only to see alien spacecraft darting about in the sky. He approaches cautiously and sees human-looking slaves being used for mining by equally human-shaped captors wearing spacesuits and helmets and bearing weapons. One of the slaves escapes and runs into Draper; an alien spaceship blasts the area as the two escape. Draper notices the stranger is wearing black bracelets just like the one he found in the grave. Draper rescues the stranger and takes him back to the safety of the cave. The aliens bombard the mine area that night and depart. Later, when he and the stranger investigate, they find the dead bodies of the other slaves. Draper names his new acquaintance "Friday," after the character in Robinson Crusoe. At first, Draper is wary of his new companion, but they gradually grow to trust and like each other. Soon, Draper begins to teach him to speak English. A portion of the passing overhead meteoroid explodes, showering their area with a thick black ash. Draper is buried under the heavy material, but Fridaywith his greater strengthsaves Draper and shares his "air pills", which provide oxygen. After a while, the alien spacecraft return, tracking Friday by his bracelets. Draper tries to remove the bracelets with a wire saw. When the aliens blast the castaways' hiding place, Draper, Friday, and Mona flee north through underground Martian canals. They eventually surface near the polar icecap. Exhausted, freezing, and nearly out of the air pills, they build a snow shelter. Draper finally manages to cut off Friday's bracelets shortly before the meteoroid crashes into the ice cap; the resulting explosion and firestorm melts the ice and snow, saving them from freezing to death. Shortly thereafter, Draper detects an approaching spaceship. He fears it is the returning aliens, but his portable radio picks up an English-speaking voice; it is an Earth rescue ship! A capsule is seen descending, and the film ends with Mars receding in the distance as the credits scroll. Cast Paul Mantee as Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper, USN Victor Lundin as Friday Adam West as Colonel Dan McReady, USAF Barney the Woolly Monkey as Mona. Production Exterior locations were shot mostly at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park, California. Special effects by Lawrence Butler and Academy Award-winning matte artist Albert Whitlock gave the film the benefit of "big-studio resources usually lacking in movies about outer space". Whitlock provided the matte paintings