Another mention of Destination Moon

TCM's "Out of this World" spotlight on science fiction movies this month was timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. With today being the actual anniversary, it's not a surprise that TCM's spotlight lineup for tonight is focused on moon movies.

This includes another chance to watch Georges Meliès' A Trip to the Moon which aired two weeks ago; that will be on tomorrow at 5:30 AM. But I want to make a brief mention of the movie that kicks off the night, Destination Moon, at 8:00 PM.

Destination Moon was released in 1950, so well before even the first Sputnik was launched. Obviously, nobody had any idea what going to the moon was going to be like, so you can forgive them for whatever they get wrong. But at least there was an attempt at verisimilitude.

The movie was produced by George Pal so is mostly noteworthy for its effects. That, and Pal hiring is friend Walter Lantz to do a Woody Woodpecker short used in the plot as training material to teach astronauts (I don't think they use that word, but can't recall since the movie is out of print on DVD) about the physics of microgravity.

I just noticed that Pal's later When Worlds Collide got a re-release to DVD a couple years back; Destination Moon deserves one too.