MovieChat Forums > From the Earth to the Moon (1964) Discussion > Cold war themes in this 1958 version

Cold war themes in this 1958 version

posted 14 years ago by evanwolf
3 replies | jump to latest

In the second act, President Grant stops the project to prevent a world war. Many nations (23?) say deployment of the munitions technology would be an attempt to rule the world and therefore an act of war.

The explosion that destroys the side of a rocky hill (they call it a "mountain") produces side effects like those seen in the footage of the Rocky Flats atomic bomb tests.

The debate between the two scientists echoes those between the atomic era scientists on whether to use or hide this massive force.

[–] dawgpoundjohn 14 years ago

Sounded to me that when President Grant was talking about Power-X, you could substitute it for nuclear power. He says something along the lines of "what you created can be used to make society better, but it can also be used to destroy it."

[–] babettegillette 14 years ago

And yet the two scientists come together to finalize the project. To me, that is a UN sort of plea to unite and work together. At first the rivals from the civil war certainly echo the Cold War, but again these two nutty professors finally make peace and work together.

[–] DrakeStraw 11 years ago

If it was President Grant, it was an anachronism or very early in his term. The story starts in 1868 while Andrew Johnson was still president. The character appeared more like Grant with the beard which wasn't a Johnson feature.

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Drake

FYI

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