Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Paramount’s Robinson Crusoe on Mars is an offbeat science fiction movie from 1964. Cinematic science fiction in the pre-2001 era was remarkably varied. This movie really is an adaptation (albeit a pretty loose one) of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe.

An American spaceship reaches Mars where it has an unfortunate encounter with a meteorite. The two crew members, Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West) and Commander Christopher Draper (Paul Mantee), eject in their escape pods. Draper reaches the planet’s surface safely but McReady doesn’t make it. Draper is now stranded all alone on Mars. Well not quite all alone. Mona survived as well. Mona is the ship’s monkey.

Draper is an awkward fix. Even assuming that a rescue mission could find him it could take months or years for such a mission to be organised and he has no way of contacting Earth. He has enough water for two weeks but that won’t help him since he has enough air for just 60 hours. He’s doomed.

Of course we know he can’t really be doomed because in that case the movie would have a running time of about twenty minutes.

The movie’s solution to the air problem is ingenious and original.

His water supply problem is solved by Mona. She is pretty much the brains of the outfit.

Draper is only able to remain reasonably sane by talking to Mona. He talks a lot. Maybe there’s just a bit too much talking in this movie.

And then the evil spaceships arrive, bent on destruction. And he meets Friday (Victor Lundin). Friday is a slave who has escaped from the evil aliens. Solving the communication problem with Friday takes quite a while but it’s eventually solved and they become friends and allies. Luckily Mona likes Friday.

Draper, Friday and Mona set out on a trek for the polar ice cap but the attacks by the aliens continue. It becomes a battle for survival.

An interesting aspect to this movie is how much is left unexplained. Friday’s people have been enslaved by the evil aliens but where do Friday’s people come from and how did they come to be enslaved? Friday appears to be completely human but he’s certainly not from our solar system. The movie makes the interesting choice not to make Friday’s people native Martians. Perhaps by 1964 the notion of Mars having a native population was no longer considered plausible.

Where do the evil aliens come from? How alien are they are? What do they want? They appear to be conducting mining operations on Mars but we’re not given any details. Are they humanoid?

This unexplained elements are so glaring that one has to assume that this was a deliberate choice. The emphasis is on the the battle for survival of Draper’s party and the growing comradeship between Draper and Friday. Perhaps it was felt that too much focus on the evil aliens would make it a totally different kind of story - a fairly conventional space opera.

Friday is a mysterious figure, he is very taciturn and he never learn to speak more than rudimentary English so it’s hard to judge Victor Lundin’s performance.

Paul Mantee is OK but given that Draper is the only character we get to know at all the part really needed an actor with a lot more charisma. I can’t help thinking that this is the sort of part that would really have suited Charlton Heston but they probably couldn’t afford him.

Mona the monkey walks off with the acting honours - she should have had a better career!

The special effects are disappointing. Within a few short years 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes would raise the bar dramatically when it comes to science fiction movie visuals. Even by 1964 standards the spaceships seem hopelessly unconvincing and the visuals just don’t stand out. Given the state of knowledge about the surface of Mars in 1964 they’re not wildly unrealistic but they just don’t dazzle.

The movie was directed by Byron Haskin, a fine director with a good track record in both the science fiction and adventure genres including the superb The Naked Jungle (1954) and the brilliant 1953 The War of the Worlds.

The screenplay was co-written by Ib Melchior was scripted some wild crazy sci-fi movies such as Journey to the Seventh Planet (1962) and The Angry Red Planet (1959) and course Reptilicus (1961).

Robinson Crusoe on Mars failed to excite movie audiences and it was a flop. Its main problem was probably that it needed a substantially bigger budget.

It’s a slightly oddball movie and while it’s not a complete success it’s worth a look as an example of the sheer variety of pre-Star Wars science fiction.