First Spaceship on Venus [Silent Star][Der Schweigende Stern] (Original photograph from the 1960 film)

Beverly Hills, CA: VEB DEFA-Studio fur Spielfilme [DDDE] / Crown International Pictures, 1960. Vintage borderless still photograph from the 1960 East German film "First Spaceship on Venus." Based on the 1951 Stanislaw Lem novel "The Astronauts." DEFA production company rubber stamp to the verso. Featuring an image of Yoko Tani patching up an injury on her shipmate Julius Ongewe.

An intentionally multicultural crew of astronauts travels to Venus to attempt to make contact with Venusians, who have left a message on Earth deep in the Gobi desert, only to find that the warlike Venusians have all been killed by their own nuclear weapons. The astronauts return to Earth to spread their message of peace and nuclear disarmament, an apt message for the Cold War period in which it was created.

Shot on location in East Germany.

Ultimately an agreeably interesting artifact of its time, with lengthy diatribes and cheesy set design, source novel author Stanislaw Lem heartily disapproved of the film adaptation. The heavily-edited US release cut all references to Hiroshima and swapped the characters of the Russian and American astronauts, though the uncut version would be re-released in 2004 under its original name "The Silent Star."

7 x 5.25 inches. Lightly toned, else Fine.

Mystery Science Theater 211.