Spaceways

"At the time it premiered in 1953, not too many people appreciated Spaceways for its content. It was the first film about space travel done in England since Things to Come in 1936, but it was just as much about human frailty and failings, therefore failed to make much of an impression on science fiction enthusiasts (though it originated from the pen of Charles Eric Maine, a veteran sci-fi writer). But it was a landmark -- the first science fiction film ever made by Hammer Films, and an early effort from director Terence Fisher, who later emerged as a master of horror with Hammer's Dracula and Frankenstein adaptations. Spaceways comes to viewers by way of the Wade Williams Collection, the same body of video releases that brought us Plan Nine From Outer Space, The Astounding She-Monster, Destination Moon, Rocketship X-M, and The Hideous Sun Demon. It's just about the best-looking film in that collection, and it has the best cast that one is likely to find in any of the movies associated with Williams, a purveyor of classic low-budget science fiction. Spaceways, which was shot in 1952, heralded a formula that Hammer would perfect with great success in the mid-'50s with such features as The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass 2: Buy the rights to a successful broadcast property (in this case a radio play) and get a reasonably well-known American star in order to pull audiences in England and give it some credibility in the United States and elsewhere. In this case, the ""star"" was Howard Duff, playing an American engineer devising a rocket booster for the British government. His dedication to his work, which requires him to live at a remote research station, destroys his marriage. When an orbital shot goes awry on the same day that his wife and the biologist with whom she is having an affair disappear from the station, he is suspected of killing them and hiding their bodies on the satellite. Duff tries to prove his innocence by retrieving the satellite in a manned flight. It sounds silly, but is played with such cool British reserve that it's impossible not to be engrossed in the plot, which involves spies and false identities. The image on this DVD is a marvel to behold, the best of any films in the Wade Williams Collection. Not only is every detail sharply delineated, but the audio is clear and loud as well. The film's special effects -- mostly involving the re-use of rocket shots from Lippert Pictures' Rocketship X-M -- also benefit, and alert viewers will notice some plot similarities with the latter film as well. This is as much a spy film as a melodrama and a science fiction adventure, and one important clue noticed by a key character also comes through very clearly in the image on this disc. The action still creaks slightly, but there is real suspense to be found here, and the disc does present this movie better than this viewer ever remembers it looking on television. The menu is easy to negotiate and the disc includes the original American trailer, which is also in exceptionally good condition and gives an honest account of the movie's content."