I need the name of an early sci-fi movie, 1950s or early 1960s. I'd call it a C-movie. It was a Mars landing, in a spaceship that looked basically like a coffee can. The seats in the ship were low-backed regular chairs. The elevator taking the crew to the surface was the slowest elevator ever seen. On the surface, they discovered a Mars monster which looked like a giant tin-foil ball spray-painted with lighting effects to make it spooky. I think there were only about 4 crew members. It was a wonderfully awful movie, lots of fun. I'd like to see it again and share it with friends.
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I think it's Mission Mars! I remember some of it a little differently, and don't recall the groovy late 60's music at all! Thanks so much!!!– user55655Nov 11, 2015 at 20:58
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I was really surprised that the movie came out in 1968, because the ship, interior, alien and tin foil ball were so dumb. We were a year away from landing on the moon!– user55655Nov 11, 2015 at 21:59
2 Answers
A slightly better match, Mission Mars, a 1968 film.
Three American astronauts who land on Mars discover the body of a frozen Russian cosmonaut and a mysterious talking orb.
The "coffee can" ship is available around the two minute mark of the video above. Low-backed chair at 2:26. The tin-foil ball creature shows up around the 7 minute mark.
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1Fun fact: The gentleman getting his hair cut in this clip is Darren McGavin who played the dad in A Christmas Story. Nov 14, 2015 at 4:17
Possibly the 1951 Flight to Mars. Looking at clips on the web, it's definitely low budget, and has the low-backed chairs. I haven't found a monster yet, but there are four crew members, wearing what look like garishly colored flightsuits.
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I don't think it's Flight to Mars, I don't remember any interactions with mars inhabitants. Maybe? Nov 11, 2015 at 16:50
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You've indicated that the other movie is the correct one, but I'll keep this answer in case someone's looking for a similar low-budget Mars movie. Nov 12, 2015 at 20:41