Please help identify an old Science Fiction movie...

My Dad has expressed interest in seeing an old sci-fi movie from his youth (maybe in the 1950s). All he remembers is that Earth had become uninhabitable, so they chose folks to go to the moon. They launched a rocket from a very, very tall thing like a ski jump, so it went down first to get momentum, then went up at the end of the ramp. That’s all he remembers. Thanks in advance!

That bit sounds like When Worlds Collide. The rest is close enough as well (new planet rather than moon).

I just looked it up on YouTube and watched the last bit. That absolutely has to be it! Thanks so much, Battle Pope!

That’s a great book too. Really dated scientifically, but nonetheless an enjoyable read.

Definitely When Worlds Collideonly their destination was Zyra, the rogue planet that was hurtling toward Earth. One of my all time favorite films. The book was awesome as well

I remember seeing that on television when I was about ten years old. It really scared me.

I’m sure that at some point during the last couple of years I read something about a remake of the film.

One of the classic, but now rarely seen, SF films of the 1950s. Legendary artist Chesley Bonestell worked on it (as he had on Destination Moon). Arthur C. Clarke wrote a review when it came out that identified some of the unfortunate errors in the flick:

1.) The earth was threatened, as in the book by Wylie and Palmer, by the arrival of two planets in our solar system. These are named Bronson Alpha and Bronson beta, after their discoverer. The movie changed the name of one of these to “Zyra”, for no discernible reason. It’s to this new world, not the moon, that people are trying to emigrate.

2.) The celestial dynamics of Bronson alpha and Bronson beta don’t seem to make a lot of sense, which Clarke doesn’t mention. But he DOES complain that the filmshows physicists arguing about the paths the bodies will take, which Clarke says ought to be a straightforward problem.

3.) Clarke * really* didn’t like that dip that the launching track the spaceship was on took. It would, he complained, simply waste some gravitational potential. Why go down to go up? Why not simply have the ship on a traclk that gradually inclines? If your rocket hasn’t got enough kick to get it moving, having it roll downhill to get it kick-started isn’t going to help. You’ll just lose energy to friction.
4.) The painting at the end, representing the new world (which already has trees growing!) looked less like vintage Bonestell and more like off-color Disney, said Clarke. I gotta agree.

This is the one with the grumpy billionaire in the wheelchair, correct?
As a kid the ending was really chilling to me, with the mob hysteria, etc. Really good movie.

Yes

Although he was probably only a millionaire in the 1950s.

Right. Bellus was the name of the planetoid that was going to impact the Earth. I remember the quaint “8 Days Until Bellus!” signs that would be posted in the work area.

And Sam Drucker as a bad guy! Well, sorta.

And Dr. Bellows! Looks like the only film ever where Sam Drucker and Dr. Bellows appeared together.

The film holds up really well considering it was made in '51. The wheelchair guy was played by the same actor who played the doctor in the first Trek pilot. And the female lead (Barbara Rush) is still alive.

And Barbara Rush was married to Jeffrey Hunter (Captain Pike) from 1950 to 1955, speaking of the first Trek pilot. She appeared in a few SF films in the 50s; I always thought she was one of the more attractive 50s science fiction heroines.

She also played Lt. Gerard’s wife in a “Fugitive” two-parter. Woman got around.

There’s also a sequel,* After Worlds Collide*. Which I could have sworn was movie but apparently was only a book maybe?

A sequel novel. No one ever made a movie of Wylie and Balmer’s book.
I hated the book, actually.

The important thing here is that it only took 3 minutes to get an answer.

We should form a league or something.

And WWC is rarely seen? It’s awesome. One of the best of the 50s SF films.

For anyone interested, the ship from this movie is available as a model.

Goes together real nice, too. This is intended to provide information not to promote the product.