Starring Wendell Corey, Keith Larsen, John Agar, Paul Gilbert, Merry Anders
Directed by Arthur C. Pierce
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A spaceship crashes on a primitive world when its alien passengers revolt against the human crew, but the planet's rotation will age the survivors 18 years before they can be rescued.
This film was released on a double bill with The Navy Vs. The Night Monsters, and like that picture, offers a low-budget sci-fi adventure, but this one fares a little better, benefitting from some interesting ideas in the script and direction from Arthur C. Pierce. The aliens are played by Asian actors and actresses, differing from the rest of the Caucasian cast, and reinforcing the themes of integration, culture clash, and bigotry in the film. Also, the screenplay introduces the concept that space travel at light speed could retard the aging that would take place on other worlds in a fresh and interesting take. Attempts at humor fare less well, with Gilbert's wisecracking engineer offering many jokes that aren't that funny. Nevertheless, it's a fun film which also offers a sweet love story for the Asian leads, a real rarity in films of this era.
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