Pre-1961 depictions of human spaceflight
Screen depictions of human spaceflight which predate Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space on April 12, 1961.
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- DirectorGeorges MélièsStarsGeorges MélièsVictor AndréBleuette BernonA group of astronomers go on an expedition to the Moon.
- DirectorSegundo de ChomónProving adept at every possible camera trick, Segundo de Chomón was brought by Charles Pathé to his studio at Vincennes, near Paris, to make trick films in imitation of Jules Verne (such as this one, inspired by A Trip to the Moon (1902)).
- DirectorAshley MillerA scientist discovers reverse gravity and goes to Mars in the process.
- DirectorHolger-MadsenStarsGunnar TolnæsZanny PetersenNicolai NeiiendamA group of researchers from Earth travel in a spaceship to Mars, where, to big surprise, they find a peaceful vegetarian and pacifist civilization.
- DirectorBruce GordonJ.L.V. LeighStarsBruce GordonHeather ThatcherHector AbbasThe inventor of a space sphere flies to the moon and is marooned by a crooked financier.
- DirectorBud Fisher
- DirectorYakov ProtazanovStarsYuliya SolntsevaIgor IlyinskyNikolai TsereteliEngineer Mstislav Sergeyevich Los travels to Mars where he leads a popular uprising against the ruling group of Elders with the support of Queen Aelita who has fallen in love with him after watching him through a telescope.
- DirectorDave FleischerStarsMax FleischerMax sends Ko-Ko on a rocket toward the moon, but Ko-Ko crash lands on Mars, where he encounters bizarre creatures and contraptions. Meanwhile, Max himself is blasted into outer space.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsWilly FritschGerda MaurusKlaus PohlA tenacious scientist blasts off for the moon in hopes of riches that may be found there.
- DirectorDavid ButlerStarsEl BrendelMaureen O'SullivanJohn GarrickNew York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food, government-arranged marriages have replaced love, and test tube babies have replaced ... well, you get the idea. Scientists revive a man struck by lightning in 1930; he is rechristened "Single O". He is befriended by J-21, who can't marry the girl of his dreams because he isn't "distinguished" enough -- until he is chosen for a 4-month expedition to Mars by a renegade scientist. The Mars J-21, his friend, and stowaway Single O visit is full of scantily clad women doing Busby Berkeley-style dance numbers and worshiping a fat middle-aged man.
- DirectorFrederick StephaniRay TaylorStarsBuster CrabbeJean RogersCharles MiddletonFlash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Alexis Zarkov visit the planet Mongo to thwart the evil schemes of Emperor Ming the Merciless, who has set his planet on a collision course with Earth.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsRaymond MasseyEdward ChapmanRalph RichardsonThe story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.
- DirectorVasily ZhuravlyovStarsSergey KomarovKsenia MoskalenkoVassili GaponenkoIn 1946, the Soviet space program is undergoing turmoil. Professor Sedikh, who is planning to lead the first manned exploration to the moon, is denounced by his rival Professor Karin as being too old and too mentally unstable for the mission. Professor Sedikh, aided by his assistant Marina and a youth named Andryusha, disregard Prof. Karin's authority and make a successful landing on the moon. Although a few problems occur at the moon, including the discovery of a damaged oxygen tank and Professor Sedikh's becoming trapped under a fallen boulder, the expedition is a success and the cosmonauts return to Moscow.
- DirectorFord BeebeRobert F. HillFrederick StephaniStarsBuster CrabbeJean RogersCharles MiddletonWhen a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.
- DirectorFord BeebeSaul A. GoodkindStarsBuster CrabbeConstance MooreJackie MoranA 20th Century pilot named Buck Rogers and his young friend Buddy Wade awake from 500 years in suspended animation to find that the world has been taken over by the outlaw army of Killer Kane.
- DirectorFord BeebeRay TaylorStarsBuster CrabbeCarol HughesCharles MiddletonA ravaging plague has struck the Earth threatening no less than global extinction. This alien disease is believed to be the evil spawn of Ming, the merciless Emperor of Planet Mongo. The world's only hope now rests with Flash Gordon.
- DirectorJosef von BákyStarsHans AlbersWilhelm BendowMichael BohnenThis lavish, impudent, adult fairy tale takes the viewer from 18th-century Braunschweig to St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Venice, and then to the moon using ingenious special effects, stunning location shooting.
- DirectorAnton KutterStarsFritz ReiffRolf WernickeCarl WeryBefore television crews and thousands of spectators, Spaceship-1, commanded by Commodore Hardt inventor of the powerful rocket fuel "Neotan-X", blasts off on the first flight to the Moon.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetThomas CarrStarsKane RichmondRick VallinLinda LeightonAn adventurer travels to the moon to stop a madman from getting hold of the Interceptor Ray, a weapon that could destroy Earth.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonJack KinneyStarsRoy RogersTriggerDennis DayAn anthology of animated vignettes set to contemporary music.
- DirectorChuck JonesStarsMel BlancStan FrebergThe Sportsmen QuartetBugs is tricked into being the first rabbit shot into space. When he lands on the moon he finds Commander X-2 (later known as Marvin Martian) set to blow up planet Earth.
- StarsDon HastingsAl HodgeHal Conklin"Guardian of the Safety of the World", private citizen-scientist Captain Video, assisted by his teenage helper The Ranger and an army of Video Rangers, preserves the peace in the far-off future, fighting the evil Dr. Pauli of the Astroidal Society and a bunch of other baddies (Nargola, Mook, Kul, Clysmok). The show appeared nightly Mon-Fri, featured many outlandish weapons and techno-gimmicks, and was run on a minuscule prop budget.
- DirectorIrving PichelStarsJohn ArcherWarner AndersonTom Powers"Destination Moon", tells the tale of when Doctor Charles Cargraves and retired General Thayer approach Jim Barnes, the head of his own aviation construction firms to help build a rocket that will take them to the moon.
- DirectorKurt NeumannStarsLloyd BridgesOsa MassenJohn EmeryAn astronaut crew on their way to the Moon are unexpectedly propelled by gravitational forces and end up on Mars instead.
- StarsHarry KingstonRobert PasteneLucy PrentisA twentieth century football player is swept to the twenty-fifth century and joins the battle against the local despot.
- CreatorMike MoserStarsEd KemmerLyn OsbornNina BaraCommander Corey and youthful Cadet Happy roam the 30th-century universe in their ship "Terra" fighting super-villains Mr. Proteus, Prince Baccarratti, and other bad guys. The captured bad guys get zapped with the Paralyzer, then get reprogrammed with the Brainograph.
- StarsFrankie ThomasAl MarkimJan MerlinFour centuries into the future, Cadets Tom Corbett, Roger Manning and Astro are training to become Solar Guards. Their ship, the "Polaris" took them to numerous adventures, usually natural catastrophes rather than villains.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetWallace GrissellStarsJudd HoldrenLarry StewartGeorge EldredgeSpace hero Captain Video battles the evil Vultura on the planet Atoma.
- DirectorLesley SelanderStarsMarguerite ChapmanCameron MitchellArthur FranzFive astronauts successfully fly to Mars where they encounter seemingly friendly and advanced inhabitants who harbor covert plans to use their ship to invade Earth.
- DirectorCharles S. DubinStarsLee J. CobbVinton HayworthCameron Prud'HommeAn ambitious, headstrong businessman uses his huge personal fortune to construct a spaceship that will take him to Mars.
- DirectorFred C. BrannonStarsGeorge D. WallaceAline TowneRoy BarcroftStrategic targets on Earth are being destroyed by an unknown weapon. Government security head Henderson suspects it's an "atomic ray" originating from the moon.
- DirectorDon MedfordStarsLex BarkerFred StewartRobert PattenThe first human mission to another solar system loses 2 crew on a red dust-covered planet, which once had an advanced civilization. Due to allergies, neither of the shipmates got anti-radiation shots, so the remaining crew aren't concerned about their own return to Earth. But then the red dust starts to appear everywhere on the space ship.
- DirectorDon MedfordStarsLeslie NielsenWilliam RedfieldBrian KeithThree astronauts land on Mars, hoping to find valuable minerals. After discovering a rich deposit of uranium ore, one of the men becomes increasingly paranoid. Is it just his imagination, or are they really being watched?
- DirectorArthur HiltonStarsSonny TuftsVictor JoryMarie WindsorAstronauts travel to the moon where they discover it is inhabited by attractive young women in black tights.
- DirectorRichard TalmadgeStarsDonna MartellHayden RorkeRoss FordA saboteur posing as a scientist strives to destroy the world's first space station.
- DirectorSpencer Gordon BennetStarsJudd HoldrenVivian MasonTed ThorpeTwo newspaper reporters battle a plot by the evil Dr. Grood to conquer the world.
- StarsReginald TateIsabel DeanHugh KellyFollows the first manned space flight from Australia. In its return to Earth, from the crew of 3, only Victor Carroon, is still aboard. Examinations reveal that something attacked the crew as they were on course back to Earth.
- StarsAl HodgeDon HastingsGrant SullivanThis innovative half-hour science-fiction anthology aired live each Saturday morning. Captain Video (Al Hodge) was the catalyst that brought science-fiction and reality together in a creative showcase for dramatization of the works of well known authors. Strong character development and adult themes, a hallmark of the two Captain Video series, kept a positive look of quality within the storyline threads.
- StarsCliff RobertsonJack WestonBruce HallOn 22nd-Century Earth, the Rocket Rangers are a celestial defense organization, battling interplanetary evil from their headquarters on Omega Base.
- StarsJudd HoldrenAline TowneGregory GayeDangerous climate changes are ravaging Earth and the U.S. government requests an investigation by masked super-scientist Commando Cody. He discovers that the disasters are being caused by space-alien forces from unknown planetary origins.
- StarsRobert BarclayJames DoohanAustin WillisSpace Command was a Canadian children's science fiction television adventure series, broadcast on CBC Television from 13 March 1953 till 29 May 1954, the first time the network aired its own dramatic series.
- DirectorRichard CarlsonHerbert L. StrockStarsWilliam LundiganHerbert MarshallRichard CarlsonThree men are assigned by the Office of Scientific Investigation to man rocket ships to outer space and attempt to capture a meteor.
- DirectorLee SholemStarsCharles DrakeKarin BoothBilly ChapinA young boy-genius befriends his grandfather's robot, designed as a test pilot for space travel and coveted by foreign spies.
- DirectorSeymour KneitelIzzy SparberMyron WaldmanStarsJackson BeckJack MercerSid RaymondCasper emerges from a subway station, following a crowd of scared strangers. He encounters a man saying "see the wonders of the moon for ten cents," and offering a sight through a telescope. Casper scares the man away, then uses the telescope to see the moon. He then flies to the moon for a visit. Casper lands on the moon, disappointed to find no man on the moon. He lies down to nap, then tiny moon men emerge from holes. They capture Casper, like Lilliputians did to Gulliver, then place him in a cage on wheels, in which they tow him to the Ruler of the Moon, King Luna. The King addresses Casper as a monster, and treats him as an enemy. Casper playfully picks up King Luna, and the king has him placed in the royal dungeon. A dejected Casper is imprisoned. Then animated trees attack the city of the moon men. The moon men defend their fortified city with flaming missiles. The tree monsters fight back with water, then break through the town walls. When the fight seems lost to the tree monsters, Casper escapes his cage, and helps the moon men. Casper goes underground. The friendly ghost then pulls trees' parts through the moon surface and ties them together, immobilizing the trees. The frustrated trees writhe and strain against the knots Casper has tied. Casper and the moon men have won. Then, and only then, does King Luna embrace Casper as a friend. King Luna knights Casper for the valiant defense of his people. Then all the moon men join in singing the Casper theme song.
- StarsSteve HollandIrene ChamplinJoseph NashSpace hero Flash Gordon and his crew of the Galaxy Bureau of Investigation patrol space, battling space monsters, power-mad alien dictators and other threats to the stability of the universe.
- StarsRichard CraneSally MansfieldScotty BeckettCruising the galaxy in his space ship "The Orbit Jet" Space Ranger, Rocky Jones, Vena Ray, and 10 year-old Bobby defend the Earth and themselves against space-bound evil doers.
- DirectorHollingsworth MorseStarsRichard CraneScotty BeckettSally MansfieldThis was never released as a feature film but, instead, is comprised of 3 episodes from the TV series, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger (1954) which were edited together and released on video as a feature-length story.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJack WarnerRichard WordsworthProfessor Bernard Quatermass' manned rocket ship returns to Earth, but two of the astronauts are missing and the survivor seems ill and unable to communicate.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsWalter BrookeEric FlemingMickey ShaughnessyAn American-led team of International astronauts leave their space station on the first mission to Mars, but the captain's religious beliefs may get in the way.
- DirectorBert I. GordonStarsWilliam BryantWanda CurtisDouglas HendersonA new planet moves into the Solar system and four scientists (two couples) are sent to explore planet Nova. In between romantic interludes, the cast faces an iguana masquerading as a Tyrannosaurus rex.
- DirectorWard KimballStarsFrank GerstleRichard EmoryFrank ConnorThe show takes a look at how scientists are preparing for a flight to the moon, beginning with a live-action segment and then going into animation as the rocket ship takes off to film the backside of the moon.
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie NielsenA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
- DirectorEdward BerndsStarsHugh MarloweNancy GatesNelson LeighAstronauts returning from a voyage to Mars are caught in a time warp and are propelled into a post-Apocalyptic Earth populated by mutants.
- DirectorCy RothStarsAnthony DexterSusan ShawPaul CarpenterA team of astronauts lands on a moon of Jupiter to find it populated with beautiful young women looking for mates. An old man explains to the explorers the group's story, as well as the moon's dangers.
- DirectorKôji ShimaStarsKeizô KawasakiToyomi KaritaBin YagisawaUFOs are seen around Tokyo. Because they look like giant starfish the aliens cannot approach us without creating panic. Hence one of them sacrifices itself and takes the form of a popular female singer. It/she warns mankind that a meteor will crash on Earth. While the approaching meteor causes hotter and hotter weather, mankind runs and builds a last-chance anti-meteor weapon.
- DirectorPaul DicksonStarsKieron MooreLois MaxwellDonald WolfitThe British launch the world's first orbital vehicle. Their military sends a super-bomb along, which goes wrong and threatens the crew and a stowaway.
- DirectorGeorge GordonStarsMarvin MillerGeorge O'HanlonThe film opens with a newspaper from the distant future of October 5, 2000 with headlines reading "Space Travel to Mars" and "tax cuts." The protagonist of the short begins by debating whether to buy a new car or not as his family watches 3-D television. A show then comes on explaining the history of the automobile. The show within the show moves through the beginning of the 20th century starting with hand cranking cars and topless buggies. The clip moves through the decades explaining new inventions like windshield wipers and suspension systems.
- DirectorNathan JuranStarsWilliam HopperJoan TaylorThomas Browne HenryThe first U.S. spaceship to Venus crash-lands off the coast of Sicily on its return trip. A dangerous, lizard-like creature comes with it and quickly grows gigantic.
- DirectorHerman HoffmanStarsRichard EyerPhilip AbbottDiane BrewsterA ten-year-old boy and Robby the Robot team up to prevent a Super Computer from controlling the Earth from a satellite.
- DirectorPavel KlushantsevStarsGeorgi SolovyovLeonid KhmaraGeorgi KulbushA groundbreaking popular science fiction film about the past and future of astronautics, from the first experiments by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky to the manned spaceflight and colonization of the Moon.
- DirectorRichard E. CunhaStarsRichard TravisCathy DownsK.T. StevensEscaped cons stowaway on a flight to the moon and discover alien women ruled by a sadistic queen.
- DirectorPaolo HeuschMario BavaStarsPaul HubschmidMadeleine FischerFiorella MariScientists discover that a group of meteors are hurtling on a collison course with Earth, and if they hit, the planet will be destroyed.
- DirectorByron HaskinStarsJoseph CottenGeorge SandersDebra PagetIn 1868, American inventor Victor Barbicane develops a powerful military explosive that he also uses as fuel for a moon-bound rocket manned by himself and a motley crew.
- DirectorEdward L. CahnStarsMarshall ThompsonShirley PattersonKim SpaldingThe first manned expedition to Mars is invaded by an unknown life form, which stows away on the rescue ship.
- DirectorBernard L. KowalskiStarsMichael EmmetAngela GreeneJohn BaerAn astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens.
- DirectorEdward BerndsStarsZsa Zsa GaborEric FlemingDave WillockAmerican astronauts are drawn by a mysterious force to the planet Venus, which they find to be inhabited only by beautiful women and their despotic queen.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsDick MillerSusan CabotRichard DevonAn "unknown force" declares war against planet Earth when the United Nations disobeys warnings to cease and desist in its attempts at assembling the first satellite in the atmosphere.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRyô IkebeKyôko AnzaiMinoru TakadaThe nations of the Earth unite in a common cause to fight off an invader from outer space.
- DirectorFred LaddStarsKerry Mark JoelsRay OwensSonia OwensThe film is set on the spaceship Polaris II, which is heading towards planet Mars on a rescue mission. Professor Leon Nordheim and his female assistant Smitty (full name unknown) are hoping to rescue the missing crew of a previous spaceship: Polaris I. Jimmy Perry. the young son of the lost spaceship's pilot, joins Polaris II as a stowaway. During their mission, Nordheim delivers basic lessons of astronomy.
- DirectorRobert DayStarsMarshall ThompsonMarla LandiBill EdwardsThe first pilot to leave Earth's atmosphere lands, then vanishes; but something with a craving for blood prowls the countryside...
- DirectorIb MelchiorStarsGerald MohrNora HaydenLes TremayneOne of only two survivors from a Martian expedition is so traumatized she doesn't remember the circumstances of the trip.
- DirectorMikhail KaryukovAleksandr KozyrFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsIvan PereverzevAleksandr ShvorinKonstantin BartashevichTwo countries race to have the first successful landing on Mars.
- DirectorAlex LovyStarsDal McKennonGrace StaffordCarl GraysonThe local rocket society is looking for a new volunteer to blast to the moon, the only other person having been sent there being Professor Dingledong who has not returned thus far. They decide to send mailman Woody Woodpecker who, upon landing on the moon's surface, encounters the aforementioned Dingledong who demands possession of Woody's rocket so that he may return to Earth. After many a tussle, Woody and Dingledong are both returned to Earth's atmosphere whereupon Dingledong takes revenge on the rocket society chairman by blasting *him* into space!
- StarsWilliam LundiganJoyce TaylorCharles HerbertThe adventures of Colonel Ed McCauley, head of the American space program. He battles saboteurs, budget cuts, defective equipment and other problems in outer space.
- DirectorJack SmightStarsRod SerlingJack WardenJohn DehnerA convict, living alone on an asteroid, receives from the police a realistic woman-robot.
- 1959–196425mTV-PG8.3 (5.1K)TV EpisodeDirectorDouglas HeyesStarsRod TaylorJim HuttonCharles AidmanThree astronauts return to Earth after seemingly having made an encounter that dooms them and their craft to erasure from existence itself.
- DirectorJoseph PevneyStarsHarry TownesJohn AgarCharles AidmanFrom space pioneers to modernday missions, it's a thrilling look at man's quest to conquer space.
- DirectorDavid BradleyStarsKen ClarkMichi KobiTom ConwayAn international team embarks on an expedition to the moon in an uncommonly spacious rocketship. There they encounter a faceless alien intelligence who conclude that the human race is too immature and dangerous and must be destroyed.
- DirectorKurt MaetzigStarsYôko TaniOldrich LukesIgnacy MachowskiWhen an alien artifact discovered on Earth is found to have come from Venus, an international team of astronauts embarks to investigate its origins.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsKenneth MoreShirley Anne FieldNorman BirdScientists are looking for a man to send up to be the first man on the moon. A man immune to worry, disease, and even the common cold. They think they have found him until the impossible happens at Woomera.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsRik Van NutterGabriella FarinonDavid MontresorIn the 22nd Century, Ray Peterson, reporter for the Interplanetary News, is assigned to write a story aboard a space station.
- StarsDavid MarkhamJohn CairneyFrank FinlayGeoffrey Wedgwood secretly replaces an astronaut and Professor Wedgwood launches Geoffrey into space.
- StarsPeter WilliamsHarold GoldblattGerald FloodProfessor Norman Wedgewood and his team are planning another rocket mission to the Moon. Once again, Geoff, Valerie and Jimmy are on hand to witness the launch of a new rocket MR1 (Moon Rocket 1), along with journalist friend Conway Henderson.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsDewey MartinEdward BinnsTed OtisOrder breaks down between three surviving crewmen whose rocket ship crashes on an unknown world with limited water and supplies.
- DirectorDouglas HeyesStarsCecil KellawayJeff MorrowDon DubbinsThree astronauts touch down on an asteroid, where they discover a world of people that appear to be frozen in time. Confused, they theorize as to why everyone is motionless, until a man springs to life and explains.
- DirectorMitchell LeisenStarsRoddy McDowallSusan OliverPaul ComiFearing the worst, the lone survivor of a crash-landing on Mars finds the native inhabitants, to his relief, very hospitable indeed, but there's a catch.