First Men in the Moon (also known H.G. Wells First Men in the Moon) is a 1964 British science fiction film produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Nathan Juran, and starring Edward Judd, Martha Hyer and Lionel Jeffries. The film, distributed by Columbia Pictures, is an adaptation by screenwriter Nigel Kneale of H. G. Wells' 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon. Ray Harryhausen provided the stop-motion animation effects, which include the Selenites, giant caterpillar-like "Moon Cows" and the large-brained Grand Lunar.

Plot

In 1964, the United Nations sends a rocket to the Moon. A multi-national group of astronauts land, believing themselves to be the first lunar explorers. However, they discover a battered Union Jack flag and a handwritten note, dated some 65 years earlier, claiming the Moon on behalf of Queen Victoria. The note is written on the back of a court summons for Katherine Callender from the village of Dymchurch in England.