"In orbit a thousand miles away from Earth, GAMMA ONE, the most distant of the space stations, marks the invisible boundary of man's expansion in the Universe."

With this note at the end of the opening credits, began the first of four Science Fiction films made by Antonio Margheriti for the American Television market: "Wild, Wild Planet". The four Films, produced by the American Mercury International Film for Metro Goldwin Mayer, would have become famous with the name of "Quartet Gamma One," from the name of the space station. Recurrent in all four, just like that which happens with the spaceship "Enterprise" in the successful TV series "Star Trek". The four films were realized in only three months by Antonio, as he had to shoot them simultaneously, with a lot of problems and always for the usual low budget reasons. With the limit of two weeks of shooting time allowed for each one. Also difficult was the fact that the four stories were completely different between them and even the leading actors of the first two changed for the following films. Always, to optimize a location, they were shooting in the same day scenes for different films with different actors. Changing very fast the costumes and the set dressing, to save time in moving the lights or cameras. To be able to recognize the scenes in the cutting room, they were using clapper boards of different colors, one for each film. In this film Antonio also mixes up the various genres, as he liked to do: Science Fiction, Horror, Spy story, Adventure and Action. The result is an opera in a perfect "pop art" draped in the style of those years. 

"The first of the four episodes in the saga of the Space station Gamma 1: "Wild, Wild Planet" is probably the best of the series of movies. Atmosphere, locations and music perfectly combine, creating a "kitsch" effect which remains unaltered by the years." (from the book "Danze Macabre, il cinema di Antonio Margheriti" by Fabio Giovannini, ed. Mystero/Profondo Rosso. 2004) (you can see the book on the links page)

The TV series results was so very much effective, that Metro Goldwin Mayer decided to use it first as a Theatrical release, before then going on to the Television market. In Italy the Quartet was distributed by Titanus and was released one after another with good success. The cast was full of good Italian actors: from Massimo Serato as the Mad Scientist, to Lisa Gastoni, and a very young Franco Nero, in his first appearance on films. 

A video interview made by Rai TV with a young Antonio Margheriti on the set of "Wild, Wild Planet" made in 1964, and a special of the film, also wiht an interview to the beautiful actress Lisa Gastoni (Jane Fate), can be seen in the Photo & Video section. 

Title

Wild, wild Planet

Aka

I Criminali della Galassia (Ita)

Director

Antonio Margheriti (Anthony Dawson)

Story by

Ivan Reiner

Renato Moretti

Screenwriters

Ivan Reiner

Renato Moretti

Photography by

Riccardo Pallottini

Art Director

Piero Poletto

Editor

Otello Colangeli

Music by

Angelo F. Lavagnino

Cast

Tony Russell

Role

Mike Halstead

Jane Fate (Lisa Gastoni)

Connie Gomez

Massimo Serato

Prof. Nurmi

Carlo Giustini

Caine

Franco Nero

Jack

Enzo Fiermonte

Prof. Cuppin

Umberto Raho

Gen. Halstead

Story

In an undefined future, several inexplicable disappearances puts the authorities in a state of alarm. Mike Halstead, one of the more active officers who conducts the investigations, discovers that the missing persons have been kidnapped by mysterious men and women endowed of an inconceivable strength and which appears from nowhere. Mike has a hypothesis which is soon confirmed: in the kidnapping is involved professor Nurmi, a famous scientist who works for the government in a secret laboratory. Mike attacks the secret base with a group of men where Nurmi resides, shrinking the prisoners and carries out upon them crazy experiments trying to manipulate the human race in order to create the perfect race. Mike, together with his men, succeed in saving his girl friend and in destroying the laboratory.

Reviews & Curiosity

According to all the critics and followers of cult Science Fiction Films, it must be noticed in this film by Antonio Margheriti, an important anticipation: The red wave of blood that invades the laboratory, destroying all that she had in front, could only remember the wave of blood in the celebrated sequence of the elevator sequence in "The Shining" (1980) by Stanley Kubrick. 

We should not forget that Kubrick had met Antonio Margheriti and had some of his films to preview at the time of offers of collaboration with Margheriti for "2001, a Space Odyssey".

Edoardo Margheriti

Reviews

The Wild, Wild Planet  (I Criminali della Galassia) (1965)

Or, hey, in Germany, it's Raumschiff Alpha

Review by Joe MacLeod

In 1965, using pretty much the same sets, props, and actors, Antonio Margheriti, aka Anthony Daisies, Anthony M. Dawson, or Anthony Dawson, if you will, directed four Italian Space Operas designed to take America by storm. They failed. I Diafanoidi Vengono da Marte (The Deadly Diaphonoids), La Morte Viene dal Pianeta Aytin, I Diavoli dello Spazio (The Devil Men from Space), and I Criminali della Galassia (Wild, Wild, Planet) live on as, uh, charming examples of what forward-looking Italians in 1965 thought The Future should look like, you know, pointy rocket ships, bad guys wearing black leather and sunglasses, and chicks with pointy bras and the Big Hair. 

Space good guy Commander Mike Halsted travels to the Planet Delphos, home base of Doctor Nurmi, who is busy trying to create the perfect humanoid, and wouldn't you know it, it turns out the perfect humanoid would be a genetic comingling of Dr. Nurmi and Connie, Mike Halstead's gal pal and "perfect specimen" according to the good doctor, rrr-owf! 

Anyway, stuff blows up real good, and there's a huge miniature flood of kabillions of gallons of blood-red scientific fluid, which is probably where Stan Kubrick got that idea for the red and the flooding with the elevator doors in The Shining. Margheriti went on to do such films as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein, and Yor, the Hunter from the Future.

Joe Mac Leod