In the year 2015, spaceship Interstellar Colony One, or Spaceship IC-1 is an attempt by Earth to colonize space. The population of Earth is to a point where it can no longer support the human race. The ship is on its way to an Earthlike planet they call Earth 2. It is a joint venture between the U.S., Canada and Britain. The journey should take about 25 years to complete.
The crew consists of Captain Mead Ralston (Bill Williams), his wife Jan (Norma West), who is in charge of education, Doctor Steven Thomas (John Cairney) and his wife Dr. Helen Thomas (Linda Marlowe). There are two other married couples aboard the ship, John and Kate Saunders (Jeremy Longhurst) and (Kathleen Breck). John is the chief engineer and Kate is a Botanist. Then there is Carl and Joyce Walcott (Donald Churchill and Margo McLennan). Carl and Joyce are computer experts. In addition there are two men and two women cryogenically frozen in suspended animation. Besides them there are three children aboard. All are boys. One each belongs to the Thomases, the Saunderses and the Walcotts. The strangest of all is Dr. Garth (John Lee). He is called a closed cycle man. He is a robot of sorts. In essence he is part human and part computer.
The ship has been in space for a year. Captain Ralston keeps a tight ship and does not allow a breach of any rules. When Helen is diagnosed to have a pancreatic infection her husband Steven wants to turn around and head back to Earth. Originally the crew was determined on the basis of their intelligence and their health. No provision was made for illnesses. Helen is diabetic but there is no insulin on board. Captain Ralston will not abort the mission and return to Earth. Anyone who gets sick on board is allowed to die to preserve the purity of the species.
Helen understands the situation and is willing to accept the consequences. She does, however want to have another child before that ultimate happens. She wants to have a girl but the Captain refuses to allow any deviation from the set plan. Steve is adamant that the ship should turn around. Since Helen is not allowed to become pregnant she commits suicide so that Steven doesn’t have a reason to try to convince Ralston to turn back. This sends Steven over the edge and, along with some like minded crew members, he takes over the ship, but not everyone is in agreement.
“Spaceflight IC-1: An Adventure in Space” was made in 1965 but not released until 1967, and was directed by Bernard Knowles. It is a British science-fiction movie. It was produced by Lippert Films and distributed by 20th Century Fox.
The movie is basically a soap opera in space. There aren’t going to be very many people who like it. It is a rather plain and mundane film but there is something about it that may keep some people watching. Whether it’s because you’re addicted to soap operas or you are just waiting for something interesting to happen are probably the only reasons. If you’re looking for science fictiony stuff, don’t. The highlight of the film is the “closed cycle man”, which is basically a head in an upside down fishbowl. He isn’t even a robot, just a head on top of a computer box. He is considered the model for the spaceman of the future. He’s also pretty useless.
There also seems to be a cold war flavor inserted into the plot. The entire mission is run by an organization called RULE. What that stands for is never explained but the implication is that it is a totalitarian regime that does not tolerate any deviation from its orders. Ralston seems to be the personification of RULE aboard the ship. He is willing to pronounce the death penalty to anyone who rebels. He is also not above threatening to destroy the ship rather than have the people aboard be allowed to decide anything for themselves. This leads one to think that any future world would end up just as dystopian as the one they left behind.