SPACE MEN (1960) ** There's less action than most people like in a space flick, an awful lot of people sitting around talking. This problem is eased by the fact that the American overdubs of the Italian actors are hopelessly bombastic, desperately amplifying every nuance to the point of bringing nuances to life that would be unable to exist in a more natural linguistic habitat. That's some of the good part: there are also cheesy special effects, Edwoodesque philosophical pontifications (including one that goes on at such a length as to threaten the film with terminal eclipse-Viva Antonio Marghereti!), and bucketfulls of pseudo-scientific gibberish that sounds like it was a lot of fun inventing (“it rotates gyroscopically” Is my favourite). It's also funny when the captain refuses to take the sole female crew member (a scientist) on a mission because he doesn't want to be subjected to any “opinions” based on irrational female whimsy (this is all offered quite matter-of-factly, in that Italian way). For all that, it must be noted that the estimate of casual space travel in the early 22nd century is a lot closer than 1999 and 2001 or any of those hopelessly ambitious estimations. So maybe Marghereti knows something we don't, but it's more likely he made it up.
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