109 - PROJECT MOON BASE
(theatrical release; 9/4/1953; 1952; unsold TV pilot; NR; 64m)

a.k.a. PROJECT MOONBASE (variation)
a.k.a. RING AROUND THE MOON

Shown with Short:
102S-Radar Men from the Moon
Chapter 7: Camouflaged Destruction
and Chapter 8: The Enemy Planet

Ad: "UP! UP! UP!
...to a New World of Adventure!"

Ad: "Thrills Come Rocketing to the Screen as Science Smashes a New Frontier!"

Plot: In 1970, a spy stows away aboard a rocket, hoping to destroy a space station.

Prod/Scr: Jack Seaman (exec/Jeep Herders)
Assoc Prod: Karl H. Johnson
Dir: Richard Talmadge*
Asst Dir: Leonard Shapiro
(607-Bloodlust; 623-The Amazing Transparent Man)
Scr: Robert Heinlein
(Destination Moon; also author of book Stranger In A Strange Land)
Cin: William C. Thompson (423-Bride of the Monster;
610-The Violent Years; *613-The Sinister Urge; 616-Racket Girls)
Ed: Roland Gross (Oscar nom/None But the Lonely Heart)
PDes: Jerome Pycha Jr. (Riders to the Stars)
SFX: Jack R. Glass (413-Manhunt in Space; 417-Crash of Moons)
SFX/miniatures: Jacques Fresco
SFX/miniatures: Howard Weeks (The Man from Planet X)
Cos: Jack Miller (Cry Danger)
M/U: Harry Thomas (423/616*; 103-The Mad Monster;
320-The Unearthly; 602-Invasion USA; 618-High School Big Shot; 701-Night of the Blood Beast)
Sound FX Ed: Ted Bellinger
Sound: Joel Moss (417; The Man from Planet X)
Sound: William Randall (The Man from Planet X)
Score: Herschel Burke Gilbert (Oscar nom/The Thief)

Major Bill Moore / Ross Ford (Reform School Girl)
Colonel Breiteis / Donna Martell (The Egyptian)
Colonel "Pappy" Greene / Hayden Rorke*
Dr. Wernher / Larry Johns (Dakota Lil; Law of the Badlands)
Dr. Roundtree / Herb Jacobs (The Steel Cage)
Polly Prattle / Barbara Morrison (From Here To Eternity)
President / Ernestine Barrier (The Gnome-Mobile)
Commander Carlson / James Craven (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Spacom operator / Charles Keane (802-The Leech Woman)
adjutant / John Hedloe (Riders to the Stars)
chaplain / John Straub (guest/TV's Perry Mason)
at blockhouse / John Tomecko
Captain Carmody / Peter Adams (War of the Worlds)
Sam / Robert Karnes (Riders to the Stars; Half Human; Charro)
bellboy / Robert Paltz

Trivia: Born Ricardo Metzetti, RICHARD TALMADGE (1896-1981) was known as the Father of All Stuntmen. He was the pioneer of movie stunts, and was the amazing stunt double for Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Harold Lloyd in the 1910's and 1920's. He went on to train other stuntmen and would serve as second director for action scenes for many films. He occasionally acted in films, including Detour to Danger. He was one of seven directors for the James Bond action-comedy Casino Royale. Who knows why Talmadge was picked to direct PROJECT MOON BASE as there's so little action?

Actor HAYDEN RORKE (1910-1987) was most famous for his role as Colonel Bellows on TV's I Dream of Jeannie. His other film appearances include: 1949-Lust for Gold; 1951-Father's Little Dividend (with Elizabeth Taylor and Spencer Tracy); 1952-When Worlds Collide; 1964-The Unsinkable Molly Brown (with Debbie Reynolds); and 1965's The Night Walker (with Barbara Stanwyck).

Last Updated: 6/20/1999