This is one I asked myself if I ever had seen before? Wasn't sure until the surprise ending. Roddy McDowall gives a strong performance as the apprehensive scientist Sam Conrad on the mission. You just have a feeling from the beginning he's destined for trouble. "The Andy Griffith Show" fans get a treat seeing knockout Susan Oliver from "Prisoner of Love". She's absolutely mesmerizing as a female Martian here also. The top dog Martian was Bryon Morrow who also did TAGS and many classic TV shows. I really enjoyed the story's tense uncertainty throughout. What worse could happen then to have the spaceship's captain bite the dust in the crash landing? They seem all like such nice people.