Moonwolf

1959 film

6 May 1959 (1959-05-06) (West Germany)
16 January 1960 (1960-01-16) (Finland)
11 May 1966 (1966-05-11) (United States)

Running time

90 minCountriesWest Germany
FinlandLanguageGerman

Moonwolf (German: Zurück aus dem Weltall; Finnish: Avaruusraketilla rakkauteen) is a 1959 West German-Finnish science fiction film directed by Georges Friedland and Martin Nosseck. The film is loosely based on the 1906 novel White Fang by Jack London.^[1]

Plot

The Federal Republic of Germany decides to send a wolf dog named Wolff into space aboard a rocket, but there are problems with Wolff's feeding, so it is decided to bring the dog back to the earth's surface, resulting in the rocket carrying Wolff landing in Finnish Lapland. Dr. Holm (Carl Möhner) and Professor Robert (Richard Häussler) go to Finland to find out where the rocket landed. During the trip, Holm tells Robert about his previous research trip to Finland, when he met Ara (Anneli Sauli), the daughter of the owner of the weather station, and from where he initially brought Wolff with him to Germany.

Cast

Carl Möhner as Dr. Peter Holm
Anneli Sauli as Ara
Helmut Schmid as Johann
Paul Dahlke as Ara's father
Richard Häussler as Professor Robert
Ingrid Lutz as Ilona
Horst Gentzen as Prof. Robert's assistant
Åke Lindman as a lumberjack

Production

Most of the exterior shots of the film were shot in Finnish Lapland, and some of the interior shots were shot in the halls of Suomen Filmiteollisuus (SF) in Helsinki during April-May 1958. The rest of the interior shots were shot in the studios of CCC Film in West Berlin.^[1] According to cinematographer Esko Töyri, SF's share of the financing of the co-production film was about 80%, and Töyri's share of filming was about 70-75%.^[1]

Release

In the United States, the English-dubbed version of the film was distributed by Allied Artists Pictures and released in 1966.^[1]^[2] On video, the film was distributed by Sinister Cinema.^[1]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Avaruusraketilla rakkauteen". Elonet (in Finnish). National Audiovisual Institute. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
^ "Moonwolf (1966)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
^ "Sci Fi MOON FOLF*". sinistercinema.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.