MovieChat Forums > It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) Discussion > Mission To Mars With 1950s Technology!

Mission To Mars With 1950s Technology!


We are not even close today(2010), due of course to a lack of desire. No video cameras at each level makes it easy for the monster to sneak onboard. No backup communication systems. Therefore, when the first mission crash landed, on earth there was no idea what was going. No recording devices to prove the captain's innocence while on Mars. Lots of loose cargo would be a big hazard to equipment and the ship's integrity. Gunfire in a 100% oxygen environment would cause explosions(I'm fairly certain).

The biggest plothole,IMHO, is not opening a cargo door earlier to kill the alien. However, this is one of the top space travel movies of 1950s Sci-Fi.

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You'd think they could track the creature by SMELL alone. Does it not sweat or urinate? Ah, but in films, no one has a sense of smell unless they SEE flowers.

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There are many instances in film in which people obviously smell something either pleasant or unpleasant, including the Pontipee brothers waking up to the fragrance of Milly's cooking in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", Ralph Meeker's bad guy commenting on Barbara Stanwyck's expensive perfume in "Jeopardy", the reactions to the Bog of Eternal Stench in "Labyrinth", or Gypsy (Victoria Paige Meyerink) and family dog having a run-in with a skunk in "The Night of the Grizzly" and being banished from the house. Then, there's that comedy in which the girl smells her hands after they've been in her armpits. Is that "Superstar"? (I remember the movie trailer but am not certain of the title.) There's even a joke in "The Thing from Another World" in which Scotty thinks Nikki is making a remark about him having bad breath, when she's actually noting their frosty breath. "Well, I'm sorry, but I've been under a great deal of strain lately!" "He's sensitive about that, too." (after being teased about his lack of hair)

So, if he was a smelly creature, I suppose they could have remarked about it. There have been films when odor/fragrance/aroma is the giveaway, as in "Reeker" (stinky killer) and "The Uninvited" (mimosa~what she identifies as her mother's perfume).

Then, there's this exchange between Irena and Oliver in "Cat People" (1942):
"That's Lalage, the perfume I use. I like it, perhaps too well. Maybe I use too much of it, living alone like this."
"It's hard to describe. It's not like flowers exactly. It's~it's like something warm, living."

"How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?" ~ Double Indemnity (1944)

(Han Solo cuts open the dead Tauntaun and shoves Luke inside) "This may smell bad, kid, but it'll keep you warm until I get the shelter up. Ugh! And I thought they smelled bad on the OUTSIDE!"

~~MystMoonstruck~~

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