“The Greatest Exploitation Special Ever”: Destination Moon and Postwar Independent Distribution

Eagle-Lion, an independent film producer and distributor from 1946 to 1951, attempted to compete with the major Hollywood studios by releasing inexpensive films known as programmers that had a unique marketing angle. One of the most successful of these was Destination Moon (1950), which initiated the 1950s boom in science-fiction cinema. The film’s semidocumentary mode was intended to broaden its appeal by differentiating it from more juvenile and fantastic examples of the genre. Despite Destination Moon’s strong performance, Eagle-Lion was unable to achieve sustained success, due in part to the major studios’ continued control of distribution and exhibition.