Spaceways (1953)
Directed by Terence Fisher

Film Review

After Four Sided Triangle (1953), Hammer's second flirtation with science-fiction is another lumbering, half-hearted affair, although its attempts to compete with bigger budget fare across the pond - doomed as they inevitably were - make it a worthier entry in the sci-fi genre.  Spaceways was apparently based on a play written for radio, a medium for which it was far better suited given the primitive nature of visual effects at the time.  The film has been resoundingly lampooned for its unconvincing effects, but a far greater failing is its utterly preposterous plot, which stretches credulity to somewhere in the vicinity of the outer limits of the Milky Way.  Spaceways is essentially just a far-fetched crime drama with sci-fi elements casually thrown in, by someone who clearly has a very ropy understanding of the science involved, to say nothing of a poor grasp on human nature.

The ludicrous B-movie plot might have been pardonable if the characters had ben convincingly drawn and believably played.  Instead of this we get the usual dull white-coated archetypes consisting of a square-jawed American (Howard Duff) and a devoted assistant who is willing to travel to the ends of the galaxy with him (Eva Bartok).  There's an evil-looking investigator (Alan Wheatley), the petty bureaucratic sort who likes jumping to the obvious conclusion and generally making a mess of things; a bumbling, cost conscious minister; and some very stupid military men.  Things are far worse on the plot front, however.  Having established that a manned rocket is a hugely ambitious undertaking that could take years to pull off, the film's hero manages to fix it up within a few days, so that he can go up into space, recover another rocket (with magnets), bring it back to earth and clear himself of the charge of murder.  Even in a child's comicbook this would all come across as idiotic hokum.  After this fiasco (not director Terence Fisher's greatest hour), Hammer could have been forgiven for giving up sci-fi for good, and it might well have done just that if Nigel Kneale hadn't come along a few years later and gave the company its first massive hit with The Quatermass Xperiment (1955).

Film Synopsis

In England, Professor Koepler leads a space programme which has within its sights the objective of placing a satellite in a stationary orbit around the earth.  His leading engineer, Dr Stephen Mitchell, is confident that the mission will succeed, but his dedication to his work is putting an intolerable strain on his marriage.  His wife Vanessa is tired of being confined to the secure rocket base and resents Michell's refusal to accept better paid work elsewhere.  One evening, Mitchell glimpses his wife with Dr Crenshaw, one of his colleagues, and guesses that the two have been carrying on a clandestine affair.  When the rocket is launched to put a satellite into orbit, it fails to reach the necessary height and Mitchell is charged with negligence.  Coincidentally, his wife and Crenshaw have gone missing at the same time and Dr Smith, a military intelligence investigator, suspects that they may have been murdered by Mitchell and placed in the rocket before lift-off.  To clear his name, Mitchell volunteers to go up in a second rocket and recover the first rocket.  It is a mission fraught with danger, but Dr Lisa Frank, who is in love with Mitchell, is determined to accompany him...