''Space Master X-7'' is a 1958 American horror

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...

in Regalscope from

Regal Films Regal Entertainment Inc. (formerly and more commonly known as Regal Films) is a Philippine film, television production and distribution headquartered in New Manila, Quezon City. It was founded by Lily Monteverde on August 19, 1962. Regal Enter ...

, produced by

Bernard Glasser Bernard M. Glasser (June 3, 1924 – January 2, 2014) was an American film producer and director. The first film he produced was ''Gold Raiders''. After many years he retired from the business to go into real estate. He lived in Los Angeles w ...

, directed by

Edward Bernds Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905May 20, 2000) was an American screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois. Career While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur li ...

, that stars Bill Williams,

Lyn Thomas Lyn Thomas (born Jacqueline Thomas; 1929–2004) was an American stage, television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television s ...

, and Robert Ellis.

Paul Frees Solomon Hersh Frees (June 22, 1920November 2, 1986), better known as Paul Frees, was an American actor, comedian, impressionist, and vaudevillian. He is known for his work on Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Walter Lantz, Rankin/Bass and Walt Disney the ...

Judd Holdren Judd Clifton Holdren (October 16, 1915 – March 11, 1974) was an American film actor who starred in science fiction movies. He was best known for his starring roles in the serials '' Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere'' (1951), '' Zombi ...

, and

Moe Howard Moses Harry Horwitz (June 19, 1897 – May 4, 1975), better known by his stage name Moe Howard, was an American comedian and actor. He is best known as the leader and straight man of the Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion ...

have supporting roles. The screenplay was written by George Worthing Yates and Daniel Mainwaring.

Plot

A space probe returns to Earth covered with a mysterious fungus, which, when accidentally mixed with human blood, transforms into an ever-growing pile of space rust. If not stopped, the infection could eventually cover the entire world.

Cast

* Bill Williams as John Hand *

as Laura Greeling * Robert Ellis as Pvt. Joe Rattigan *

as Dr. Charles T. Pommer *

Rhoda Williams Rhoda Elaine Williams (July 19, 1930 – March 8, 2006) was an American actress who voiced Drizella Tremaine in Walt Disney's ''Cinderella''. Early life and education Rhoda Williams was born in Denver, Colorado. She learned to read at age three ...

as Stewardess Archer * Joan Barry as Jean Meyers, a brunette * Carol Varga as Elaine Frohman * Thomas Browne Henry as Prof. West * Thomas Wilde as Collins * Fred Sherman as Mr. Morse, Hotel Manager * Gregg Martell as Jim Dale, plane engineer *

Jess Kirkpatrick Jesse Bertram Kirkpatrick (October 2, 1897 – August 9, 1976) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Kirkpatrick was born in Champaign County, Illinois. He attended the University of Illinois, where he played as a halfb ...

as Pilot Vaccarino *

Court Shepard A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

as Battalion Fire Chief Hendry *

as Retlinger, the Cab Driver * Al Baffert as Plane passenger

Production

After making several Westerns for Regal Films, director Ed Bernds and producer Bernard Glasser thought they would make a science fiction picture. Bernds says the script was written on "spec" by Daniel Mainwaring and George Worthing Yates. Bernard Glasser bought it and director Bernds rewrote the script without credit because the original was written for a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

with a larger budget and a longer running time. Bernds said the film's total budget was $90,000. Glasser, however, recalled that ''Space Master X-7'' was budgeted at $125,000, with $25,000 going to the screenwriters. The film was rushed into production to take advantage of the

Explorer I Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites, both launched by the Soviet Union duri ...

satellite space launch. Regal's head of publicity,

Marty Weiser Marty Weiser (1912 - August 28, 1988) was an American film publicist. He is best known for his 50-year tenure at Warner Bros., and for his innovative and flamboyant methods of promoting films. Weiser lived in Rochester, N.Y. and earned degrees in ...

, recommended they change the title from ''Missile into Space'' to the more exciting-sounding ''Space Master X-7''.

Harry Spalding Harry Spalding (1913–2008) was an American writer best known for the films he wrote for Robert L. Lippert and director Maury Dexter. He later worked for the Walt Disney Company. He sometimes wrote under the name "Henry Cross". Select credits ...

, who was Robert L. Lippert's story editor, recalls the filmmakers went over budget but did a good job, so good they were hired for ''

The Return of the Fly ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1959). Moe Howard, who made a cameo appearance in the film in a notable departure from his

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

performances, had worked previously with Bernds on his

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

shorts and asked if the production crew had a position for his son-in-law

Norman Maurer Norman Albert Maurer (May 13, 1926 – November 23, 1986) was an American comic book artist and writer, and a director and producer of films and television shows. He is best known for his longtime professional and personal association with Th ...

. Maurer would work as the film's production assistantWarren, Bill (1986). "Keep Watching The Skies Volume 2". McFarland & Co., Inc. . Page 767 received $1,000.00 for his efforts. In fact, Glasser was so impressed with Maurer's work that he recommended him to producer Sidney Pink for Pink's upcoming science fiction film, ''

The Angry Red Planet ''The Angry Red Planet'' (also called ''Invasion of Mars'' and ''Journey to Planet Four'') is a 1959 American science-fiction film directed by Ib Melchior and starring Gerald Mohr. Melchior reportedly had an initial production budget of only $ ...

'' (1959).

Legacy

A ''Space Master X-7'' video game was announced in 1983 for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

by Fox's video game publishing arm. It was not based on the film; programmer

David Lubar David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed ''Super Breakout'' for the Game Boy and ''Frogger'' for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. He ...

had not heard of the 1958 film before Fox decided to attach its title to an original game he had developed. The port to

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...

, published by Sirius Software that same year, was released as ''Alpha Shield'', dropping the film connection entirely.

References

Bibliography

* Warren, Bill. ''Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties'' (covers films released through 1962), 21st Century Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2009 (First Edition 1982).

External links

* * {{Edward Bernds 1958 films 1958 horror films 1950s science fiction films American black-and-white films American science fiction horror films 20th Century Fox films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Edward Bernds 1950s American films English-language horror films English-language science fiction films