Starship C-57D

Starship C-57D (or C-57-D, as in the May 14, 1955 screenplay draft) is the fictional flying saucer starship, first presented in the 1956 science fiction movie "Forbidden Planet".

Background

In that movie, it was designated as the "United Planets Cruiser C-57D". No ship name was given to it. It was decided to present the C-57D as a flying saucer because of the rash of UFO sightings across the country at that time. This represented the first human-made flying saucer spacecraft in film. Later, the C-57D filming props were used in several episodes of the 1959 "Twilight Zone" TV series, sometimes altered, and never using the original "C-57D" designation.

"Forbidden Planet" film production

To create the illusion of the C-57D, the movie production studio created a stage set of the ship's interior command and mezzanine decks, a 60-foot semicircular mockup of the landed ship's lower half (with support pedestal and landing ramps), and three miniature filming ship models, 22 inches, 44 inches, and 88 inches in diameter. With the internal movement mechanisms and red neon engine light, the 88-inch miniature weighed 300 pounds. Estimated cost of the three miniatures was about $20,000.

Ship in the context of "Forbidden Planet"

* a military space patrol cruiser of the United Planets federation.
* over 100 feet in diameter, possibly as much as 160 or 175 feet diameter, depending on source.
* nuclear powered.
* quanto-gravitetic hyperdrive (for faster-than-light speed transit through the hyperspace dimensional medium).
* anti-gravity force equipped for planet landings and liftoffs.
* armed with multiple three-billion-electronvolt neutron-beam "blaster" cannon
* crew complement of 19 or 20, depending on source
* established hyperspace speed approximately 17 times the speed of light — 16.7 light years distance (Earth to Altair) in 378 days
* central landing pedestal deploys beneath ship to support ship on landing.
* three boarding ramps deploy in tripod arrangement beneath ship for crew egress and access.
* central spherical astrogator on command deck for ship piloting.
* mezzanine deck above command deck is accessed by crew "lift poles".
* "DC" stations provide protective crew stasis during transition between hyperspace and normal space.
* interstellar radio communication, "... to short-circuit the continuum on a five- or six-parsec level."
* carries a small combination tractor/land vehicle.
* carries electronic fence posts and deployable field-use neutron-beam "blaster" cannons for base camp protection.

Appearances in "Twilight Zone" episodes

* 1960 "Third From the Sun" — Here the original C-57D astrogator is seen, as well as the ship.
* 1960 "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" — Here the C-57D was shown flying upside down.
* 1961 "The Invaders" — A facsimile of an original C-57D filming model was crushed by a giant woman.
* 1962 "To Serve Man"
* 1962 "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby"
* 1963 "Death Ship" — This episode makes the greatest use of stock and new footage of the saucer; herein, it is identified as the Space Cruiser E-89, patrolling the 51st star system in the year 1997. Here the C-57D is shown using downward-directed rocket thrust propulsion.
* 1963 "On Thursday We Leave for Home"

Model kit

The C-57D was recreated in 2001 by Polar Lights as a 28-inch diameter (1:72 scale) plastic model kit.

References

* The movie images and subtitles from 1999 and 2006 Forbidden Planet movie DVD releases.
* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/ Internet Movie Database.
* 1979 CINEFANTASTIQUE Magazine Double-Issue (Volume 8, Number 2 and Volume 8, Number 3) — Article: "MAKING FORBIDDEN PLANET" by Frederick S. Clarke and Steve Rubin.
* Forbidden Planet Screenplay Draft — May 14, 1955.