Review of Red Planet Mars

This is one of the most unusual films of the 1950s, though it is somewhat reminiscent of the film THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR. Peter Graves plays a scientist who is trying to communicate with Mars. When this DOES occur, the results are completely unexpected and the film becomes far less of a sci-fi picture and more of a film condemning the Soviet Union. On one level, this is a pretty fascinating movie, as it has a strong "we hate Communism and love live the good old USA" message that is indicative of much of the worry in the Western world about the USSR. Given that Stalin was practically another Hitler, this was understandable but also lead to some super-jingoistic films. At least the film is unusual and it deserves some kudos for originality. Unfortunately, the complete silliness and "schmaltzy" aspects of the film make it all pretty laughable as well! I think that the film's creators were quite earnest and sincere and probably would be horrified that today their artistic vision is almost certain to cause laughter because it is so "over-the-top" in its preachy message. I am a pretty conservative person and believer in Capitalism, but this movie almost made me want to give it all up and join "the other guys" since it was so bad!