1960's "Assignment: Outer Space" marked the solo debut for Italian director Antonio Margheriti, who generally used the Americanized alias 'Anthony M. Dawson' on all his titles, science fiction efforts like "Battle of the Worlds" (Claude Rains), "The Wild Wild Planet," "The War of the Planets," "Planet on the Prowl," and "Snow Devils," moving on to Gothics like "Horror Castle" (Christopher Lee), "Castle of Blood" (Barbara Steele), "The Long Hair of Death" (Steele again), and "Web of the Spider," plus "Lightning Bolt," "The Young, the Evil and the Savage" (Michael Rennie), "Mr. Superinvisible," "Seven Dead in the Cat's Eye" (Anton Diffring), "Killer Fish," "Cannibals in the Streets" (John Saxon), "Yor the Hunter from the Future," and "Alien from the Deep." Originally titled "Space-Men" and distributed by AIP in the US (double billed with "The Phantom Planet"), Italy's debut in the space opera sweepstakes was shooting concurrently with Mario Bava's "Black Sunday" (at the neighboring studio), and set in the year 2116, when travel to orbiting space stations has been normal procedure for years (a nod toward STAR TREK). The unwelcome arrival of big shot reporter Ray Peterson (Rik Van Nutter) causes consternation for one station commander, despite saving the life of a fellow astronaut while losing 500 gallons of hydrogen fuel in the process, and since that life belonged to his sweetheart the expected love triangle results. Of greater import comes news of a runaway spaceship generating enough power to destroy the earth, missiles unable to penetrate its intense heat to stop it so human volunteers must risk their lives in an attempt to sabotage the computer from inside (1958's "The Lost Missile" featured a similar crisis, completely earthbound). The special effects are varied but not that bad for a low budget (missions to both Mars and Venus compensate, apart from that shot of a 1956 Chevy blowing up), the color photography wasted on cramped sets that actually look black and white. Top billed Rik Van Nutter only made a handful of films, but remains best known as CIA agent Felix Leiter in the 1965 James Bond thriller "Thunderball" (he previously appeared with Christopher Lee in "Uncle Was a Vampire," and was married to actress Anita Ekberg for 12 years). Easily the standout performer is Archie Savage, an African American dancer and choreographer from Norfolk, Virginia, whose white hair and easy going countenance contrasts with the rather drab cast of characters, his dependable pilot able to navigate through turmoil without and within. The same futuristic structure would again be used for Margheriti's next epic "Battle of the Worlds," bringing in no less a star than Claude Rains to save the world from another disaster.
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