One of my favourite regular television events in my youth was a Sunday afternoon movie-screening program called Sci-fi Theater. Produced by WUTV, channel 29, in Grand Island, New York, this must-see series was 'hosted' by a human eye ball. It filled the screen; E.C.U. (extreme close-up), to use proper parlance. While the viewer was treated to this fresh-looking flickering thing, there was a Douglas Rain-like voice introducing us to the movie. I seem to recall the V.O. was the same every week, regardless of what movie was slotted. And slotted they were: Attack of the Monsters; Demon Planet; Queen of Blood; Five; Battle in Outer Space; (the awesome) King Kong Escapes; Journey to the Seventh Planet; and Voyage to the End of the Universe.
We talked about these movies the next day at school. What we thought, and so on. In the case of Voyage, I remember my friends and I speaking in terms of 'boring'. It was a talky film. There were no monsters. 'People were looking at other people on view-screens all the time', that sort of thing.
Just a few years later I found out that Voyage to the End of the Universe was in fact a 1963 Czech-produced movie called Ikarie XB 1, which was bought by the fine folks at American International Pictures who then cut it down, and re-cut, to make a matinee picture.
I'd known about the highly-regarded original film for years as it was always profiled in any serious book on SF movies.
Cut to the future: In 2005, Ikarie XB 1 was released with English subtitles.
When I get a chance I will watch....
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