From the Earth to the Moon (film)

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From the Earth to the Moon
Directed by	Byron Haskin
Produced by	Benedict Bogeaus
Written by	Jules Verne (novel) Robert Blees James Leicester
Starring	Joseph Cotten George Sanders Debra Paget Don Dobbins
Release date(s)	1958
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

From the Earth to the Moon is a 1958 science fiction film adaptation of the Jules Verne novel of the same name. It starred Joseph Cotten, George Sanders, Debra Paget, and Don Dobbins.

[edit] Plot summary

Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, munitions producer Victor Barbicane (Joseph Cotten) announces that he has invented a new explosive, "Power X", which he claims is much more powerful than any previously devised. Metallurgist Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders) scoffs at Barbicane's claims and offers a wager of $100,000 that it cannot destroy his invention, the hardest metal in existence. Barbicane stages a demonstration using a puny cannon and demolishes Nicholl's material (and a portion of the countryside).

However, President Ulysses S. Grant requests that Barbicane cease development of his invention, as other, nervous countries warn that continuing work on Power X could be considered an act of war. Barbicane agrees, but when he discovers that pieces of Nicholl's metal retrieved from the demonstration have somehow been converted into an extremely strong yet lightweight ceramic, he cannot resist the chance to construct a spaceship to travel to the Moon. He recruits Nicoll to help build the ship. Meanwhile, Nicholl's daughter Virginia (Debra Paget) and Barbicane's assistant Ben Sharpe (Don Dobbins) are attracted to each other.

When completed, Barbicane, Nicholl and Sharpe board the spaceship and, amid much fanfare, take off. Once they are in outer space, the strongly religious Nicholl reveals that he has sabotaged the vessel, believing that Barbicane has flouted God's laws. However, when it is discovered that Virginia has stowed away, Nicholl cooperates with Barbicane in a desperate attempt to save her. Sharpe is knocked out, and he and Virginia are placed in the safest compartment of the ship. Barbicane and Nicholl then fire rockets that send the young couple on their way back to Earth, while the two scientists land on the Moon in another section, with no way off. However, they are able to signal to the young couple that they have managed to reach the Moon safely.