Robinson Crusoe On Mars

Question: For someone stranded on Mars for several months, Mantee's hair and sideburns seem remarkably well-groomed, even, and trimmed! (He could have cut his hair with his knife, but wouldn't it have looked more shaggy and uneven than it does)?

Answer: In the movie before he discovers his water supply and watches the survival video, he is shown grooming himself and shaving.

Question: Was Robinson Crusoe On Mars scientifically plausible when it was made in 1964? Aged eight, I watched this movie on release. Even then I knew it was a movie, not a scientific documentary. Nevertheless, I understand that it was once seriously believed there were canals on the surface of Mars. (I even had a children's pictorial encyclopaedia which showed Mars criss-crossed by canals.) After crash-landing on Mars astronaut Kit Draper (Paul Mantee) discovers that the Martian canals were made by intelligent, technologically advanced beings millennia ago. Could anybody in the scientific community have believed this in 1964? Kit Draper discovers ways of creating oxygen, so he does not suffocate; he then finds water sources, vegetation he can eat and a coal like rock that burns to make fires. He witnesses extra-terrestrial aliens visiting Mars in space ships. Was this, by any stretch of the imagination, regarded as even remotely credible in 1964? Or was it pure Hollywood hokum?

Rob Halliday

Answer: This is pure Hollywood fiction, never meant to be science-based fact, and was typical of sci-fi films of that era such as: War of the Worlds, Invaders From Mars, The Martian Chronicles, and others. Many were based on early-to-mid-20th century science-fiction novels when little was scientifically known about any of the planets. Authors imagined what Mars was like purely to entertain readers. After the 1960s, as more was scientifically known about Mars, films became more realistic, although the 2012 Disney film, "John Carter," was a deliberate throwback to that earlier genre. Also, scientists never believed that there were canals on Mars. In the 1870s, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was mapping Mars through a telescope. He described the long, trench-like geographical features as "canali," (Italian for channels). American astronomer Percival Lowell misinterpreted this as "canals" and believed they were of intelligent origin, though other scientists debunked that. Sci-fi writers of the time (H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Boroughs, et al) incorporated Lowell's published theories into their stories.

raywest

It should be noted "John Carter" is based on the 1912 novel "A Princess of Mars."

Bishop73

Revealing mistake: The ground beneath Mantee's feet gives way with him falling through the hole. Boy, that hole sure looked rectangular.

Larry Koehn

More mistakes in Robinson Crusoe On Mars

Draper: Friday, you're gonna learn English if I have to sit on your chest for two months.

More quotes from Robinson Crusoe On Mars

Trivia: Paul Mantee was the main star of this movie and Adam "Batman" West was seen for several minutes at the beginning and the middle of the movie. Two or three years later, Adam West was the main star in Batman and Paul Mantee was one of Catwoman's (Julie Newmar) henchman.

Larry Koehn

More trivia for Robinson Crusoe On Mars

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