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Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a 1964 science fiction film retelling of the classic novel by Daniel Defoe. It was directed by Byron Haskin, produced by Aubrey Schenck and starred Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin and Adam West.
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper (Paul Mantee) and Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West) are the crew of Mars Gravity Probe 1. When they reach the planet, they are forced to exhaust their fuel to avoid an imminent collision with a meteor. With the ship now stuck in orbit, they have no choice but to eject to the surface, the first men on Mars. McReady is killed in the landing. Draper is stranded, with only a monkey named Mona for company.
As the days grow into months, Draper slowly begins to crack from the prolonged isolation. He watches helplessly as his ship, an inaccessible "supermarket", periodically crosses the sky. Without fuel, the ship does nothing when he orders it to land. One day, while walking about with Mona, Draper notices a rock standing in an unnatural position, as if deliberately planted as a marker. He looks at the ground around it and sees bones. He brushes away at the soil to expose the remains of a hand in a black bracelet. He digs up the rest of the skeleton and determines that the creature was murdered, as the skull was charred. Frightened, he signals his ship to self destruct to remove all signs of his presence. Just in time as it turns out, as Draper sees a ship descend and land just over the horizon. At first, he believes it to be a rescue ship from Earth. In the morning, he heads towards the landing site, only to see an advanced alien craft in the sky. Realizing his error, he approaches cautiously and sees slave labor being used for mining. One of the slaves (Victor Lundin) escapes, running into Draper. The alien ships blast the area as the two flee. The stranger has black bracelets on his wrists just like the one Draper found earlier. That night, they witness the aliens blast the mine area and depart. When they investigate, they find the dead bodies of the other slaves.
After a while, the aliens return, tracking Friday by his bracelets. The aliens blast the castaways' hiding place, forced Draper, Friday and Mona to flee through the underground Martian canals. They eventually end up at the polar icecap. Exhausted, freezing and nearly out of air pills, they build a snow shelter "just like the Eskimos." Draper finally succeeds in cutting Friday's bracelets off. A meteor (probably the one from the beginning of the film) crashes into the ice cap, creating a firestorm and melting the snow. Just then, they track an approaching spaceship. At first, Draper believes it to be the enemy again, but then their radio broadcasts a human voice. Draper identifies himself, and a lander comes down to pick up Draper and his companions. The credits then roll as Mars recedes in the background. Spoilers end here.
ProductionMany of the Mars scenes were filmed in Death Valley, California, at Zabriskie Point. The alien mining ships are identical to the Martian war machines from the 1953 version of The War of the Worlds. In fact, they were the same, recycled props. Byron Haskin also directed the earlier film. These ships are often confused with the aliens' space craft, but this is incorrect. Draper sees a single ship land and depart. The ships that repeatedly blast away at the planet's surface are apparently the aliens' version of mining equipment. Cast
SongsTwo songs were inspired by and named after the movie. One was sung by Lundin himself, the other by Johnny Cymbal. See also
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