# Please help identify an old Science Fiction movie... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292 "2015-05-05T03:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![arjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@arjee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arjee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/1 "2015-05-05T03:34:50Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/2 "2015-05-05T03:37:05Z")
> [@arjee](#): > > 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](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044207/)_. The rest is close enough as well (new planet rather than moon). ---
**Author:** ![arjee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@arjee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arjee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/3 "2015-05-05T03:50:52Z")
I just looked it up on YouTube and watched the last bit. That absolutely has to be it! Thanks so much, **Battle Pope**! ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/4 "2015-05-05T06:49:26Z")
That’s a great book too. Really dated scientifically, but nonetheless an enjoyable read. ---
**Author:** ![BaldDudePeekskill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@BaldDudePeekskill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaldDudePeekskill)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/5 "2015-05-05T11:37:46Z")
Definitely _When Worlds Collide_only 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 ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/6 "2015-05-05T11:51:44Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/7 "2015-05-05T11:54:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/8 "2015-05-05T12:06:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/9 "2015-05-05T12:10:09Z")
> [@BlueOhio](#): > > This is the one with the grumpy billionaire in the wheelchair, correct? Yes ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/10 "2015-05-05T12:13:43Z")
Although he was probably only a millionaire in the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/11 "2015-05-05T12:23:59Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/12 "2015-05-05T12:57:30Z")
And Sam Drucker as a bad guy! Well, sorta. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/13 "2015-05-05T15:25:12Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/14 "2015-05-05T15:27:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/15 "2015-05-05T16:01:26Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/16 "2015-05-05T17:20:04Z")
She also played Lt. Gerard’s wife in a “Fugitive” two-parter. Woman got around. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/17 "2015-05-05T17:54:37Z")
There’s also a sequel,\* After Worlds Collide\*. Which I could have sworn was movie but apparently was only a book maybe? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/18 "2015-05-05T17:56:25Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > There’s also a sequel,\* After Worlds Collide\*. A sequel _novel_. No one ever made a movie of Wylie and Balmer’s book. I hated the book, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/19 "2015-05-05T18:44:03Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292/20 "2015-05-05T19:10:35Z")
For anyone interested, the ship from this movie is available as a model. [![](http://web4.hobbylinc.com/gr/pgh/pgh9011.jpg) ](http://web4.hobbylinc.com/gr/pgh/pgh9011.jpg) Goes together real nice, too. This is intended to provide information not to promote the product. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-identify-an-old-science-fiction-movie/719292.md?page=2)