Hammer/Lippert production with sci-fi elements.

I was surprised this film had decent performances and production values, since Lippert was involved. The film was made on a low budget, but it wasn't as obvious as many other low budget films from this era. I'm sure the part Hammer Films played helped maintain some higher standards.

I found this film to be entertaining as a drama/crime drama, featuring some sci-fi elements. Don't go into this film expecting a lot of special effects or fantastic science fiction, and you may enjoy it too. I believe stock footage of rockets was used to create most of the "special effects."

The film does go into a lot of detail describing how rockets work, but these details were something new and fresh to audiences of 1953. Of course a lot of these details are well known in this era, and these parts of the film may seem talky and boring. I simply reminded myself of the era in which this film was made, and I made it through the parts that were a bit stiff and talky. Other parts of this film play out like a soap opera, but I made it through that as well. It's really not a bad film if you can overlook a few things. SPOILER: I actually found some suspense toward the end of the film when the main characters seem to be doomed in outer space, because the rocket is inoperable for a brief period.