War of the Satellites is a 1958 independently made American black-and-white science fiction drama film produced and directed by Roger Corman and starring Richard Devon, Dick Miller, and Susan Cabot. The low-budget feature was rapidly conceived, filmed and released to exploit the international media frenzy around the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite, the first in space.
Storyline:
An `unknown force' declares war against planet Earth when the United Nations disobeys warnings to cease and desist in its attempts at assembling the first satellite in the atmosphere.
Project Sigma has been trying to launch manned satellites but each of the satellites is being destroyed as they hit an invisible energy barrier in orbit. A cylinder lands and is found to contain a message written in Latin warning that humanity must be prevented from reaching out into space. If they continue Earth will suffer total annihilation.
Credits:
Dick Miller as Dave Boyer
Susan Cabot as Sybil Carrington
Richard Devon as Dr. Pol Van Ponder
Eric Sinclair as Dr. Howard Lazar
Michael Fox as Jason ibn Akad
Robert Shayne as Cole Hotchkiss
Jered Barclay as John Compo (credited as Jerry Barclay)
John Brinkley as Crew Member
