I Watch Films: Man In The Moon (1960)

 

Man In The Moon (1960)

William Blood (Kenneth Moore) is at the common cold research institute, and they are unable to get him to catch a cold. We discover him in bed in an open air field when Polly (Shelly Anne Field) a beautiful young woman in a gown and feather boa comes through, taking a shortcut. Blood claims his immunity to illness and also his resistance to heat and cold is due to his carefree and single life with no woman troubles. Unable to catch a cold he’s fired from the institute, though not before he comes to the attention of the British Moon Landing program.

They want him as a pathfinder, someone who is resilient yet expendable rather than the expensively trained astronauts. They don’t tell him that, claiming it’s a high altitude test flight. Initially he performs poorly compared to the astronauts, but in the heat and cold tests he takes it in his stride, reading the paper comfortably.

This is all top secret; unfortunately someone offers a £100,000 prize to the first man to reach the moon. Leo (Charles Gray) tries to sabotage Blood; when they learn this they have a psychologist hypnotise him to make him be friends. They then go out together and encounter Polly. Blood decides he wants to settle down with Polly and the £100,000 will be helpful, he starts to come down with a cold.

The film’s conclusion, as Blood is shot into space, is somehow even more absurd. In all a rather lightweight, perhaps even weightless comedy film, one that has a moderate grasp of human spaceflight, something that had not yet been achieved when filmed.

Watch This: Fun comedy with some very fine and absurd setpieces
Don’t Watch This: Drags and the ending disappoints