Riders to the Stars


Release date(s) 14 January 1954 (U.S. release)

Running time 	81 minutes

Distributed by 	United Artists Corporation

Directed by 	Richard Carlson
                Herbert L. Strock(uncredited)

Produced by 	Maxwell Smith (associate producer,Scientific Research)
                Herbert L. Strock (associate producer)
                Ivan Tors (producer)

Written by 	Curt Siodmak
                Ivan Tors (story)

Starring 	William Lundigan
                Martha Hyer
                Herbert Marshall
                Richard Carlson

This is the second of Ivan Tors' sci-fi dramas. The first was Magnetic Monster. The third will be Gog. Each dealt with a presumed government agency, the Office of Scientific Investigation. Riders is one of the last "hard science" fiction films which tried to deal with real (or at least probable) science at the edge of our understanding. This, as opposed to more fantastic sci-fi of aliens and monsters. Destination Moon was the foundational example. The story was fiction, but the science within was as realistic (or at least credible) at the time. Riders is in that vein. Granted, the scientific presumptions that the movie is based upon are in error, but were presented as plausible hurdles which techno-scientific, rational man would conquer. People's fascination with actual space travel (which had not happened yet) was enough to rake in an audience.

Curt Siodmak wrote the screenplay. He had just recently adapted his novel into the movie Donovan's Brain, which was another example of sci-fi without aliens. Richard Carlson (who starred in Magnetic Monster and It came from Outer Space, is both the director and acts in the role of Dr. Jerry Lockwood. Carlson directs the tale in a documentary style, reminiscent to the "Dragnet" style of Tors' Magnetic Monster.

A group of single, highly qualified men, including Dr. Richard Stanton (William Lundigan) and Dr. Jerry Lockwood (Richard Carlson), are recruited for a secret project. They undergo a series of rigorous physical and psychological tests, during which Stanton becomes attracted to the beautiful Dr. Jane Flynn (Martha Hyer), one of the testers. Finally, the four remaining candidates are told about the purpose of the project.

It turns out that Stanton's father, Dr. Donald Stanton (Herbert Marshall), is the man in charge. He and his colleagues are working on manned space travel. However, they have found that even the best quality steel turns brittle in outer space. Since meteorites are not subject to the same problem, the scientists want to recover some meteors before they enter the atmosphere, to find out how the "outer shell" protects them. To accomplish this, they need to send astronauts into space—something that has never been done before. Stanton, Lockwood, and Walter Gordon (Robert Karnes) accept the dangerous assignment, while the fourth man quits in disgust.

Three one-man rockets are sent a couple of hundred miles up into space to intercept a meteor swarm. Gordon attempts to capture a meteor that is too large, and his ship is destroyed in a collision. Lockwood suffers a mental breakdown when he sees Gordon's body hit his viewscreen. Delusional, he fires his engines and zooms away from the Earth. Stanton misses the main swarm, but a stray crosses his path. He decides to capture it despite warnings from those monitoring from the ground that he will use up too much fuel and risk burning up upon re-entry. He manages to survive a crash landing with the meteor intact, and is rewarded with a kiss by Dr. Flynn.