A philandering wife and a scientist go missing from a top-security base after an experimental rocket launch. Are they on the lam somewhere on Earth or are they dead and excess payload destined to orbit the planet forever? This dull, slow-moving film was the first British science fiction film since 1936's 'Things to Come' but is essentially a simplistic murder mystery with some science fiction trim. Minor American star Howard Duff is the heroic cuckold Dr. Steven Mitchel and the slightly exotic Eva Bartok is Dr. Lisa Frank, the mathematician who is secretly in love with him. Their romance, which they acknowledge in space during an improbable attempt to prove Mitchel's innocence in his wife's disappearance, is heavy-handed and maudlin (and not helped by the overly melodramatic music or Bartok's frequent looks of dewy-eyed adoration). The story is weak and the script amateurish (notably the revelation that one of the base guards might be untrustworthy). Even for the early 1950's the portrayal of manned space travel is ridiculous, especially the scenes where the ship is out of control, but then seems to miraculously right itself (fortunately, as the rocket's emergency wheel seemed stuck). On the ground, the rocket is an impressive, winged multistage affair straight from the cover of the pulps but upon take-off it suddenly turns into either the flying phallus from 'Rocketship XM' (1950) or a V2. Typical for the era, the film includes a bit of 'us or them' space-race mentality, as opined by the General in charge of the base. Weakly directed for Hammer Films by Terence Fisher, well-known for a string of successful horror films beginning in the late 1950's. A film for completist fans only.
Review of Spaceways
