Forbidden Planet (1956)

Science fiction films began to emerge in the 1950s, initially spawned by the Atomic Age and the advent of advances in special effects. Films like Gordon Douglas's THEM! (1954), Jack Arnold's TARANTULA (1955), and Nathan Juran's THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957) had the nuclear bomb or its radioactive residue turning insects like ants and praying mantises into gigantic monsters. There was a tad of science to mostly fiction. Robert Wise's THE DAY THAT THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) was the first mainstream science fiction film to bring an alien (in the human guise of Michael Rennie) from outer space to earth. This would be quickly followed by Byron Haskins THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) based on H.G. Wells novel with Martians invading Earth. But the first science fiction film to set its story outside of our galaxy, on a distant, unknown planet somewhere in the future inhabited by a stocky robot and filmed in bright Metrocolor not black and white was Fred M. Wilcox's FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956).

I have to admit that the thought of watching filmmakers in the 1950s try to tackle an outer space film with the limited special effects technology at their disposal at the time never really appealed to me.  But as I prepared to watch FORBIDDEN PLANET and read up about it, it's evident that this seminal film shaped future television show mavericks and filmmakers from Gene Roddenberry (creator of STAR TREK) to George Lucas (he wrote and directed a little film called STAR WARS) and its influence can be seen in films from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) to Ridley Scott's ALIEN (1979). 

Loosely based on William Shakespeare's play The Tempest (more about that later), FORBIDDEN PLANET'S screenplay is by Cyril Hume based on a story by Irving Block and Allen Adler.  Directed by Fred M. Wilcox, FORBIDDEN PLANET begins with a crew representing the United Planet Federation in the 23rd century arriving in a classic shaped space saucer C57D on the outskirts of the planet Altair IV after a one-year flight. Their mission is to search for survivors from a previous expedition to Altair IV twenty years earlier. Just before the saucer lands, they receive a transmission from a voice warning them to stay away.  Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) disregards the admonition.  The saucer lands on the rocky planet.  A shuttle car comes toward them driven by Robby the Robot (Frank Darro inside; voiced by Marvin Miller). Robby takes Adams along with Lt. "Doc" Ostrow (Warren Stevens) and Lt. Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly) to the compound of Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaira Morbius (Anne Francis). Although she's never seen another man before except her father, Altaira greets the men dressed in a daring mini skirt. 

Dr. Morbius tells Adams that after their expedition landed on Altair IV, an unseen force killed off his crew one by one.  Only Morbius, his wife, and daughter survived (his wife eventually passing away of natural causes). Morbius offers to help their spaceship return to Earth but Adams needs to receive his next orders from Earth. Lt. Farman falls for Altaira and teaches her how to kiss but Altaira's not impressed. Adams catches Farman and Altaira and admonishes both of them.  Back at the spaceship, an invisible entity enters the ship and sabotages some of its equipment. Adams and Doc Ostrow return to visit Morbius the next day. Adams comes across Altaira swimming.  He apologizes to her for his outburst.  They kiss and Altaira is more receptive. Morbius appears and tells Adams and Ostrow about a civilization called the Krell he's been studying that lived on Altair IV 200,000 years before Morbius and his starship landed. Morbius has discovered a Krell device that has enhanced his intellect and an underground power source of shafts and ventilators powered by 9,200 thermonuclear reactors. Adams believes this power source should be brought back to Earth. Morbius is hesitant to share his discovery with humanity. 

The crew members put up an electric perimeter with sensors around the ship to ward of the invisible monster. When the ship's cook (Earl Holliman) asks to go beyond the perimeter to secretly meet with Robby the Robot (who's created 480 bottles of Kansas City bourbon for the cook), the invisible creature sneaks on board again, killing Chief Engineer Quinn (Richard Anderson). Morbius shows up at the ship and warns Adams and the crew they are in mortal danger. Adams sets up a stronger defense with a pair of giant ray guns.  Radar picks up a large blip approaching. The invisible creature strikes the electrified perimeter, revealing its frightening outline. The monster is barely phased by the fence's electric volts. Lt. Farman and two more crew members are killed trying to stop the entity. At the same time, Altaira has a nightmare that awakens Morbius. Strangely, the creature stops attacking.

Adams and Doc return to Morbius's residence to evacuate him and Altaira. Robby the Robot blocks their way until Altaira allows them safe passage. Doc tries the brain booster to unlock the secrets of the Krell.  The apparatus reveals to Doc that the Krell destroyed their own civilization.  Doc's brain is overwhelmed by the apparatus and he dies.  Morbius refuses to leave but Altaira makes up her mind to depart with Adams. The ethereal monster shows up at the compound. Adams figures out that Morbius's enhanced brain from the Krell technology has created an alter ego for Morbius - the invisible monster. The monster tries to burn through the locked doors. Morbius faces off against his Id entity, destroying the monster but dying in the process. Adams takes Ataira and Robby back to the ship.  Back in space, they watch as the planet Altair IV self-destructs, taking 200,000 years of Krell technology with it.

Even with the leaps and bounds the science fiction film genre has made in the last forty plus years, FORBIDDEN PLANET is truly a groundbreaking film if you can get past some of the antiquated wardrobe (miniskirts in space, really?) and lack of scientific knowledge when the film was released in 1956. Cinema's first robot is unveiled with Robby the Robot, created by Dr. Morbius himself. We would become much more familiar with robots i.e., droids in George Lucas's STAR WARS (1977) and Irving Kerschner's THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980) introducing us to C-3PO and R2D2, the great grandchildren of Robby. Robby even seems like a distant cousin to the computer H.A.L. 9000 from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY minus the murderous streak. The bright green color of Altair IV's horizon and rocky, pinnacle landscape are the first interstellar world moviegoers had ever seen. Although there is plenty of scientific gibberish spoken by the crew members, I did hear words like "hyperspace" and "blasters" spoken that would become the norm in the STAR WARS universe and countless other sci-fi movies. 

You can clearly see the importance FORBIDDEN PLANET had on the creation of the television series STAR TREK (1966-1969) created by Gene Roddenberry. FORBIDDEN'S Commander Adams (Leslie  Nielsen) brings the ship's medical officer Doc Ostrow and Lt. Farman with him to meet the planet's only resident Dr. Morbius. In STAR TREK, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) routinely investigated planets with the Enterprise's physician "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelly) and science officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy). FORBIDDEN'S ship C57D has teleporter pods similar (but used differently) to the teleporters that STAR TREK'S crew would use to beam down to a planet's surface. The set and backdrop for the landscape of FORBIDDEN PLANET with its bright colorful horizon would be the standard for many STAR TREK episodes (unless they filmed on location or a studio backlot). 

Commander Adams uses a blaster in FORBIDDEN PLANET.  Captain Kirk had a phaser (basically the same weapon).  The creature created from Morbius's subconscious Id kills several random crew members in FORBIDDEN PLANET.  In STAR TREK, it was a badge of honor for the nameless Enterprise crew member wearing the red shirt to be killed first on a new planet they were investigating. Altaira's (Anne Francis) miniskirt in FORBIDDEN PLANET, as unusual for a planet wardrobe as could be, was the official ship norm for the female crew members in STAR TREK.  And many of the alien women the Enterprise crew would encounter would often be scantily clad (as much as one could in the 1960s). Although Lt. Farman kisses Altaira first, it is Commander Adams who wins over her heart and mind in FORBIDDEN PLANET.  Just like Commander Adams, STAR TREK'S Captain James T. Kirk was always scoring with the ladies of the universe.  Commanding a spaceship has its privileges. 

I touched upon that FORBIDDEN PLANET is described as "loosely" based on William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. That might be an understatement.  For those of you (myself included) who don't know the plot of The Tempest, it's about a magician named Prospero who is shipwrecked on an island with his daughter Miranda and his two servants: a beast named Calibran and a sprightly spirit named Ariel. Sound vaguely familiar? The screenwriters for FORBIDDEN PLANET have Dr. Morbius exiled on the planet Altair IV with his daughter Altaira and a robot he's built that's like a servant/bodyguard to him called Robby.  How Shakespeare didn't receive a credit (at least an Executive Producer credit) for FORBIDDEN PLANET is beyond comprehension. What borrowing from the Bard does prove is that his stories could be transformed into any movie genre from Anthony Mann's THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955) King Lear plot for a western to turning Romeo and Juliet's story of two star crossed lovers from warring Italian families into two rival New York gangs for Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins's musical WEST SIDE STORY (1961). Science fiction was no different in handling Shakespeare's universal stories.

The pivotal role of Dr. Morbius played by Walter Pidgeon in FORBIDDEN PLANET is a God-like character that we will see in future science fiction films and TV shows. Morbius led the first colony to  Altair IV. After nearly every one of his crew mysteriously dies (except his daughter), Morbius discovers the power of the Krell technology, the previous inhabitants. Using their devices, he increases his brain power one hundred-fold. He builds the perfect servant in Robby the Robot. He is master of his kingdom until Commander Adams and his crew show up.  Their arrival unleashes the darker side of Morbius. An invisible monster, a manifestation of Morbius's Id or subconscious, is waiting. When Morbius feels threatened, either by Lt. Farman kissing his daughter or Adams wanting to take the Krell technology back to Earth, Morbiu's alter ego comes to life, causing havoc and death to Adams crew and spaceship.

Several STAR TREK episodes had similar beings who landed on unknown or uninhabited planets and became self-proclaimed rulers of the planet (check out the 1967 STAR TREK episode THE SQUIRE OF GOTHOS starring William Campbell as one example).  Another space television show LOST IN SPACE (1965 - 1968) had a Dr. Morbius like antagonist in Dr. Zachary Smith (Jonathan Harris) who had a goatee like Morbius.  LOST IN SPACE also had a robot that talked and looked similar to Robby the Robot from FORBIDDEN PLANET, but LOST IN SPACE'S robot had no name. In the end, as the English poet John Donne wrote, "no man is an island." Morbius's isolation on Altair IV leads him down the wrong path.  Morbius might have used his newfound powers more wisely had more of his colony survived. 

One of the most suspenseful set pieces in FORBIDDEN PLANET is when Commander Adams spaceship picks up Morbius's subconscious Id, the invisible monster, on its radar heading toward them. An electric perimeter has been set up around the ship to catch the being. The crew waits tensely, blasters drawn, as the radar blips draw closer and closer. But there's nothing to see until the monster strikes the electric force field revealing its terrifying silhouette. The monster flings crew members around like rag dolls. To create the Id monster, MGM "borrowed" from Walt Disney Animation (with their approval) one of their best animators Joshua Meador to bring the space monster to life. Meador basically drew the monster with pencil rather than cel animation than added some optical effects to enhance the creature.  If you look closely, the Id monster resembles Dr. Morbius. Ridley Scott's ALIEN and James Cameron's ALIENS (1986) would have similar suspenseful scenes with the unseen alien or aliens approaching as blips on a tracking device, ratcheting up the suspense, not revealing the alien until the terrifying last moment. 

Walter Pidgeon is perfect as the erudite Dr. Morbius with his deep, baritone voice and commanding presence.  The tall, distinguished actor was a leading man in the 1940s in films like Fritz Lang's MAN HUNT (1941), John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY (1941), and William Wyler's MRS. MINIVER (1942). Fans of Leslie Nielsen who thought he only performed in comedies thanks to the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams AIRPLANE! (1980) and THE NAKED GUN series will be surprised by Nielsen's non-comic role as Commander John J. Adams in FORBIDDEN PLANET.  There are times though when Nielsen speaks that he's almost channeling Lt. Drebin from THE NAKED GUN to crack a joke with his deadpan delivery. But Nielsen is all seriousness in FORBIDDEN PLANET. 

Anne Francis as Morbius's daughter Altaira was not an actress I was very familiar with. Despite landing some decent roles in films like John Sturges BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) and Richard Brooks THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (also 1955) besides FORBIDDEN PLANET, Francis could never rise above her pretty looks to play more meaningful roles.  But she's a nice addition to FORBIDDEN PLANET as she's the only female role in the film. FORBIDDEN PLANET supporting cast would be filled with character actors that I would become more familiar with on television shows I watched in the 70s.  Earl Holliman who supplies comic relief as the cook in FORBIDDEN PLANET would be Angie Dickinson's police partner on NBC's POLICE WOMAN (1974 -1978). Richard Anderson as Chief Science Officer Quinn in FORBIDDEN PLANET would become better known as the Bionic Man Steve Austin's (Lee Majors) boss Oscar Goldman in the ABC series THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (1974 -1978).  And James Drury who has a minor role as Crewman Strong (I don't think I even noticed him) would find more success in westerns including Sam Peckinpah's RIDE THE HIGH COUNTY (1962) and on the NBC western series THE VIRGINIAN (1962-1971) where Drury played the title role of the Virginian. 

Some final FORBIDDEN PLANET tidbits. The musical score by Louis and Bebe Barron is credited as electronic tonalities, the first ever electronic soundtrack in a film. Since no musical instruments were used, the musicians' union blocked the Barrons from receiving a credit as composers hence the credit "electronic tonalities" for the Barrons. As mentioned, FORBIDDEN PLANET had a huge influence on the seminal science fiction television show STAR TREK.  Coincidentally, Warren Stevens who plays Doc Ostrow in FORBIDDEN PLANET would be a guest star on a 1968 episode of STAR TREK called BY ANY OTHER NAME. It's ironic that the choice of the shape of C57D that lands on Altair IV is a flying saucer.  The flying saucer usually represents menacing aliens from Ed Wood's PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE (1957) to Tim Burton's MARS ATTACKS! (1996).  In FORBIDDEN PLANET, it's the mode of transportation for the United Planet Federation in the 23rd century.  Cylindrical space rockets that we're all accustomed to now were just a few years from our consciousness as the United States and Russia would race to put a man in space. 

When we think of directors of great science fiction films, names like George Lucas, Stanley Kubrick, or Ridley Scott come to mind. Director Fred M. Wilcox name is not among that list. Wilcox is the man who directed FORBIDDEN PLANET, the film that would ignite future filmmakers to take us to new worlds beyond Earth. Wilcox's only previous hit was LASSIE COME HOME (1943) which wouldn't seem to indicate that he was the man to direct FORBIDDEN PLANET.  Wilcox wouldn't do much more after the pioneering science fiction film but his contributions to FORBIDDEN PLANET and his handling of the material will forever be remembered. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable FORBIDDEN PLANET was. A distant planet, a giant robot, an invisible Id monster, and a dying civilization with technology beyond anything Earth could do were all science fiction staples that I was familiar with but never knew their cinematic origins. Taking a page from Shakespeare but expanding on his story was a nice touch as well. FORBIDDEN PLANET'S legacy lives on from television shows STAR TREK and LOST IN SPACE to the STAR WARS film universe, directed by a man who first brought us Lassie.  Throughout the galaxy, only on the planet Earth and a town called Hollywood could this tale come to be told.  

Capricorn One (1977)

Black helicopters. I did not know the significance of the term "black helicopters" when I saw Peter Hyams CAPRICORN ONE at my local movie theater in 1977. But director Hyams certainly had an idea or inspiration of what "black helicopters" represented in relation to his film. Black helicopters is a symbol for a conspiracy theory related to a military takeover of the United States. Black helicopters (and men in black) are also what UFO enthusiasts like to believe are the culprits in hiding the existence of aliens from the public. All I know is that I fell in love with helicopters in movies after watching CAPRICORN ONE and subsequently Francis Coppola's APOCALPSE NOW (1979). Whether the helicopter was black or green or rainbow colored didn't matter. In CAPRICORN ONE, two helicopters at the film's climax become another character. The helicopters are like the great white shark in JAWS (1975), relentlessly pursuing investigative TV reporter Elliott Gould who has the story of the century if he can outrun them in the rented crop duster he's flying in. 

Although I had fallen in love with films that featured helicopters (don't worry I would discover girls around the same time) like CAPRICORN ONE and APOCALYPSE NOW (and let's not forget John Badham's 1982 BLUE THUNDER which I saw as well), that passion wasn't enough to make me want to fly in an actual helicopter. I've been on vacations where helicopter rides are offered to fly over the Grand Canyon or around Maui, but I have always decided to keep my feet on good old Mother Earth. I lived my helicopter obsession vicariously by going to see films with helicopters in them. 

Besides having no knowledge of what black helicopters symbolized, I didn't realize at the time that CAPRICORN ONE was another addition to the conspiracy film genre. Conspiracy films were all the rage in the 1970s after JFK's assassination and Watergate in films like David Miller's EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973), Francis Coppola's THE CONVERSATON (1974), Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW (also 1974), Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1975), and William Richert's WINTER KILLS (1979).  CAPRICORN ONE takes itself a little less seriously and tackles a far flung but interesting conspiracy theory that the Apollo moon landings was fake. For me, it didn't hurt that CAPRICORN ONE also had an out of control car flying off a bridge and a wild helicopter/crop duster aerial chase finale. 

Written and directed by Peter Hyams, CAPRICORN ONE begins on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral as the rocket Capricorn One prepares to lift off into space with the first manned flight to Mars.  Dignitaries like Vice President Price (James Karen) and Senator Hollis Peaker (David Huddleston), a key proponent of the Mars program, watch from the grandstands. The three astronauts that will be flying to Mars enter the capsule for final checks: Colonel Charles Brubaker (James Brolin), Lieutenant Colonel Peter Willis (Sam Waterston), and John Walker (O.J. Simpson). Seconds before liftoff, the three astronauts are surreptiously escorted out of the capsule and whisked away by private jet to an undisclosed desert location. 

Waiting in a windowless conference room, they are met by the director of Capricorn One project Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook). Kelloway briefs the three men that a few months earlier it was discovered that the life support system to keep the astronauts breathing during their long flight to Mars didn't work.  The men would have died.  Congress wants to scrap the program.  Failure is not an option if the program wants to continue.  Kelloway takes the men to an empty hangar that has been turned into a Mars movie set with a mock space capsule and Landing Module with a fake Mars horizon. Kelloway's plan is to film a few televised transmissions to deceive the public and Congress. The astronauts balk at the idea. Kelloway hints that their families are currently on a plane back to Houston.  An accident could happen to them if they don't agree.  "There are people out there, forces out there, who have a lot to lose," Kelloway tells them. "It's gotten too big." The astronauts reluctantly agree to the charade.

Covering the historic space flight are TV reporters Robert Caulfield (Elliot Gould) and Judy Drinkwater (Karen Black).  They interview Brubaker's wife Kay (Brenda Vaccaro) outside her home. She's very proud of her husband. Two months later at Mission Control, one of the technicians on the project Elliot Whitter (Robert Webber) notices the transmissions seem to be coming not millions of miles away but closer to home. Capricorn One lands on Mars. Whitter still notices the anomaly and brings it up with Kelloway who brushes it off as a malfunction of his equipment. Reporter Caulfield meets his friend Whitter for a game of pool at a bar where Whitter tells him his weird finding and Kelloway's blasé reaction.  Caulfield's called away for a phone call.  When he returns, Whitter is gone.  Caulfield goes to check on Whitter at Mission Control.  Whitter and his workstation are gone. Meanwhile, the astronauts fake their first steps onto Mars, filmed at the remote facility.  Capricorn One begins its return back to earth after completing its mission.  The astronauts give one last transmission from the fake capsule, talking to their wives. Brubaker makes a strange reference about returning to a vacation spot that his wife doesn't quite understand. Caufield notices her bewilderment. Caulfield goes to Whitter's apartment.  A strange lady now lives there. 

The astronauts begin to fly back to the rendezvous location for the staged splash down. At Mission Control, the heat shield for the space capsule fails upon reentry. Kelloway announces to the world the three astronauts are dead. The jet detours back to the secret desert facility. Brubaker, Willis, and Walker figure out that they're now supposed to be dead. Caulfield visits Kay Brubaker and asks about her husband's cryptic promise. She says Brubaker got the vacation spot mixed up.  They went to a fake western movie set called Flat Rock and not Yosemite. As Caulfield begins to search for the truth, his car is sabotaged, he's shot at, and arrested on a fake drug possession charge. Brubaker, Willis, and Walker break out of their confinement, steal and then crash land the Lear jet somewhere in the desert, and split up to survive. They will be pursued by two ominous green military helicopters trying to stop them from revealing to the world what really happened.  Caufield discovers the fake Mars movie set. He hires a nearby crop duster pilot named Albain (Telly Savalas) to help him find the astronauts resulting in a terrific chase through canyons and over mesas after they rescue Brubaker in the film's tense, action packed finale.

CAPRICORN ONE was one of those surprise summer hits that movie fans were looking for after the success of Steven Spielberg's JAWS a few years earlier in 1975, a fun rollercoaster ride film that had a good hook (NASA faked a Mars landing), recognizable actors but no big movie stars, and some thrilling set pieces. I always thought CAPRICORN ONE was a Warner Brothers production but the studio only helped release it. CAPRICORN was actually an independent film financed by British impresario Sir Lew Grade and his ITC Entertainment who had produced other action films in the 70s with slightly over the hill actors like Richard Harris and Sophia Loren in THE CASSANDRA CROSSING (1976). CAPRICORN ONE had Elliott Gould (who had just reached his peak a few years earlier), James Brolin (solid but no Robert Redford), Hal Holbrook (distinguished actor), O.J. Simpson (former athlete turned actor) and Telly Savalas (no longer playing iconic TV detective KOJAK).

What sets CAPRICORN ONE apart from some other star-studded thrillers of the 70s is it's plausible plot and setting and some excellent writing by director Hyams.  From the omnipresent narration by one of the flight control engineers telling us what's happening at each moment of the mission to the Houston Mission Control set, it all feels real.  There are two very long, spectacular speeches in CAPRICORN ONE, one given by Hal Holbrook as Kelloway as he reveals the genesis of the Capricorn One dream to the now grounded astronauts and the reality of the program's bleak future and the other speech by David Doyle (TV's CHARLIE'S ANGELS Bosley) as Caufield's television editor Walter Loughlin fed up with bailing Caulfield out of jail for his fanciful pursuit of hair brained stories are unheard of in a thriller film.  

Jerry Goldsmith's tense, suspenseful music underscores the dire predicament the astronauts are in, how high the stakes are to give a false impression that the first flight to Mars succeeded. Caufield's sabotaged car, brakeless, racing through busy streets (and even up onto crowded curbsides) with its numerous point of view shots making the audience feel like the helpless driver is hair raising.  And the finale with Brubaker busting out of a broken down desert gas station to be picked up by Caulfield and Albain in a crop duster, pursued by two helicopters will literally take your breath away as the crop duster (with Brubaker hanging on the wing) dives and weaves through canyons to escape the menacing helicopter.

Conspiracy films began to emerge in the early 1970s. Some were related to the assassination of John Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963.  It was a touchy subject that even caused Frank Sinatra to have his film THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) directed by John Frankenheimer pulled from distribution after JFK's death as it was deemed to close to the real thing.  But enough time had passed for filmmakers to begin exploring JFK conspiracies again. Then, Watergate happened with secret break-ins, taped conversations, and rogue members of the White House that brought down Richard Nixon's presidency. I watched the Watergate hearings as a kid. I had also watched the Apollo launches and walks on the moon. I had never heard of any conspiracy theories that the moon landings were faked. CAPRICORN ONE creatively takes the theory a step further injecting Mars for the moon. 

In recent years, conspiracy theorists began floating the idea around that famed director Stanley Kubrick (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) had been the creative person hired by the U.S. government to film a fake moon landing. A documentary called ROOM 237 (2012) points to Kubrick's 1980 horror film THE SHINING where it's proposed Kubrick leaves hidden clues in the film that he was responsible like the young boy Danny wearing an Apollo 11 knitted sweater or the carpet pattern resembling the Apollo launching pad. In a chilling irony, the main reason in CAPRICORN ONE for NASA to fake the Mars landing and walk on the surface was the discovery that the life support system built to keep the astronauts breathing during the long journey was faulty. They would have died within three weeks.  In real life, NASA engineers had warned about flaws in the Space Shuttle Challenger's joints. NASA brass ignored their warnings.  On January 28, 1986, the Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard, due in part to those joints.

Director Peter Hyams would have a nice little run of films with an interesting hook to them. With CAPRICORN ONE, it was what if NASA faked a Mars landing.  In Hyams OUTLAND (1981) starring Sean Connery, Hyams borrows the plot of the western HIGH NOON (1952) and sets it in outer space with Connery as a federal marshal dealing with intergalactic drug smugglers with no help from authorities or his superiors. THE STAR CHAMBER (1983) starring Michael Douglas about a secret cabal of modern-day judges borrowing the methods of a 15th century English law court known as the "star chamber" to dish out their own form of justice when criminals get off on technicalities. Hyams would even tackle the unthinkable -- a sequel to Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY called 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT (1984) starring Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, and Helen Mirren about a joint U.S./Russian mission sent to find out what happened to the spaceship Discovery and its on-board computer HAL-9000. 

For an audience to buy into a slightly far-fetched plot like CAPRICORN ONE, it needed actors with some cache that they can trust.  Director Hyams was smart to cast Elliott Gould and Hal Holbrook in the two most important leading roles. Gould who had been so good in Robert Altman's early 1970s films like MASH (1970) and THE LONG GOODBYE (1974) plays reporter Robert Caulfield, a less successful Woodward and Bernstein type reporter, cynical and bored, who stumbles across the conspiracy of the century and doggedly pursues the story while almost drowning, getting shot at, and falsely arrested. Hal Holbrook, best known for his portrayals of humorist Mark Twain on stage and Abraham Lincoln in several TV films, was sneaky good at playing mild-mannered villains. With his Midwest charm and even temperament, Holbrook's Mission director James Kelloway seems the antithesis of unscrupulous until he hints that the astronaut's families could perish if they don't follow his orders. Check out Holbrook as Dirty Harry's supervisor Lieutenant Briggs in MAGNUM FORCE (1973) in another villainous role. Holbrook also played (mostly in shadow) Woodward and Bernstein's anonymous source Deep Throat in ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN. 

The three Capricorn One astronauts are played by James Brolin, Sam Waterston, and O.J. Simpson. Brolin plays Col. Charles Brubaker, the lead astronaut. Brubaker's a stoic hero who must grapple with the dilemma to preserve the Mars program he's invested so much of his life to or deal with his legacy when the lie finally comes to light. Brolin was never an A list actor but when he landed a good role in a good film he was solid whether it be in Michael Crichton's WESTWORLD (1973) or CAPRICORN ONE. Sam Waterston (THE KILLING FIELDS) as Lt. Col. Peter Willis brings some needed humor with some of the film's best one liners and jokes as they deal with their dire situation. And before he became the most famous accused celebrity murderer in history, O.J. Simpson was a decent actor after his football career. Check out Simpson in John Guillermin's THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974) or David Zucker's THE NAKED GUN (1988) and its sequels.  CAPRICORN ONE is probably Simpson's best performance (until his murder trial in 1995) as astronaut John Walker. 

Other familiar faces in CAPRICORN ONE include Brenda Vaccaro (MIDNIGHT COWBOY) as Brubaker's wife Kay, David Huddleston (THE BIG LEBOWSKI) as Senator Hollis Peaker, Robert Walden (TVs LOU GRANT) as the unfortunate NASA technician Elliot Whitter, and Karen Black (FIVE EASY PIECES) as Caulfield's rival TV reporter and friend Judy Drinkwater. Two actors nearly steal CAPRICORN ONE from the main stars in their brief scenes: David Doyle as Caufield's exasperated editor Walter Loughlin and Telly Savalas as the crop duster pilot Albain who sees "perverts" everywhere. A favorite character actor that Hyams would use in several of his films is James B. Sikking. In CAPRICORN ONE, Sikking is the Control Room Man at the clandestine Mars set, directing the phony Mars lunar walk, puffing on a pipe. Sikking appears in Hyams OUTLAND and THE STAR CHAMBER. Sikking would use the pipe prop extensively as SWAT leader Lt. Howard Hunter on TV's HILL STREET BLUES (1981 to 1987).  

Some final CAPRICORN ONE trivia tidbits. The fictional corporation Con Amalgamate who made the faulty life support system for NASA in CAPRICORN ONE plays a big part in Hyams next film, the science fiction western OUTLAND.  In OUTLAND, Con Amalgamate is the evil company represented by Peter Boyle that Sean Connery must go up against on the Jupiter moon of Io and its mining colony. And although NASA comes off as the bad guys in CAPRICORN ONE, NASA gave its full support to the making of the film, supplying the production with all kinds of equipment and expertise.  

Today, summer films with their big budgets and incredible special effects are the norm for movie going audiences. Back in the mid to late 70s, Hollywood was just starting to figure out that summer was a window to release your best high concept films. Yes, audiences were on summer vacations but there were also millions of teenagers with nothing to do during the summer except to go to the movies.  JAWS would be the first film to capitalize on this. CAPRICORN ONE was an anomaly, a plot driven, well written thriller that became the biggest grossing independent film of 1977.  The fact that CAPRICORN ONE didn't get lost behind two other giatn summer blockbusters of 1977 called STAR WARS and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND is a nice testament to CAPRICORN ONE, the little conspiracy thriller that could.