Riders to the Stars

Infobox Film | name = Riders to the Stars


caption =
director = Richard Carlson
producer =
writer = Curt Siodmak
starring = Richard Carlson
William Lundigan
Robert Karnes
Martha Hyer
Dawn Addams
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = United Artists Corporation
released = January 14, 1954 (U.S. release)
runtime = 81 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0046240
preceded_by =
followed_by =

Riders to the Stars is a science fiction film that was released in 1954 by Ivan Tors Productions.

The head of the secret government project is Dr. Donald Stanton, played by Herbert Marshall. The three selected astronauts are played by William Lundigan, Richard Carlson and Robert Karnes. Martha Hyer plays Lundigan's love interest, while Dawn Addams plays Carlson's girlfriend.

Plot

A group of scientists, led by William Lundigan (Richard Stanton), is investigating a means to recover some meteors before they enter the atmosphere. Their purpose is to discover how they survived in space for so long without their outer shell becoming brittle. For this purpose, they decide to send astronauts into space—something that had never been done before—and they begin secretly recruiting and testing volunteers.

Three rockets are sent into space, each manned by an astronaut. The first attempts to capture a meteor that is too large, and is destroyed as a result. In the second rocket, the pilot has a psychological break-down. The third and final astronaut attempts to capture a meteor, but ends up burning excessive fuel and risks burning up upon re-entry. The recovered meteor is found to be covered in crystal carbon, and the scientists decide this will be used to coat future space missions.

External links

*imdb name|id=0046240|name=PAGENAME
*cite web
url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/231223/Riders-to-the-Stars/overview
title=Riders to the Stars (1954)
publisher=The New York Times
accessdate=2008-05-05
*cite web
url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=17733
title=Riders to the Stars (1954)
publisher=Turner Classic Movies
accessdate=2008-05-05
*cite web
last=Ashlin | first=Scott | year=2008
url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=17733
title=Riders to the Stars (1954)
publisher=1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
accessdate=2008-05-05