ALL SCI-FI

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:47 pm Post subject: Moon Pilot (1962)

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Lightweight Disney sci-fi comedy in which astronaut Tom Tryon ("I Married a Monster from Outer Space") meets space girl Dany Saval just before he's supposed to blast-off for the Moon.

Not as bad as some of the Disney comedies from this era, but certainly bad enough. To acquire the co-stars for this Disney gem, somebody was told to "round up the usual suspects", so they did: Brian Keith, Tommy Kirk, Edmund O'Brien, Bob Sweeney, Nancy Kulp, and Kent Smith.

Directed by James Neilson.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Gord Green · Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2016 7:04 pm Post subject:

This was really an obscure Disney movie!

I don't recall it ever running around where I live, BUT I remember reading the Dell comics adaptation of it.

I think it was kind of a "I Dream of Jeannie" thing.

Pow · Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 8:20 am Post subject:

Saw MP several years ago & found it to be rather slow & on the dull side.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:25 am Post subject:

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Happy 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing! Very Happy

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Bogmeister · Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2019 2:15 pm Post subject:

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I finally got around to watching this, during a marathon on TCM (celebrating the 40th anniversary of the actual moon landing).

After a certain non-human space traveler completes an orbit around the Earth successfully, a hasty decision is made to send a human astronaut on a trip around the moon. The general in charge (Brian Keith) asks for volunteers. No one hastens to raise their hand — an odd preoccupation with a certain timidity which pervades this film. Tom Tryon ends up as a volunteer by accident.

He's actually afraid of heights! Very Happy

Yes, this is a typical lame Disney comedy of the sixties. It's also odd (as I already mentioned). Tryon's role would be later played in similar films by such comedians as Don Knotts — that's whom we usually expect in these comedies. I was accustomed to seeing Tryon in drama — or at least in serious sci-fi like I Married a Monster From Outer Space (1958).

I was impressed by the early scene of the Air Force picking up a space capsule — it looked realistic. But, after that, everything devolves into cutesy possible spy intrigue and actors hamming it up — actors like Edmond O'Brien who, again, are usually better utilized in serious drama.

Tommy Kirk shows up briefly as Tryon's brother. Before I watched this, I thought it would be about Tryon's trip to (or around) the moon. Instead, it's mostly about Tryon running about here (on Earth), usually from an annoying young lady (played by Dany Saval — who, unsurprisingly, did not appear in very many American films. She has a very French accent and is more foreign than Tryon realizes.

Very silly and even ridiculous — but not all that funny.

BoG's Score: 4 out of 10

BoG
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