Wells' First Men in the Moon) is a 1964 British science fiction film, produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Nathan Juran, and starring Edward Judd, Martha Hyer and Lionel Jeffries.

[3] The film, distributed by Columbia Pictures, is an adaptation by screenwriter Nigel Kneale of H. G. Wells' 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon.

Ray Harryhausen provided the stop-motion animation effects, which include the Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows" and the large-brained Grand Lunar.

However, upon embarking on their debut moonwalk, they discover a battered Union Jack flag on the surface and a handwritten note, dated some 65 years earlier, claiming the moon on behalf of Queen Victoria.

Stranger still, the note is written on the back of a court summons for one Katherine Callender from the village of Dymchurch in England.

Attempting to trace Callender in the records office in Dymchurch in Kent, south-east England, the UN authorities discover that she has died, but that her widowed husband Arnold Bedford is still living in a nursing home known as "The Limes".

His fiancée, Katherine Callender, known as Kate, arrives by car (driving herself), visiting the house for the first time.

They meet a nearby neighbour, inventor Joseph Cavor, who wants to buy the cottage, just in case his experiments should damage it.

This is caused by Cavor's assistant, Gibbs, leaving for the local pub instead of watching the boiler used for processing the Cavorite.

While exploring the lunar surface, Bedford and Cavor fall down a vertical shaft, where there is breathable air.

While being herded by them, Bedford attacks a group of Selenites out of fear, killing several, despite Cavor's horrified protests.

They are attacked by a giant caterpillar-like "Moon Bull", which pursues them until the Selenites are able to dispatch it with their ray weapons.

The Selenites quickly learn English and interrogate Cavor, who believes they wish to exchange scientific knowledge.

Bedford flies the sphere up a vertical shaft of light, shattering the massive window-like covering at the top, and he and Kate return to Earth.

In the present, Bedford, the UN party, and newspaper reporters watch on television the latest events on the Moon.

The ruined city begins to crumble and collapse, forcing the astronauts to hastily retreat to the surface.

Ray remembered "Charles would look at me and bring up the same logical arguments, namely that there was no variety in it, and that space exploration had advanced to such a degree that it would seem difficult to make the story seem believable to modern audiences".

This is why he added to the script that the Selenites were wiped out by a cold virus carried to the Moon by the professor, an idea Kneale says he took directly from The War of the Worlds.

[14] Ray Harryhausen used NASA blueprints as inspiration for the UN's lunar lander when he was designing the film's sets.

The spacesuit type worn by the film's UN Astronauts is actually the Windak high-altitude pressure suit,[15] developed for the Royal Air Force.

"Lionel called it 'acting with chalk marks' because we were pointing at things that weren't there and dealing with blue backing and traveling mattes".

[12] He was effusive about Jeffries saying, "Lionel is one of those rare breed of actors who is not only accomplished in his field but also enjoys what he is doing and has the added bonus of having an imagination.

[12] In the scene where Kate is X-rayed by the Selenites, the stop-motion skeleton seen was one that previously appeared in the 1963 movie Jason and the Argonauts.

[18] Among contemporary reviews, Variety wrote, "Ray Harryhausen and his special effects men have another high old time in this piece of science-fiction hokum filmed in Dynamation", adding that "Wells' novel and has been neatly updated", and concluding that "The three principals play second fiddle to the special effects and art work, which are impressive in color, construction and animation".

[19] However, The New York Times wrote, "Only the most indulgent youngsters should derive much stimulation - let alone fun - from the tedious, heavyhanded science-fiction vehicle that arrived yesterday from England".

The producer says Harryhausen felt "fantasy film fans are dead serious about these pictures and have no sense of humor.

[9] This was a returned favor as five years before the real-life event, NASA had given Ray Harryhausen access to its blueprints for reference.