jaragon Posted April 5 "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" (1964) is a spectacular and for it's time fairly realistic science fiction adventure about an astronaut (Paul Mantee) who must survived on Mars after his space ship crashes into the planet. Byron Haskin directed from a script by Ib Melchior. The movie is filled with the sort of sense of wonder we don't get in movies anymore. The special effects are still impressive with some well done matte paintings and alien space craft which looked like the saucers from "War of the Worlds" This does feel like a George Pal production. Matee is very good as the resourceful hero with Victor Lundin as his alien Friday and lets not forget the scene stealing monkey. Yes this was obviously aimed at the Saturday matinee crowd but is delivers plenty of thrills. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
markfp2 Posted April 6 Although I think it gets overlooked by some sci-fi fans, I've always liked ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS. Yes indeed, Paramount's special effects department dusted off the "flying machines" from WAR OF THE WORLDS to use in the picture. I have to admit, I haven't seen it in several years and may just be worth a revisit. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TopBilled Posted April 11 It's never aired on TCM...and should. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaragon Posted April 11 On 4/6/2020 at 1:41 AM, markfp2 said: Although I think it gets overlooked by some sci-fi fans, I've always liked ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS. Yes indeed, Paramount's special effects department dusted off the "flying machines" from WAR OF THE WORLDS to use in the picture. I have to admit, I haven't seen it in several years and may just be worth a revisit. They also shot in on location in Death Valley which does look like an alien landscape. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TopBilled Posted April 11 Paul Mantee had a recurring role as cop Al Carossa on the hit television series Cagney & Lacey. That was the first time I had seen him in anything. He appeared in 54 episodes of Cagney & Lacey...plus he was in one of the six C&L TV movies that were produced later on. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaragon Posted April 15 On 4/11/2020 at 7:04 PM, TopBilled said: Paul Mantee had a recurring role as cop Al Carossa on the hit television series Cagney & Lacey. That was the first time I had seen him in anything. He appeared in 54 episodes of Cagney & Lacey...plus he was in one of the six C&L TV movies that were produced later on. Mantee is very good in the movie in some ways he reminds me of Robert Conrad. Conrad was better looking which is why he became a bigger star. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
