20 Million Miles to Earth 
50th Anniversary Edition DVD cover Directed by
Nathan H. Juran Produced by
Charles H. Schneer Written by
Bob Williams Christopher Knopf Starring
William Hopper Joan Taylor Frank Puglia Cinematography Irving Lippman
Carlo Ventimiglia Editing by
Edwin Bryant Distributed by
Columbia Pictures Release
date(s) June 1957 Running time 82 minutes Country
United States Language
English 20 Million Miles to Earth is a 1957 American science fiction film written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran. As with several other Schneer-Columbia collaborations, it was developed to showcase the stop-motion animation talents of Ray Harryhausen.
Plot
The government of the United States, along with The Pentagon organizes the first interplanetary expedition to the planet Venus. The spacecraft XY-21 with a crew of seventeen successfully reaches the planet 20 million miles away and vast mineral resources and precious raw materials are discovered on the planet, but atmospheric conditions are extremely harsh and cannot support life from Earth, and several members of the expedition die because of the conditions. None of this is actually seen, but is all explained in dialogue later on in the film.
On the return journey, thirteen months after leaving, the rocket is crippled by a meteor and crashes ...
