Antonio Margheriti - The Gamma-One Series

The Gamma-One Series

Margheriti made two of the first ever Italian space movies in 1960 and 1961 respectively; Assignment Outer Space (known as "Space Men" in Italy) and Battle of the Worlds (known as "The Planet of Extinct Men" in Italy).

In 1965, since he was considered an accomplished science-fiction film director who could work wonders with a very small budget, Margheriti was hired by MGM to direct four Italian space movies that became known as the Gamma-One series. He finished all four films in three months. The films in the series were made to be distributed in the USA (sold directly to late-night television) under the following titles: Wild Wild Planet, War of the Planets, War Between the Planets and Snow Devils. A fifth film was later made in the Gamma One series in Japan in 1968 entitled The Green Slime (aka Gamma One: Operation Outer Space) which starred Robert Horton, but Margheriti was not involved with that one.