"We think women are better suited for space travel than men."
In a secret facility, scientists working on a cryogenics experiment are locked in the freezing chamber and killed. This triggers an expert from OSI, the Office of Scientific Investigation, to be called in. Dr. David Sheppard (Richard Egan) investigates the problem. It is believed there is a saboteur at work. The facility is working on a space station. Things are going haywire. More accidents happen. There are more deaths.
The head of the facility is Dr. Van Ness (Herbert Marshall). However, the facility is run by the supercomputer NOVAC (Nuclear Operative Variable Automatic Computer) and the robots or (robits) GOG and MAGOG. And it appears that someone else is running NOVAC.
"Gog" was released in 1954 and was directed by Herbert L. Strock. There are some interesting “futuristic” aspects to the movie. Solar power. (Bell Labs produced solar cells for space activities in 1953.) Space station (the first space station was launched in 1971 by the Soviets.) Satellites (although Sputnik was the first satellite put into orbit in 1957 by he Soviets, the first TV satellite was launched in 1963.) Cryogenics (the first person to be cryogenically frozen was a 73 year old psychologist Dr. James Bedford in 1967.) They are interesting elements that eventually will come to pass just not the way noted in the movie.
Of course there are other aspects of the movie that are more fiction than futuristic. The windshield wiper on the cryogenics room. Tuning fork aircraft detector. Helio death ray. Weightless room. Just the look of robots, are hilarious. Getting too much of a dose of radiation not being serious.
GOG is the third and final movie produced by Ivan Tors that features the OSI. Although not scientifically accurate it is still fun to watch and a nice little window on how the 50’s looked at the future.