing colorful and wondrous sights, the game turns into a drab and unlikely bore.[14] The puzzle aspect of Voyage met with mixed responses. On the other hand, GameSpot accused the puzzle aspects of Voyage of "reduc[ing] Jules Verne's tale of a visit to the moon in 1865 to a series of clumsily arranged logic puzzles geared to try the patience of adventure-game veterans."[9] The puzzles in the game are often extremely difficult, with Just Adventure attributing the unexpected difficulty in the game to the fact that there are often several different ways to achieve the same goals,[22] thanks to the game's "Intelligence Management System".[7] The game's inventory system received praise from Gamersinfo as being very well done.[17]
In terms of graphics, Voyage was poorly received, with the graphics being described by Gamezone as containing some vibrant colors, but lacking the lush, spectacular view that has been seen in countless other adventure games.[10] Voyage has also been criticized for its lack of story and over-reliance on back story. The game's music was generally appreciated, with Jolt describing the music has having a nice retro-futuristic feel which sets the mood perfectly.[15] G4 commented on the game's voice acting as overly dramatic but appropriate,[12] but criticized many of the sound effects as being cheesy.[12] GameSpot described Ardan's dialogue as somewhat lame,[9] and also criticized the game's sound effects.[9] Metacritic averaged out the scores of several internet reviews of Voyage to reach a rating of 71%, the closest to an 'overall' rating of the game.[8]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne (2005)". kheopsstudio.fr. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Inspired by Jules Verne... Voyage". adventurecompanygames.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Voyage journeys into stores". GameSpot. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
4.^ Jump up to: a b "Journey to the Moon gameinfo". ToTheGame. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne Review". 2404.org. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Journey to the Moon". journey-to-the-moon.com. 2006. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
7.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k "Interview - Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". gamersinfo.net. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". Metacritic. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". GameSpot. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
10.^ Jump up to: a b "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". gamezone.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". gamezone.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c "From Your PC to the Moon". G4. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d "Voyage – A History of the Selenites". www.adventuregamers.com. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
14.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "GameOver Game Reviews: Voyage". game-over.net. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c "Review: Journey to the Moon". jolt.co.uk. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c "Jules Verne: Journey to the Moon". ic-games.co.uk. 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
17.^ Jump up to: a b "Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne". gamersinfo.net. 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Voyage Walkthrough". gameboomers.com. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
19.Jump up ^ "Journey to the Center of the Moon E3 2005 Preshow Report". GameSpot. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
20.^ Jump up to: a b c "TAC takes a Voyage from the Moon". GameSpot. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
21.Jump up ^ "Voyage demo now available on DLX". GameSpot. 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-30.
22.Jump up ^ "Voyage". justadventure.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-05-03. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
External links[edit]
Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne official website
"Inspired by Jules Verne... Voyage". Archived from the original on 2007-05-31. at The Adventure Company (archive)
Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne at Kheops Studio


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The Purchase of the North Pole
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The Purchase of the North Pole
'The Purchase of the North Pole' by George Roux 01.jpg
Author
Jules Verne
Original title
Sans dessus dessous
Illustrator
Georges Roux
Country
France
Language
French
Series
The Extraordinary Voyages #34
Genre
Adventure novel
Publisher
Pierre-Jules Hetzel

Publication date
 1889

Published in English
 1890
Media type
Print (Hardback)
ISBN
N/A
Preceded by
Family Without a Name
Followed by
César Cascabel
The Purchase of the North Pole or Topsy-Turvy (French: Sans dessus dessous) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1889. It is a sequel to From the Earth to the Moon, featuring the same characters from the Baltimore Gun Club but set twenty years later.
Like some other books of his later years, in this novel Verne tempers his love of science and engineering with a good dose of irony about their potential for harmful abuse and the fallibility of human endeavors.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Trivia
3 Publication history
4 External links

Plot[edit]
In the year of 189-, an international auction is organized to define the sovereign rights to the part of the Arctic extending from the 84th parallel, the highest yet reached by man, to the North Pole. Several countries send their official delegates, but the auction is won by a representative from an anonymous United States buyer.
After the auction closes, the mysterious buyer is revealed to be Barbicane and Co., a company founded by Impey Barbicane, J.T. Maston and Captain Nicholl — the same members of the Baltimore Gun Club who, twenty years earlier, had traveled around the Moon inside a large cannon shell. The brave gunmen-astronauts had come out of their retirement with an even more ambitious engineering project: using the recoil of a huge cannon to remove the tilt of the Earth's axis — so that it would become perpendicular to the planet's orbit, like Jupiter's.
That change would bring an end to seasons, as day and night would be always equal and each place would have the same climate all year round. But the society's interest lay in another effect of the recoil: a displacement of the Earth's rotation axis, that would bring the lands around the North Pole, which they had secured in the auction, to latitude 67 north. Then the vast coal deposits that were conjectured to exist under the ice could be easily mined and sold. The technical feasibility of the plan had been confirmed by J. T. Maston's computations. The necessary capital had been provided by Ms. Evangelina Scorbitt, a wealthy widow and ardent Maston's admirer (whose more than scientific interest was lost on the obsessive engineer).
The cannon needed for that plan would be enormous, much larger than the huge Columbiad that had sent them to the Moon. Once the plan became public, the brilliant French engineer Alcide Pierdeux quickly computes the required force of the explosion. He then discovers that the recoil would buckle the Earth's crust; many countries (mostly in Asia) would be flooded, while others (including the United States) would gain new land.
Alcide's note sends the world into panic and rage, and authorities promptly rush to stop the project. However Barbicane and Nicholl had left America for destination unknown, to supervise the completion and firing of the monster gun. J. T. Maston is caught and jailed, but he is unwilling or unable to reveal the cannon's location. Frantic searches around the world fail to find it either.
The cannon in fact had been dug deep into the flanks of Mount Kilimanjaro, by a small army of workers provided by a local sultan who was an enthusiastic fan of the former Moon explorers. The projectile, steel-braced chunk of rock weighting 180,000 tons, would exit the barrel at the fantastic speed of 2,800 kilometres per second — thanks to a new powerful explosive invented by Nicholl, which he had called "melimelonite".
The cannon is fired as planned, and the explosion causes huge damage in the immediate vicinity. However, the Earth's axis retains its tilt and position, and not the slightest tremor is felt in the rest of the world. Alcide eventually deduces that J. T. Maston, while computing the size of the cannon, had made a calculation error — the first of his life. Indeed he had accidentally erased three zeros from the blackboard when he was struck by lighting during a telephone call from Ms. Scorbitt. Because of that single mistake in the data, twelve zeros got omitted from the result. The cannon he designed was indeed far too small: a trillion of them would have had to be fired to achieve the intended effect.
Riduculed by the whole world and bearing the bitter resentment of his two associates, J. T. Maston went back into retirement vowing to never again make any mathematical calculations. But Ms. Scorbitt finally declared her feelings, and he gladly surrendered to marriage.
Trivia[edit]
The notion of tilting the Earth's axis to affect the climate is first put forward by J.T. Maston in From the Earth to the Moon.
The fancy name "melimelonite" may be a reference to melinite, a high explosive composed of picric acid and guncotton adopted by the French army in 1887; and perhaps also to melon, an heptazine polymer described by Berzelius in 1830, whose structure remained a chemical puzzle until the 1930s.
Publication history[edit]
1890 USA: New York: J. G. Ogilvie and Company, published as Topsy-Turvy
1891, UK, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. First UK edition.

External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Purchase of the North Pole.
Topsy-Turvy at Project Gutenberg
Sans dessus dessous available at Jules Verne Collection (French)


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From the Earth to the Moon (film)
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This article is about the 1958 film adaptation of the Jules Verne novel. For the 1865 novel itself, see From the Earth to the Moon. For the non-fiction 1998 HBO miniseries about the Apollo Program, see From the Earth to the Moon (TV miniseries).

From the Earth to the Moon
Fromtheearthtoothemoon.jpg
theatrical release poster

Directed by
Byron Haskin
Produced by
Benedict Bogeaus
Screenplay by
Robert Blees
 James Leicester
Story by
Jules Verne
Starring
Joseph Cotten
George Sanders
Debra Paget
Narrated by
Robert Clarke (uncredited)
Music by
Louis Forbes
Cinematography
Edwin B. DuPar
Edited by
James Leicester
Production
   company
Waverly Productions
RKO Radio Pictures
Distributed by
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)
November 6, 1958 (US)[1]

Running time
101 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
From the Earth to the Moon (1958) is a Technicolor science fiction film adaptation of the Jules Verne novel From the Earth to the Moon. It stars Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, Debra Paget, and Don Dubbins. The film began as an RKO Pictures movie but when RKO went into bankruptcy the film was released by Warner Brothers.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 References
5 External links

Plot[edit]
Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, munitions producer Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotten) announces that he has invented a new explosive, "Power X", which he claims is much more powerful than any previously devised. Metallurgist Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders) scoffs at Barbicane's claims and offers a wager of $100,000 that it cannot destroy his invention, the hardest metal in existence. Barbicane stages a demonstration using a puny cannon and demolishes Nicholl's material (and a portion of the countryside).
However, President Ulysses S. Grant (Morris Ankrum) requests that Barbicane cease development of his invention, as other, nervous countries warn that continuing work on Power X could be considered an act of war. Barbicane agrees, but when he discovers that pieces of Nicholl's metal retrieved from the demonstration have somehow been converted into an extremely strong yet lightweight ceramic, he cannot resist the chance to construct a spaceship to travel to the Moon. He recruits Nicoll to help build the ship. Meanwhile, Nicholl's daughter Virginia (Debra Paget) and Barbicane's assistant Ben Sharpe (Don Dubbins) are attracted to each other.
After completing the spaceship, Barbicane, Nicholl, and Sharpe board it and, amid much fanfare, take off. Once they are in outer space, the strongly religious Nicholl reveals that he has sabotaged the vessel, believing that Barbicane has flouted God's laws. However, when it is discovered that Virginia has stowed away, Nicholl cooperates with Barbicane in a desperate attempt to save her. Sharpe is knocked out, and he and Virginia are placed in the safest compartment of the ship. Barbicane and Nicholl then fire rockets that send the young couple on their way back to Earth, while the two scientists land on the Moon in another section, with no way off. However, they are able to signal to the young couple that they have managed to reach the Moon safely.
Cast[edit]
Joseph Cotten as Victor Barbicane          
George Sanders as Nicholl
Debra Paget as Virginia Nicholl
Don Dubbins as Ben Sharpe
Patric Knowles as Josef Cartier
Carl Esmond as Jules Verne
 Henry Daniell as Morgana
Melville Cooper as Bancroft
Ludwig Stössel as Aldo Von Metz
Morris Ankrum as President Ulysses S. Grant (uncredited)
Les Tremayne as countdown announcer (uncredited)

Production[edit]
Location shooting for From the Earth to the Moon took place in Mexico.[2] Some of the electronic effects in the score of the film came from the Forbidden Planet soundtrack.[3]
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ "From the Earth to the Moon: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
2.Jump up ^ "Notes" on TCM.com
3.Jump up ^ Arnold, Jeremy. From the Earth to the Moon on TCM.com
External links[edit]
From the Earth to the Moon at the American Film Institute Catalog
From the Earth to the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
From the Earth to the Moon at the TCM Movie Database
From the Earth to the Moon at AllMovie


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Categories: 1958 films
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Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon
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Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon
Rocket to the Moon - UK Cinema Poster.jpg
UK cinema poster

Directed by
Don Sharp
Produced by
Harry Alan Towers
Screenplay by
Dave Freeman
Story by
Peter Welbeck (Harry Towers)
Starring
Burl Ives
Terry-Thomas
Troy Donahue
Gert Fröbe
Hermione Gingold
Lionel Jeffries
Dennis Price
Narrated by
Maurice Denham
Music by
John Scott
Cinematography
Reginald H. Wyer
Edited by
Ann Chegwidden
Production
   company
Jules Verne Films
Distributed by
Warner-Pathé (UK)
Release date(s)
13 July 1967 (UK[1])

Running time
117 min
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Budget
$3 million[2]
Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon is a 1967 British science fiction comedy film directed by Don Sharp and starring Burl Ives, Troy Donahue, Gert Fröbe and Terry-Thomas. It was released in the US as Those Fantastic Flying Fools, in order to capitalise on the success of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines two years earlier.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plotline
2 Main cast
3 Production and reception
4 Release
5 References
6 External links

Plotline[edit]
Phineas T. Barnum and friends finance the first flight to the moon but find the task a little above them. They attempt to blast their rocket into orbit from a massive gun barrel built into the side of a Welsh mountain, but money troubles, spies and saboteurs ensure that the plan is doomed before it starts...
Main cast[edit]
Burl Ives as Phineas T. Barnum
Troy Donahue as Gaylord Sullivan
Gert Fröbe as Professor Siegfried von Bulow
Hermione Gingold as Angelica
Lionel Jeffries as Sir Charles Dillworthy
Dennis Price as The Duke of Barset
Daliah Lavi as Madelaine
Stratford Johns as Warrant Officer
Graham Stark as Bertram Grundle
Terry-Thomas as Captain Sir Harry Washington-Smythe
Renate von Holt as Anna Lindstrom
Jimmy Clitheroe as General Tom Thumb
Judy Cornwell as Lady Electra
Joachim Teege as Joachim Bulgeroff
Edward de Souza as Henri
Joan Sterndale-Bennett as Queen Victoria
Allan Cuthbertson as Colonel Scuttling
Derek Francis as Puddleby
Anthony Woodruff as Announcer
Production and reception[edit]
Towers (as "Peter Welbeck") devised the story, very loosely based on From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, and the script was by Dave Freeman. Burl Ives plays showman Phineas T. Barnum in a race to become the first man to reach the Moon. (Bing Crosby had originally been announced to play this part.[4])
The film was almost entirely shot in Ireland. The rocket launch was shot at the site of a disused copper mine south of Dublin, other exterior scenes were shot in the sand dunes of Brittas Bay,[5] and the interior scenes were shot at Ardmore Studios, just south of Dublin.[6]
Release[edit]
During production, the film was known as Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon,[5] but when it was screened by the British censors on 21 February 1967, it was registered as Rocket to the Moon (unusually, it was presented to the BBFC by the producer, Harry Towers, instead of the distribution company, which indicates that no distribution deal had been struck at the time).[7] However, by the time it was released, on 13 July 1967, it was once again known as Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon.[1]
The Times' reviewer, Michael Billington, was not impressed: "Inspired by Jules Verne", the credits for this film rather cryptically announce. One can't argue with the credits, of course; but a more instantly recognizable inspiration is that brand of screen comedy that assumes that a large gathering of well-known names plus some vintage piece of machinery (a car for preference, but a plane or rocket will do) adds up to irresistible mirth. But, as this film takes nearly two hours to demonstrate, it's no use cramming the cast with comedy actors if you're not going to give them anything very funny to do."[1]
In the United States, the film was first released by American International Pictures in Los Angeles on 26 July 1967 as Those Fantastic Flying Fools,[8] in order to capitalise on the success of Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965), which also starred Terry-Thomas and Gert Fröbe, and where the director Don Sharp was responsible for the areal sequences.[5] However, it wasn't the hit that the distributors expected, so it was cut down to 95 minutes and released as Blast-Off elsewhere in the US - but that version was no success either.[8][3]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c The Times, 13 July 1967, page 8: Film that stays on launching pad - found in The Times Digital Archive 2014-03-01
2.Jump up ^ Tide Running Out for Beach Films, In for Protest Movies Thomas, Bob. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 12 Feb 1966: b7
3.^ Jump up to: a b Gary A. Smith, The American International Pictures Video Guide, McFarland 2009 p 27
4.Jump up ^ Crosby Signs for 'Moon' Trip Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 27 May 1966: d8.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c The Times, 26 September 1966, page 12: Putting Tom Thumb into space - found in The Times Digital Archive 2014-03-01
6.Jump up ^ IMDb: Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon, Filming Locations Linked 2014-03-01
7.Jump up ^ BBFC: Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967) Linked 2014-03-01
8.^ Jump up to: a b AMPAS Index to Motion Picture Credits: Those Fantastic Flying Fools Linked 2014-03-02
External links[edit]
Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon in the British Film Institute's "Explore film..." database
Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon at the British Board of Film Classification
Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
Ratio Times review of Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon


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The First Men in the Moon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

For other uses, see The First Men in the Moon (disambiguation).


 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2008)
The First Men in the Moon
Menmoonfront.jpg
frontispiece

Author
H. G. Wells
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Genre
Science fiction
Published
1901[1] (George Newnes)
Media type
Print (hardcover)
Pages
342
ISBN
NA
OCLC
655463
Preceded by
Love and Mr Lewisham
Followed by
The Sea Lady
The First Men in the Moon is a scientific romance published in 1901 by the English author H. G. Wells, who called it one of his "fantastic stories".[2] The novel tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, a businessman narrator, Mr. Bedford, and an eccentric scientist, Mr. Cavor. Bedford and Cavor discover that the moon is inhabited by a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilization of insect-like creatures they call "Selenites".


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot summary
2 Influence on C. S. Lewis
3 Other influences, references and adaptations 3.1 Film adaptations
4 Criticism
5 References
6 External links

Plot summary[edit]
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 produced, 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".[3] 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.[4]
On the way to the moon, they experience weightlessness, which Bedford finds "exceedingly restful".[5] 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.[6] 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..."[7]
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.[8] 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".[9]
Influence on C. S. Lewis[edit]
C. S. Lewis explicitly stated that his science fiction books were both inspired by and written as an antithesis to those of H. G. Wells. Specifically, he acknowledged The First Men in The Moon to be "the best of the sort [of science fiction] I have read...." (From a letter to Roger Lancelyn Green).
The influence of Wells's book is especially visible in Out of the Silent Planet, the first book of Lewis' Space Trilogy. There, too, a central role in the story line is played by a partnership between a worldly businessman interested in the material gains from space travel (and specifically, in importing extraterrestrial gold to Earth) and a scientist with wider cosmic theories.
Also in Lewis' book, the two quietly build themselves a spaceship in the seclusion of an English country house, and take off into space without being noticed by the rest of the world. (It may be noted that both Wells and Lewis, like virtually all science fiction writers until the 1950s, grossly underestimated the resources needed for even the smallest jaunt outside Earth's gravitational field.) Like Wells's book, Lewis' reaches its climax with the Earth scientist speaking to the wise ruler of an alien world (in this case Oyarsa, the ruler of Malacandra/Mars) and blurting out the warlike and predatory nature of humanity.
However, in Lewis' book the businessman-scientist pair are the villains of the piece. Moreover, his scientist, Professor Weston, has a philosophy diametrically opposite to Cavor's, being an outspoken proponent of human colonization of other planets, up to and including extermination of "primitive natives".[10]
Other influences, references and adaptations[edit]
Brian Stableford argues this is the first alien dystopia.[11] The book could also be considered to have launched the science fiction sub-genre depicting intelligent Social Insects, in some cases a non-human species such as the space-traveling Shaara "bees" in the future universe of A. Bertram Chandler, in others (such as Frank Herbert's Hellstrom's Hive) humans who evolved or consciously engineered their society in this direction. Nigel Kneale co-adapted the screenplay (with Jan Read) for the 1964 film version; it is reasonable to assume that Kneale's familiarity with the work may have inspired the idea of the Martian hives which feature so significantly in Quatermass and the Pit, one of Kneale's most-admired creations[original research?].
Cavorite was featured as a major plot device in the first volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Cavor (given the first name of Selwyn) also appears in the volume and is mentioned in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier. In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century, the Selenites are featured as enemies of the nude lunar amazons.
Cavorite also is used as a minor plot device in Warehouse 13, with its gravity blocking properties used by Wells to make a trap.
Cavorite and Cavor also play a major role in the end of Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, with the Selenites also briefly depicted.
The video game Voyage: Inspired by Jules Verne was based both on Wells' The First Men on the Moon, along with Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon.
Cavorite, Cavor, and the Selenites are a large factor in The Martian War, where Cavor's ship takes Wells, his wife, and T.H. Huxley first to the Moon, then to Mars. In the story, the Selenites have been enslaved by the Martians, used as food creatures and slaves to build the canals and invasion fleet.
In the short story "Moon Ants" by Zinaida Gippius, the narrator is attempting to understand the reason for a sharp increase of local suicides and for the suicide mindset in general. At one point he recollects Wells's novel and eventually decides that mankind, or just Russia in general, has become much like the Selenites in its decadent, self-destructive culture. Like the Selenites, man is seemingly tough on the outside but easily knocked aside, to crumple up and die, by the rigors of life.
The events of The First Men in the Moon are used as the precursor to the player's adventure in Larry Niven and Steven Barnes' "Dream Park" series adventure novel, The Moon Maze Game, which describes a fantasy role playing game being played on (and televised from) a crater and tunnels on the moon.
An antigravity material called "cavorite" also appears in Vernor Vinge's novel A Deepness in the Sky.
A substance similar to cavorite (called gravitar) is used in Space: 1889 & Beyond, which also features a character called Rear Admiral Herbert Cavor and the indigenous population of Luna are called Selenites (the name being derived from the same source material mentioned in The First Men in the Moon. This series also features a character called Commander George Bedford. According to author Andy Frankham-Allen (who also developed the series) this was all a very intentional reference to the works of HG Wells, with the main protagonist, Professor Nathanial Stone, a direct reference to Parson Nathaniel from Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds; Nathanial Stone's father is a reverend.
Film adaptations[edit]
The First Men in the Moon has been adapted to film four times:
The first adaptation was made in 1919; the first film made from a science fiction novel.[12]
The second adaptation was made in 1964. In this version, the men use spacesuits, which they did not in the original novel.
The third adaptation was made for TV in 2010; this is the version most faithful to the novel.
The fourth adaptation, in 3D, by David Rosler, was in production from 2009–2010.[13]
Criticism[edit]
Soon after the publication of The First Men in the Moon, Wells was accused by the Irish writer Robert Cromie to have stolen from his novel A Plunge into Space (1890), which used an antigravity device similar to that in Chrysostom Trueman's The History of a Voyage to the Moon (1864).[14] Both novels had certain elements in common, like a globular spaceship built in secret after inventing a way to overcome Earth's gravity. Wells simply replied: "I have never heard of Mr Cromie nor of the book he attempts to advertise by insinuations of plagiarism on my part."[15]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Facsimile of the original 1st edition
2.Jump up ^ H. G. Wells, "Preface", in Seven Famous Novels (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934, p. vii. Wells considered this category of work, which in his oeuvre also includes The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The Food of the Gods, and In the Days of the Comet, to be "a class of writing which includes the Golden Ass of Apuleius, the True Histories of Lucian, Peter Schlemil and the story of Frankenstein . . . they do not aim to project a serious possibility; they aim indeed only at the same amount of conviction as one gets in a good gripping dream. They have to hold the reader to the end by art and illusion and not by proof and argument, and the moment he closes the cover and reflects he wakes up to their impossibility" (ibid.).
3.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 1.
4.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 3.
5.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 4.
6.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 10.
7.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 19. It is interesting that the unnamed narrator of The War of the Worlds experiences a similar sense of self-alienation.
8.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 24.
9.Jump up ^ The First Men in the Moon, Ch. 25.
10.Jump up ^ "Wells's work shows a persistent anti-religious bent, from the curate in War of the Worlds, a disgusting caricature, to favoring the idea of persecution and complete destruction of organised religion in The Shape of things to Come. One need not be a religious believer oneself to decry this bias as a serious flaw" (Dr. Robert Fields, "Sociological Themes in Science Fiction", chapter 4).
11.Jump up ^ Stableford, Brian (1993). "Dystopias". In John Clute & Peter Nicholls (eds.). The Encyclopedia Of Science Fiction (2nd edition ed.). Orbit, London. pp. 360–362. ISBN 1-85723-124-4.
12.Jump up ^ Robert Godwin, H.G. Wells The First Men in the Moon: the Story of the 1919 Film, Apogee Space Books, ISBN 978-1926837-31-4
13.Jump up ^ Stark, Sonja (January 18, 2010). "The First Men in the Moon in 3-D". Times Union. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
14.Jump up ^ The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction
15.Jump up ^ An intimate of the heart and the heavens
External links[edit]
 Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The First Men in the Moon

The First Men in the Moon at Project Gutenberg
The First Men in the Moon at Google Books


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The First Men in the Moon (1919 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search


The First Men in the Moon

Directed by
Bruce Gordon
 J. L. V. Leigh
Written by
R. Byron Webber
H.G. Wells (novel)
Starring
Bruce Gordon
Heather Thatcher
Lionel d'Aragon
Distributed by
Gaumont British (UK)
Release date(s)
1919

Country
United Kingdom
Language
English intertitles
The First Men in the Moon (1919) is a black-and-white silent film, directed by Bruce Gordon and J. L. V. Leigh. The film is based on H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The First Men in the Moon (1901). There have since been many other adaptations of the original story on the big screen, radio and video.
As of August 2010, the film is not held in the BFI National Archive and is listed as one of the British Film Institute's "75 Most Wanted" list of lost films.[1] Some stills from the production and a plot synopsis exist.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Notability
3 Cast
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]
The synopsis from The Bioscope trade paper of 5 June 1919 reads as follows:

In the company of Rupert Bedford, a grasping speculator, Samson Cavor, an elderly inventor-scientist, ascends to the Moon in a sphere coated with 'Cavorite', a substance which has the property of neutralizing the law of gravity. After strange adventures with the 'Selenites' (the inhabitants of the Moon), Bedford villainously deserts the professor and returns to Earth alone in order to make a fortune for himself out of Cavorite. By means of wireless telegraphy, however, Hogben, a young engineer in love with Cavor's niece, Susan, succeeds in getting in touch with the stranded inventor, who denounces Bedford and states that he has been amicably received by the Grand Lunar, overlord of the Selenites. Susan thereupon indignantly rejects the proposals of Bedford, who has represented it as Cavor's last wish that she should marry him, and, instead, accepts Hogben as her husband.[1]
Notability[edit]
Godwin credits the film as "the first movie to ever be based entirely on a famous science fiction novel."[2]
Cast[edit]
Bruce Gordon as Hogben
Heather Thatcher as Susan
Hector Abbas as Sampson Cavor
Lionel d'Aragon as Rupert Bedford
Cecil Morton York as Grand Lunar
See also[edit]
List of lost films
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b "The First Men in the Moon / BFI Most Wanted". British Film Institute.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Robert Godwin, H.G. Wells The First Men in the Moon: the Story of the 1919 Film, Apogee Space Books, ISBN 978-1926837-31-4- see web page at Apogee books (retrieved May 5 2014).
External links[edit]
BFI 75 Most Wanted entry, with extensive notes
The First Men in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database


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Films based on works by H. G. Wells
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First Men in the Moon (1964 film)
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See also: Le voyage dans la lune, The First Men in the Moon (1919 film) and The First Men in the Moon (2010 film)

First Men in the Moon
FirstMenontheMoon.jpg
theatrical release poster

Directed by
Nathan H. Juran
Produced by
Charles H. Schneer
Screenplay by
Nigel Kneale
Based on
The First Men in the Moon (novel)
 by H. G. Wells
Starring
Edward Judd
Martha Hyer
Lionel Jeffries
Music by
Laurie Johnson
Cinematography
Wilkie Cooper
Edited by
Maurice Rootes
Production
   company
Ameran Films
Distributed by
Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)
August 6, 1964[1] (UK)
Running time
103 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Box office
$1,650,000 (US/ Canada)[2]
First Men in the Moon is a 1964 British science fiction film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Edward Judd, Martha Hyer and Lionel Jeffries. It is an adaptation by the noted science-fiction scriptwriter Nigel Kneale of H. G. Wells' 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon. Ray Harryhausen provided stop-motion effects, animated Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows", and a big-brained Prime Lunar.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production 3.1 Spacesuits used
4 References
5 External links

Plot[edit]
In 1964, the United Nations (UN) has launched a rocket flight to the Moon. A multi-national group of astronauts in the UN spacecraft land on the Moon, believing themselves to be the first lunar explorers. They discover a British Union Jack on the surface and a note naming Katherine Callender, claiming the Moon for Queen Victoria. Attempting to trace Callender, UN authorities find she has died, but find her husband Arnold Bedford now an old man in an old people's home. The nursing home staff do not let him watch the television reports of the expedition because, according to the matron, it "excites him", dismissing his claims to have been on the Moon as an insane delusion. The UN representatives question him about the Moon and he tells them his story. The rest of the film, as a flashback, shows what Bedford and Professor Cavor did in the 1890s.
In 1899, Arnold Bedford and his fiancée Katherine Callender – known as Kate – meet an inventor, Joseph Cavor, who has invented Cavorite, a substance that will let anything it is applied to or made of deflect the force of gravity and which he plans to use to travel to the Moon. Cavor has already built a spherical spaceship for this purpose, taking Arnold and (accidentally) Kate with him. Whilst exploring the Moon, Bedford and Cavor fall down a vertical shaft and discover to their amazement an insectoid population, the Selenites, living beneath the surface. (Cavor coins this name for the creatures after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene). After escaping from the Selenites back to the surface, they discover that their ship, still containing Kate (who stayed behind because Cavor had brought only two spacesuits), has been dragged into their underground city.
The two, following the drag trail, find and enter the city. The city holds a breathable atmosphere, so (unwisely) they take off and leave their spacesuit helmets. Upon finding the living quarters, they are attacked by a giant caterpillar-like "moon bull" which pursues them until the Selenites find out and are able to zap it to death with their electric-possessing stun ray gun. Cavor and Bedford see the city's power station, powered by sunlight. In the end they reach their ship underground. The Selenites quickly learn English and interrogate Cavor, who believes they wish to exchange scientific knowledge; this also leads up to Cavor having a speech with the "Grand Lunar", the lead Selenite. Bedford, however, realizes that the Selenites have no intention of letting them leave, and during a struggle with Cavor, accidentally fires a gun at the Grand Lunar. Running for their lives, Bedford manage to find the sphere and escape, but Cavor stays voluntarily on the Moon.
Bedford, along with Kate (who only leaves the ship once, to help repair the damage caused by the Selenites), flies the ship up a vertical shaft, shattering the window cover at the top, and back to Earth. The aged Bedford concludes his story by mentioning that the ship came down in the sea off Zanzibar, and sank, but he and Kate managed to swim ashore. There is no later radio message from Cavor, and his ultimate fate remains unknown.
Back in the present day, Bedford, the UN party and newspaper reporters watch on television the latest events on the Moon, where the US astronauts have broken into the Selenite city and find it deserted and decaying. Moments later, the ruined city starts to crumble and collapse, forcing the landing crew to retreat hastily, and seconds later the city is completely destroyed. Bedford realizes that the Selenites must have been killed off by Cavor's common cold viruses to which they had no immunity.
Cast[edit]



 The 1890s expedition claim the Moon for Queen Victoria


 The 1960s astronauts find Cavor's party's flag
Edward Judd as Bedford
Martha Hyer as Kate
Lionel Jeffries as Cavor
Miles Malleson as Dymchurch registrar
Norman Bird as Stuart, Moon landing crew
Gladys Henson as nursing home matron
 Hugh McDermott as Richard Challis, UN Space Agency
Betty McDowall as Margaret Hoy, UN Space Agency
Hugh Thomas* as announcer
Erik Chitty* as Gibbs
Peter Finch* as bailiff's man
Marne Maitland* as Dr. Tok, UN Space Agency

* Not credited on-screen.
Production[edit]
Spacesuits used[edit]


 This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (February 2014)
See also: Spacesuits in fiction
Two types of spacesuits are featured. During the events of the story, which take place in the 1890s, standard diving dresses, each fitted with a 1960s-type aqualung cylinder-worn backpack instead of a NASA-type life support backpack, and no lifeline or airline from outside, are used as spacesuits.
Cavor and Bedford have no radio and must make their helmets touch each other to talk in the vacuum (although the filmmakers violate this rule several times). It is not clear whether the Selenites have radio. The history of radio was only just starting when the 1890s events were set. Wireless communication from Cavor in the Moon appears in H.G. Wells's novel.
The spacesuit worn by the UN Astronauts is actually the Windak High-altitude pressure suit,[3] developed for the Royal Air Force. These pressure suits would also be used in Patrick Troughton-Era Dr. Who story "The Wheel In Space", as well as in the original Star Wars trilogy.
References[edit]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ A fragment of "What's On" magazine
2.Jump up ^ "Big Rental Pictures of 1964", Variety, 6 January 1965 p 39. Please note this figure is rentals accruing to distributors not total gross.
3.Jump up ^ "Windak High-altitude pressure suit"
External links[edit]
First Men in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
First Men in the Moon at AllMovie
First Men in the Moon at the TCM Movie Database





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The First Men in the Moon (2010 film)
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See also: Le voyage dans la lune, The First Men in the Moon (1919 film) and First Men in the Moon (1964 film)

The First Men in the Moon
The film's stars, dressed in 1800s garb, and an alien Selenite figure, full moon in background, film title in foreground.
DVD cover

Distributed by
BBC Worldwide
Directed by
Damon Thomas
Produced by
Julie Clark
Written by
Mark Gatiss
Starring
Rory Kinnear
Mark Gatiss
Music by
Michael Price
Cinematography
Graham Frake
Editing by
Liana Del Giudice
Production company
Can Do Productions
Country
United Kingdom
Language
English
Original channel
BBC Four
Release date
October 19, 2010
Running time
90 minutes
Official website
The First Men in the Moon, also promoted as H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon is a 2010 made for TV drama written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Damon Thomas. It is an adaptation of H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The First Men in the Moon.[1][2][3] The film stars Gatiss as Cavor and Rory Kinnear as Bedford, with Alex Riddell, Peter Forbes, Katherine Jakeways, Lee Ingleby and Julia Deakin. This is the third collaboration between Thomas and Gatiss (after The Worst Journey In The World and Crooked House), and the first film to be produced by their production company Can Do Productions.[4] On adapting the novel Gatiss said "I'm completely delighted to have the chance to bring this wonderful, funny, charming and scary story to BBC Four. It's very rare to be able to adapt a genius like H. G. Wells for the small screen and we hope to do full justice to his extraordinary vision."[2] The First Men on the Moon was first broadcast on 19 October 2010 on BBC Four.


Contents  [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Broadcast
4 Reception
5 References
6 External links

Plot[edit]
The film's setting begins in July 1969 as 90-year-old Julius Bedford (Rory Kinnear) tells young Jim (Alex Riddell) the story of how two men made the first journey to the Moon back in 1909. He relates that when he was a young man, he met Professor Cavor (Mark Gatiss) at Apuldram and learned that Cavor had invented 'Cavorite', a substance that blocked the force of gravity. He tells how he encouraged Cavor to think toward the profits his invention might bring, and how the two worked together to build a cast iron sphere that would fly them to the moon.[5]
The crew mention spacesuits (called "suits") being on board, but these spacesuits are never seen or described or used—unlike in the 1964 film.
As the Moon has a breathable atmosphere no spacesuits are used. Upon being captured by the Moon's inhabitants (whom Cavor names Selenites) who throw nets over them and knock them out with sticks, both Cavor and Bedford find themselves in a perilous state after Bedford kills some Selenites with his greater strength when they try to force him over a narrow bridge. In an attempt to escape back to Earth, Cavor decides to remain behind to give Bedford time to reach the spacecraft. Bedford almost crashes the spacecraft into the Sun, but escapes and lands close to home at West Wittering. However, his hopes of returning to the Moon to rescue Cavor are dashed when the passer-by Chessocks (Lee Ingleby) accidentally takes off in the craft—Bedford does not know how to produce Cavorite and so cannot produce another craft. Cavor remains in captivity and teaches the Selenites the English language as well as some of mankind's history and the recipe for Cavorite. The Selenites determine that mankind is a threat to the Moon and decide to use Cavorite to make a pre-emptive strike. Communicating his intentions beforehand to Bedford by wireless, in an act of desperation Cavor releases the Cavorite the Selenites are producing and thus evacuates all air from the Moon's surface. This renders it a truly barren world ready to be rediscovered by the Apollo program, though the final shot reveals a Selenite observing the Apollo 11 landing.
The film ends with a tribute to Lionel Jeffries, who played Cavor in the 1964 film and who died in 2010.
Cast[edit]
Rory Kinnear as Bedford
Mark Gatiss as Cavor
Alex Riddell as Jim
Peter Forbes as Dad
Katherine Jakeways as Mum
Julia Deakin as Mrs Fitt
Lee Ingleby as Chessocks
Philip Jackson as Voice of Grand Lunar
Ian Hallard as Voice of Phi-Oo
Reece Shearsmith as Moon (non-speaking cameo)
Steve Pemberton as Sun (non-speaking cameo)
Gatiss's dog Bunsen as Faraday, Cavor's dog
Broadcast[edit]
The First Men in the Moon was first broadcast on 19 October 2010 at 21:00 on BBC Four and was repeated on 20 October 2010 at 00:30 on both BBC Four and BBC HD.[6] It was made available on BBC iPlayer for a period of 7 days until 26 October 2010.[7]
Following the original broadcast BBC Four repeated BBC Two's biographical drama H G Wells: War with the World starring Michael Sheen as H. G. Wells, the author of The First Men in the Moon. The title of the film is a reference to Wells' most famous novel The War of the Worlds.[8]
Reception[edit]
The show received mildly warm reviews with moderate criticisms of special effects, pacing, and story. The Guardian's Tim Dowling found Gatiss' adaptation to have "brilliant" elements, such as setting the film as the 60-year old "kinematographic" recording and recollections of an old man (Bedford), told in 1969. This "neat framing device" presents the story as "alternative history" which is "remarkably faithful" to H. G. Wells' original story, treating it "playfully, but ... more or less in earnest." He enjoyed the film's "sly" references to modernity, such as airline flight safety announcements, and its "Pooterish approximation of Neil Armstrong's famous words: 'What is this for us, but a tiny footfall...'" Dowling found that once on the moon, "the drama hits a soggy spot", the Selenite inhabitants "are a little unconvincing," and when the duo are separated, "the narrative runs out of steam," but wrote that "it's worth staying on," and summed up the film as an "engaging slice of time travel."[9]
The Independent's reviewer Tom Sutcliffe wrote, "Is there anything deader than science fiction that has been overtaken by science fact? I suppose there might be objections to this rule, but I'm not sure that H G Wells's The First Men in the Moon is one of them, despite the affectionate treatment it was given." While noting the film's "neat framing device" of being set on the same day of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Sutcliffe described the film's special effects as "not a great deal more advanced" than those of Georges Méliès. In sum, he found the film "very nicely done, but uncertain as to why."[10]
The first broadcast was watched by 830,000 people, the third largest multichannel audience of the night.[11]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Deacon, Michael (15 October 2010). "Mark Gatiss: the journey of a geek made good". The Daily Telegraph.
2.^ Jump up to: a b French, Dan (28 October 2009). "Gatiss for BBC's First Men In The Moon". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
3.Jump up ^ Brew, Simon (6 August 2010). "Mark Gatiss interview: writing Sherlock, and where it’s heading next". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
4.Jump up ^ Conlan, Tara (28 October 2009). "Mark Gatiss to star in The First Men in the Moon". The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
5.Jump up ^ "The First Men In The Moon". BBC. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
6.Jump up ^ "Four Programmes - The First Men in the Moon". BBC. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
7.Jump up ^ "BBC iPlayer - The First Men in the Moon". Bbc.co.uk. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
8.Jump up ^ "Four Programmes - H G Wells: War with the World". BBC. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-25.
9.Jump up ^ Dowling, Tim (19 October 2010). TV review: The First Men In The Moon". The Guardian, (UK).
10.Jump up ^ Sutcliffe, Tom (20 October 2010). Last Night's TV - Tormented Lives, BBC1; The First Men in the Moon, BBC4. The Independent (UK)
11.Jump up ^ Laughlin, Andrew (20 October 2010). "First Men In The Moon attracts 830k". Digital Spy.
External links[edit]
The First Men in the Moon at the Internet Movie Database
"Mark Gatiss: Rocket man" Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian, 11 October 2010.


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Categories: English-language films
2010 British television programme debuts
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BBC television dramas
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2010 television films





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