The Astronaut (1972 film)

Last updated
The Astronaut
GenreDrama
Teleplay by Gerald Di Pego
Charles Kuenstle
Robert Biheller
Story byCharles Kuenstle
Robert Biheller
Directed by Robert Michael Lewis
Starring Jackie Cooper
Monte Markham
Music by Gil Melle
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer Harve Bennett
Production locationsUniversal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
Cinematography Alric Edens
Editors Les Green
John Kaufman
Running time73 minutes
Production companiesSilverton Productions
Universal Television
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseJanuary 8, 1972 (1972-01-08)

The Astronaut is a 1972 American made-for-television science fiction film directed by Robert Michael Lewis and starring Jackie Cooper and Monte Markham. It follows a man who has been hired to impersonate an astronaut who died during the first crewed mission to Mars. The movie was made for ABC for its movie of the week franchise. Real-life astronaut Wally Schirra appears in a cameo role as himself.

Contents

Plot

Television coverage of Brice Randolph, the first astronaut on the surface of Mars, is interrupted, indicating that the signal has been lost. Shortly afterward, Eddie Reese is recruited and shown what happened after the TV signal was interrupted: Brice reported something penetrating his EVA suit and soon expired. The other astronaut lifted off alone.

NASA, fearing their project will be canceled, needs to keep it a secret until they have answers about what exactly happened. Reese undergoes surgical alterations and begins learning his role as Brice. Upon the arrival of the spacecraft back on Earth, the splashdown site is altered so that the press is unaware of Reese being brought to join the returning space crew. Reese, maintaining the cover, is now tasked with playing his role with the dead man's wife, Gail. Uneasy about being intimate with another man's wife, Reese unwittingly betrays himself to her, raising her suspicions.

Eventually, NASA determines what happened on Mars and is ready to let Reese out of the masquerade. However, Reese and Gail are willing to carry on as if he is Brice Randolph. Reese then hears from a boy, who asked for an autograph, that the Soviets have just launched their own mission to land on Mars. NASA does not warn the Soviets of the dangers that await them; however, Reese and Gail decide to reveal the truth.

Cast

ActorRole
Jackie Cooper Kurt Anderson
Monte Markham Eddie Reese
Col. Brice Randolph
Richard Anderson Dr. Wylie
Robert Lansing John Phillips
Susan Clark Gail Randolph
John Lupton Don Masters
Walter Brooke Tom Everett
James Sikking Astronaut Higgins
Paul Kent Carl Samuels

Reception

AllMovies gave the move 2.5 out of 5 stars. [1] The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction stated that this largely-forgotten film is a major curiosity. It was aired when the Apollo missions to the Moon were still under way. The movie presents a negative view of NASA. According to the encyclopedia, a strong case can be made that Capricorn One plagiarized this film's central situation. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronaut</span> Commander, pilot, or crew member of a spacecraft

An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally reserved for professional space travelers, the term is sometimes applied to anyone who travels into space, including scientists, politicians, journalists, and tourists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moon landing conspiracy theories</span> Claims that the Apollo Moon landings were faked

Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA, possibly with the aid of other organizations. The most notable claim of these conspiracy theories is that the six crewed landings (1969–1972) were faked and that twelve Apollo astronauts did not actually land on the Moon. Various groups and individuals have made claims since the mid-1970s that NASA and others knowingly misled the public into believing the landings happened, by manufacturing, tampering with, or destroying evidence including photos, telemetry tapes, radio and TV transmissions, and Moon rock samples.

<i>Capricorn One</i> 1977 thriller film by Peter Hyams

Capricorn One is a 1978 British-produced American thriller film in which a reporter discovers that a supposed Mars landing by a crewed mission to the planet has been faked via a conspiracy involving the government and—under duress—the crew themselves. It was written and directed by Peter Hyams and produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It stars Elliott Gould as the reporter, and James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O. J. Simpson as the astronauts. Hal Holbrook plays a senior NASA official who goes along with governmental and corporate interests and helps to fake the mission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Cernan</span> American astronaut and lunar explorer (1934–2017)

Eugene Andrew Cernan was an American astronaut, naval aviator, electrical engineer, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the 11th human being to walk on the Moon. As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he remains the most recent person to walk on the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Scott</span> American astronaut and lunar explorer (born 1932)

David Randolph Scott is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and commanded Apollo 15, the fourth lunar landing; he is one of four surviving Moon walkers and the only living commander of a spacecraft that landed on the Moon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skylab 2</span> First crewed mission to Skylab

Skylab 2 was the first crewed mission to Skylab, the first American orbital space station. The mission was launched on an Apollo command and service module by a Saturn IB rocket on May 25, 1973, and carried NASA astronauts Pete Conrad, Joseph P. Kerwin, Paul J. Weitz to the station. The name Skylab 2 also refers to the vehicle used for that mission. The Skylab 2 mission established a twenty-eight-day record for human spaceflight duration. Furthermore, its crew was the first space station occupants ever to return safely to Earth – the only previous space station occupants, the crew of the 1971 Soyuz 11 mission that had crewed the Salyut 1 station for twenty-four days, died upon reentry due to unexpected cabin depressurization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skylab 4</span> Third crewed mission to Skylab

Skylab 4 was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew aboard the first American space station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Fincke</span> American astronaut and USAF colonel (born 1967)

Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space. His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015.

<i>Marooned</i> (1969 film) 1969 American science fiction film by John Sturges

Marooned is a 1969 American science fiction film directed by John Sturges and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus and Gene Hackman about three astronauts who are trapped and slowly suffocating in space. It was based on the 1964 novel Marooned by Martin Caidin. While the original novel was based on the single-pilot Project Mercury, the film depicted an Apollo command and service module with three astronauts and a space station resembling Skylab. Caidin acted as technical adviser and updated the novel, incorporating appropriate material from the original version.

<i>Voyage</i> (novel) 1996 novel by Stephen Baxter

Voyage is a 1996 hard science fiction novel by British author Stephen Baxter. The book depicts a crewed mission to Mars as it might have been in another timeline, one where John F. Kennedy survived the assassination attempt on him on 22 November 1963. Voyage won a Sidewise Award for Alternate History, and was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1997.

<i>The Astronauts Wife</i> 1999 film by Rand Ravich

The Astronaut's Wife is a 1999 American science fiction thriller film directed and written by Rand Ravich, in his feature directorial debut. It stars Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron.

<i>The Fifth Man</i> (novel) 2002 novel by John B. Olson and Randall S. Ingermanson

The Fifth Man is a 2002 futuristic Christian novel by John B. Olson and Randall S. Ingermanson.

<i>Battle Beyond the Sun</i> 1959 science fiction film

Battle Beyond the Sun is a 1962 science fiction film. It is an English-dubbed and re-edited American version of Nebo Zovyot, a 1959 Soviet science fiction film. Roger Corman acquired the Soviet film for US distribution and hired a young film-school student named Francis Ford Coppola to "Americanize" it.

<i>RocketMan</i> (1997 film) 1997 film by Stuart Gillard

RocketMan is a 1997 American comic science fiction film directed by Stuart Gillard and starring Harland Williams, Jessica Lundy, William Sadler, and Jeffrey DeMunn. A partial remake of the 1967 film, The Reluctant Astronaut, it was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures, and was released on October 10, 1997.

<i>Doomsday Machine</i> (film) 1972 American film

Doomsday Machine, also known as Escape from Planet Earth, is an American science fiction film mostly filmed in 1967 but completed without the original cast or sets in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space architecture</span> Architecture of off-planet habitable structures

Space architecture is the theory and practice of designing and building inhabited environments in outer space. This mission statement for space architecture was developed at the World Space Congress in Houston in 2002 by members of the Technical Aerospace Architecture Subcommittee of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The architectural approach to spacecraft design addresses the total built environment. It is mainly based on the field of engineering, but also involves diverse disciplines such as physiology, psychology, and sociology.

<i>Nebo Zovyot</i> 1959 Soviet science fiction film

Nebo Zovyot is a 1959 Soviet science fiction adventure film directed by Aleksandr Kozyr and Mikhail Karyukov. It was filmed at Dovzhenko Film Studios in 1959 and premiered September 12, 1959.

<i>The Throne of Saturn</i> (novel) 1971 novel by Allen Drury

The Throne of Saturn is a 1971 science fiction/political novel by Allen Drury that explores the preparations for a near-future crewed mission to the planet Mars.

<i>Mission Mars</i> (film) 1968 film directed by Nicholas Webster

Mission Mars is a 1967 American science fiction film. It was produced by Everett Rosenthal, with a screenplay by Mike St. Clair from a story by Aubrey Wisberg, and directed by Nick Webster.

References

  1. The Astronaut Review Retrieved on 6-15-2020 https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-astronaut-v123780
  2. The Astronaut SciFi Encyclopedia http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/astronaut_the