effect without special projection equipment. In addition to his original productions, Lippert reissued older films to theaters under his own brand name, including several Hopalong Cassidy westerns and the Laurel and Hardy feature Babes in Toyland (reissued as March of the Wooden Soldiers). Lippert read a 1949 Life magazine article about a proposed trip to and landing on the Moon. He rushed into production his version called Rocketship X-M, released a year later in 1950; he changed the film's destination to Mars to avoid copying exactly the same idea being utilized by producer George Pal in his large-budget, high-profile Destination Moon. Rocketship X-M succeeded in becoming the first post-war science fiction outer space drama to appear in theaters, but only by 20 days, while capitalizing on all the publicity surrounding the Pal film. More importantly, it became the first feature film drama to warn of the dangers and folly of full-scale atomic war. Dealings and disputes with trade unions In 1951, Lippert was anxious to sell his films to television. The American Federation of Musicians became involved, and Lippert had to rescore some of the films and pay an amount to the musicians' music fund. Also in 1951, he clashed with the Screen Actors Guild when he sold his films to television. He was blackballed by the Guild, as a result. He was going to make films for television with Hal Roach, Jr., but problems with the Screen Actors Guild led to their cancellation. He ended up making only two, Tales of Robin Hood and Present Arms (released as As You Were). |In October 1951, Lippert signed a three-picture deal with the recently blacklisted Carl Foreman. He also signed a two-picture deal with blacklisted Paul Henreid but no films appear to have resulted. In 1951, he entered into an arrangement with Famous Artist Corporation to make features with their talent. By January 1952, however, the SAG dispute had not been resolved and Lippert announced he was leaving film production. Hammer Films In 1951, Lippert signed a four-year production and distribution contract with the British company Hammer Films by which Lippert would distribute Hammer movies in America, and Hammer would distribute Lippert's films in the UK. To ensure familiarity with American audiences, Lippert insisted on an American star supplied by him in the Hammer films he was to distribute. The first film produced under the contract was The Last Page, which