Jackson Booth-Millard When I first read the title of this film, I was a little confused, as the saying is usually "first men ON the moon", but it was based the book by H.G. Wells, so I tried it, directed Nathan Juran (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad). Basically in 1964 the world is delighted when the first manned mission to the Moon is successful, in fact they are shocked to discover an old British flag and a document declaring that the moon is taken for Queen Victoria, they are not the first men on the moon. Back on Earth, an investigation team, from the evidence gathered on the lunar surface, try to find any surviving members of this undocumented mission to the moon, and they find the last of the Victorian crew, aged Arnold Bedford (Edward Judd), who recalls the story, as seen in flashback. In 1899, younger Arnold with his girlfriend and fiancée Kate Callender (Martha Hyer) meet inventor Joseph Cavor (Lionel Jeffries), who has invented Cavorite, a substance that will let anything it is applied to or made of deflect the force of gravity, he plans to use it to travel to the Moon. Cavor has built a spherical spaceship ready to go, taking Bedford and Kate with him accidentally, the three of them successfully land on the Moon, and with adapted scuba-diving suits to use, they explore. Falling down a vertical shaft, they are amazed to find a population of large bee- like insectoids, the Selenites (Cavor names them after the Greek goddess of the moon, Selene), living beneath the surface, and they find that the air beneath the surface is breathable. The Selenites however seem threatening, Cavor and Bedford escape back to the surface, but find that the creatures have dragged away the spaceship, with Kate still inside, so they follow the trail to an underground city. They an encounter with a giant caterpillar-like "moon bull", the attack is stopped by the Selenites zapping the creature to death, Cavor and Bedford next find the city's power station, powered by sunlight, and they find the ship. The Selenites use their power to quickly learn English and interrogate Cavor, he believes they wish to exchange to exchange scientific knowledge, Cavor eventually speaks to the "Grand Lunar", the lead Selenite. But Bedford realises the creatures have no intention of letting them leave, he manages to find the sphere, with Kate they make their escape, but Cavor voluntarily stays behind, they make it back to Earth, with the ship landing in the sea off Zanzibar, the fate of Cavor is unknown. Back in the present day, Bedford watches the television, with the latest events on the Moon, the astronauts find the Selenite city deserted and decaying, but moments later it starts crumbling, the crew retreat as it is completely destroyed, Bedford realises the Selenites must have been killed by Cavor's common cold, to which they had no immunity. Also starring Erik Chitty as Gibbs, Betty McDowall as Margaret "Maggie" Hoy, Miles Malleson as Dymchurch Registrar, Laurence Herder as Glushkov, Gladys Henson as Nursing Home Matron and Network's Peter Finch as Bailiff's Man. Jeffries is splendid as the eccentric professor, Judd is okay, and Hyer is likable, it should be mentioned that the real moon landing happened five years after this film, the story of an anti-gravity paint that can propel the characters to the moon is bonkers, and the facts of the space vacuum and lack of oxygen are not fully acknowledged, but it is just fun fantasy, with the great stop-motion special-effects of Ray Harryhausen, a pleasant light-hearted science-fiction adventure. Worth watching!

mike48128 Not widely reviewed because it is currently only shown in the USA in two places: The free movie channel owned by Sony-Columbia and also on TCM. One of my favorite all-time enjoyably cheesy Dynamation-Charles H. Schneer productions! Very corny by today's standards, with primitive yet effective stop-motion animated monsters by "The Master" Ray Harryhausen. Starts out very slow. Indeed, it is almost half way through the film by the time we finally blast off (or float off) to the moon. It stars one of my favorite comic British actors, Lionel Jeffries, who is probably better-known to American audiences for his role in "Chitty Chitty Bang! Bang!" The "Selenites" (moon people) are very creepy and the "mooing" over-sized moon cow-caterpillar on the rampage is my favorite bug-eyed monster! The moonscape set is very fake-looking and this just adds to the fun of this old movie! Another fault is that the moon people in rubber suits detract from their "Dynamation" counterparts. I also bet you can see the "fly" wires on the "astronauts"! Sony Home Entertainment re-released it in Feb. 2017 on DVD and Blu-Ray and once again it is already in short supply! No one there realizes what a popular title it is! Thus, it is (again) almost impossible to buy this title at a reasonable price ($40 for a Blu-Ray is outrageous!)

utgard14 A 1964 moon landing discovers they were not the first men to arrive there. Turns out there was an 1899 expedition to the moon. Upon investigating, they find the only living member (Edward Judd) of that voyage. He tells the tale of how he and his fiancée (Martha Hyer) accompanied brilliant scientist Professor Cavor (Lionel Jeffries) to the moon through use of a special gravity-defying substance called Cavorite. Once there, they encounter an insectoid race of creatures known as Selenites. It's a fun old-fashioned sci-fi adventure. Beautiful sets, great Ray Harryhausen special effects and a script by venerable Nigel Kneale, adapted from the story by H.G. Wells. Most of Wells' social commentary is absent from the film. Some of it is still present, particularly in one of the film's best scenes -- Cavor's talk with the leader of the Selenites, the Grand Lunar.

Prichards12345 FMITM can't be compared to Ray Harryhausen's best films like Jason And The Argonauts or Mysterious Island, but this version of H.G. Wells' ingenious novel, while simplifying much of the story, is an engaging little sci-fi fantasy in the main: the sort of fantasy movie they used to make before Star Wars came out! It concerns, of course, Lionel Jeffries' eccentric Professor Cavor and his anti-gravity substance Cavorite. Falling in with Edward Judd's rascally Bedford and his accidentally along for the ride fiancée Kate (Martha Hyer), Cavor undertakes a trip to the moon, discovering an alien race of insects named The Selenites, who seem to behave perfectly reasonably towards the invaders considering numbers of them are pushed into caverns or shot!Indeed, the irony of this is surely unintended: we are meant to look upon the intrepid adventurers as heroes! Most of the time the Selenites are played by child actors in insect costumes, slightly reminiscent of screen-writer Nigel Kneale's Martians from Quatermass; however the leader-insects are superbly rendered by Harryhausen's stop-motion genius.In truth, the performances of the actors are irritating, particularly - and surprisingly given his talent - Jeffries. But the movie looks good, provides Disney-style entertainment, and never outstays it's welcome. It's a good family movie, with enough cheese to cover the surface of the moon!