The Groundstar Conspiracy

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The Groundstar Conspiracy
TheGroundstarConspiracy.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by Lamont Johnson
Written by Douglas Heyes
Based onThe Alien
by L. P. Davies
Produced by Frank Arrigo
Earl A. Glick
Hal Roach Jr.
Trevor Wallace
Starring George Peppard
Michael Sarrazin
Christine Belford
Cinematography Michael Reed
Edited by Edward M. Abroms
Music by Paul Hoffert
Color process Technicolor
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • 21 June 1972 (1972-06-21)
Running time
95 minutes
CountriesCanada
United States
LanguageEnglish

The Groundstar Conspiracy is a 1972 American neo-noir crime film directed by Lamont Johnson. It stars George Peppard and Michael Sarrazin. [1] [2]

Contents

Douglas Heyes' screenplay (written under his frequent pseudonym, Matthew Howard) was adapted very freely from L. P. Davies' 1968 novel, The Alien. It was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and produced by Hal Roach Productions [3] in Canada.

Plot

Employee John Welles attempts to steal rocket booster plans from the Groundstar facility. His attempt goes awry and he is badly disfigured in an explosion and barely escapes. He stumbles to the home of Nicole Devon, and collapses. She calls an ambulance, the authorities are alerted, and soon Welles is operated on, given plastic surgery and interrogated by a hard-boiled government official named Tuxan, but Welles claims to have no memory of his crime. In fact, he claims no memory of his life at all, save for brief dream-like flashes of a woman on a beach and the ruins of a Greek temple.

Despite Tuxan's brutal interrogation techniques, consisting of electro-shock and water submersion, Welles still maintains his story of total amnesia. Tuxan allows Welles to escape, hoping he will lead them to the people behind the attempted theft. Welles goes to Nicole's home and begs her to help him remember, but she knows nothing. They fall in love as Tuxan keeps them under surveillance.

Eventually, the conspirators behind the attempted theft are found and Tuxan reveals the truth to Welles, who still cannot remember any details of the crime. John Welles actually died following surgery the day after the Groundstar explosion. The man we have come to know as Welles is really Peter Bellamy, a government employee whose girlfriend recently drowned in Greece. Bellamy, feeling that life was no longer worth living or remembering, volunteered to have his memory wiped and to play Welles in order to draw the conspirators into the open.

Cast

Production

The film was based on the 1968 novel The Alien by L. P. Davies. Universal bought film rights in June 1968 prior to publication and assigned Dick Berg to produce. [4] Douglas Heyes was to have filmed the work under the title The Alien starring Robert Stack, Geneviève Bujold and David Janssen, but Bujold leaving the project led to delays in shooting and a new cast. [5]

In July 1971 Universal announced that Michael Sarrazin and George Peppard would star in a film version called The Plastic Man. [6] It would be directed by Lamont Johnson and be a co production between Universal and Hal Roach Productions. [7]

Filming started in Vancouver, Canada on 2 August 1971 with Carol White as the female lead. Shortly into filming White asked to be released and was replaced by Christine Belford. White wanted to go because a production delay meant she was in danger of missing the start date on Made . [8] (Candice Bergen and Tuesday Weld were offered the role but asked for too much money.) All White's footage had to be re-shot. [9]

Peppard was paid $400,000. [9]

The film was shot at the Burnaby campus of Simon Fraser University and the Panorama Mountain Resort. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) - Lamont Johnson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. ↑ GROUNDSTAR CONSPIRACY, The Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 39, Iss. 456 (1 January 1972): 163.
  3. ↑ This is the Canadian successor company, not the original company founded by American director and producer Hal Roach.
  4. ↑ Martin, Betty. "Kennedy, Mitchum Signed for Film Roles", Los Angeles Times, 1 July 1968: e25.
  5. ↑ "The David Janssen Archive".
  6. ↑ Weiler, A. H. "Emperor George?: He's Emperor George C. Scott", The New York Times, 25 July 1971: D13.
  7. ↑ Murphy, Mary. "Peppard as 'Plastic' Star", Los Angeles Times, 9 July 1971: g11.
  8. ↑ Murphy, Mary. "Italian Film Lead for Dustin", Los Angeles Times, 31 August 1971: e11.
  9. 1 2 Jennings, C Robert. "Film Industry Making It in Vancouver: Film Industry in Vancouver Films Making It in Vancouver", Los Angeles Times, 21 November 1971: x1.
  10. ↑ Spaner, David. Dreaming in the Rain: How Vancouver Became Hollywood North by Northwest, Arsenal Pulp Press (1 September 2004)
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