Spacemaster X-7 1958

A fungus brought from space threatens to grow and spread, devouring everyone in its path.

The Cast

Bill Williams-John Hand
Lyn Thomas-Laura Greeling
Robert Ellis-Pvt. Joe Rattigan
Paul Frees-Dr. Charles T. Pommer /
Rhoda Williams-Stewardess Archer
Joan Barry-Jean Meyers - brunet
Carol Varga-Elaine Frohman
Thomas Browne Henry-Prof. West

The Director: Edward Bernds
The Writers: George Worthing Yates, Daniel Mainwaring, Edward Bernds

Certificate : A

Film Trivia

Moe Howard, of The Three Stooges fame, makes a cameo appearance as a cab driver. Production assistant Norman Maurer was Moe's son-in-law, and director Edward Bernds was a longtime friend and had directed many Three Stooges shorts and several of their features. Moe found himself out of work after more than 25 years when Columbia Pictures closed its Shorts department with no notice early in 1958. Bernds offered Moe the cab driver part, and Moe in turn asked him to take on hire Maurer, who was trying to get a foothold in the film business. Bernds knew Maurer and considered him to be a talented artist, so he hired him as a sketch artists to help the special-effects department.
While sitting in her hotel room, Laura watches TV while an automobile ad is being run. The salesman is Don Lamond. Don was close friends with director Edward Bernds as well as Moe Howard, and was a staple on Los Angeles television in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the scene where Laura enters the train station (Los Angeles' Union Station) you overhear an announcement regarding a departing train. The announcer was none other than Paul Frees, as usual doing multiple voices in a given film.
20th Century-Fox used this low-budget film as a co-feature for its blockbuster release The Fly (1958) in the US. Fox did not put this into a television syndication package. The film has remained almost unseen in the US since its theatrical run.
When Retlinger, the cab driver (played by Moe Howard), is piecing together the sketch from elements on plastic sheets, this was actually an animation drawing board with acme pegs and animation cels.
Edward Bernds: Television news announcer