8) The Reluctant Astronaut (1967)

(3.5👽's out of 5)

"Gemini to ground control. Reading you loud and clear. Lift off - smooth. Ready for checklist. Fuel is go. 1.2G Cabin. 14 PSI. Oxygen is go. Telemetry is go. All systems: go."

Director

Edward Montagne

Cast
Don Knotts - Roy Fleming
Leslie Nielsen - Maj. Fred Gifford
Joan Freeman - Ellie Jackson
Arthur O'Connell - Buck Fleming

Jeanette Nolan - Mrs. Fleming
Frank McGrath - Plank
Paul Hartman - Rush

I initially picked "Forbidden Planet" with a young Leslie Neilsen and Robby, the Robot to be number eight on this blog. 

I sat down to watch it with my kids, but we all changed our minds. We wanted a comedy. 

My wife has a collection of Don Knotts films which includes five movies. One of them is "The Reluctant Astronaut." 

So, we put that on instead. And to my surprise, it also stars Leslie Neilsen.

This comedy is a stretch as far as being an actual science fiction film. It involves rockets, NASA, and space exploration so I'm throwing it in. 

In this movie, Knotts plays Roy Fleming who works as a ride operator at a children's fairground out in Sweetwater, Mo. For his job, he dresses as an astronaut while operating a rocketship, pretending to take children on a space mission. 

However, Fleming is terrified of heights. He's also 35 and still lives with his parents. His father, Buck Fleming (Arthur O'Connell) is a WWI veteran and wants only good things for his son. So much so that he sends NASA an application for Roy.

Roy feels like he doesn't have a word in edgewise regarding what he wants to do. 

His mother (Jeanette Nolan) informs him, to his surprise, that he has been accepted by NASA for a WB-1074 position. What Mrs. Fleming doesn't know is that this is a janitorial position. 

So, he heads to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston to start his career. 

Don Knotts in "The Reluctant Astronaut."

When Roy arrives, it doesn't take long before he learns what his job really is. 

His family, and his girlfriend Ellie Jackson (Joan Freeman) all think he's preparing to be an astronaut. 

Roy befriends veteran astronaut Maj. Fred Gifford (Leslie Nielsen) who gives him plenty of encouragement. 

Roy takes a weekend back home to try and explain the situation to his parents but they're just so happy for him that they don't give him an opportunity to tell them. 

Back in Houston, Roy's dad and his buddies make a surprise visit. 

Roy ditches his job waxing the floor to go swipe one of Giffords space suits before meeting his dad and company. 

He fools them into thinking he is indeed an astronaut. 

However, when showing them around, he hops on a rocket sled which they accidentally set off. 

Roy is immediately fired and returns to Sweetwater, dejected and downtrodden. 

Meanwhile, the Russians are gloating about sending an untrained civilian up into space in the next 48 hours. 

Not to be outdone, NASA wants to do the same. They just need an untrained civilian. 

Gifford recruits Roy to be that untrained civilian. 

While it sounds like a dream come true, for Roy and his fear of heights, he has second thoughts about it. 

But up into space he goes, and hilarity ensues. 

The movie was released in an era of high expectations and anticipations for the U.S. and space exploration not-too-long before astronauts walked on the moon. 

Unfortunately, its release fell at a most unfortunate time. Its January 25, 1967 premiere occurred two days before the Apollo 1 tragedy ended with the death of three astronauts. 

Don Knotts's comedy compliments the story about Roy and his family relationship, as well as his father's hopes for him while he works as a janitor at the space center in Houston.

Leslie Nielsen (center) as Maj. Fred Gifford in
"The Reluctant Astronaut." 

The comedy is mild and doesn't come through full force until the final act where the lone acrophobic Roy being launched into space without a clue as to what he's doing.

Director Edward Montagne produced several Don Knotts movies around this time such as "How to Frame a Figg" (1971), "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968), "The Love God?" (1969), and "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1966). 

This isn't as popular a Knotts film compared to "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" or his live-action animated comedy "The Incredible Mr. Limpet." 

I still had fun watching it, primarily because Don Knotts is enjoyable to watch. And to see a young Leslie Nielsen play a heart-throb heroic astronaut before he became the comedy legend he's now famous for, is a trip.

"The Reluctant Astronaut" is a perfect Sunday afternoon kind of movie. It's lighthearted fun with comedy that has lasted all these years. 

7) Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

(4👽's out of 5)

"The books have nothing to say."

Director

Francois Truffaut

Cast
Oskar Werner - Guy Montag
Julie Christie - Linda Montag/Clarisse
Cyril Cusack - Captain Beatty
Anton Diffring - Fabian/Headmistress
Jeremy Spenser - Man with the Apple
Bee Duffell - Book woman
Alex Scott - Book Person: The Life of Henry Brulard
Gillian Lewis - Cousin Midge on TV

Four hundred fifty-one degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature books will burn. 

Based on Ray Bradbury's 1955 dystopian novel set in an oppressive society, the 1966 movie "Fahrenheit 451" is an impactful and significant little movie.

It's dry and a bit difficult to get into. By the end, it left me with an impression on modern society with authoritarian movements beating us over the head with dictates on what to do, what to think, and what to feel...or suffer the consequences.

In the dystopian future of this movie, it's a crime to possess or read books. All books are banned. Special firefighting units are sent out to investigate neighborhoods, homes, and individuals suspected of hiding books. Any books! Books will be torched on site upon discovery. People hide books in their homes in very elaborate ways.

One of these officers, Guy Montag (Oskar Werner), meets a gorgeous young neighbor named Clarisse (Julie Christie) who comes across as someone who goes against the current grain. What strikes Montag about Clarisse is that she strongly resembles his wife, Linda (also played by Julie Christie but with different hair.) 

Clarisse manages to open Montag's eyes to the benefits of reading books. 

After listening to Clarissa's insights, Montag soon smuggles books into his house so he can read them late at night. They captivate him like he's seeing the sun for the first time. 

Linda however doesn't feel good about Montag smuggling books into their house and reports him to authorities. 

But the authorities don't respond immediately.

On his last book raid, he turns his book burning flamethrower on the other officers.

This act quickly turns Montag into a fugitive on the run. 

And he continues fleeing the law with Clarissa until they come across a secret group of book readers who memorize entire volumes before authorities destroy them all. These people consider themselves the last hope for humanity as the preservers of literature. Realizing the importance of their efforts, Montag and Clarissa quickly join them. 

Oskar Werner as Montag in "Fahrenheit 451."

Though the depiction is certainly realistic, it's a fitting movie for modern society. If audiences have their eyes open and their reasoning is turned on, don't have to suspend disbelief much to realize how reflective a surface "Fahrenheit 451" has. 

The movie is a contrast of authoritarian government against the people under their thumb who refuse to be controlled. 

In one scene, the firemen find a huge collection of books in an older woman's house, who was previously seen with Clarisse. They try to force her out of her own house while they torch her books, but she refuses to leave. Instead, she stands amidst her books while they're set ablaze until she goes down with her own library. 

Top that scene with the final scene of the book people storing entire books to memory. They pace back and forth reciting pages upon pages to themselves. Snow falls all around them like God's gentle cleansing grace blessing their efforts. 

"Fahrenheit 451" has some of that old school British dramatic dry tone. Oskar Werner has amazing character development from stoic authoritarian puppet who does what he's told, to a mind that's opened up by the written word for the first time in his life. The movie relies so much on the subject matter that it may not appeal to the interest of the audience. It neglects to do anything about the pretentiousness of everything and everyone else in the movie. 

Director Francois Truffaut was obsessed with making this movie - his first in the realm of science fiction. His other imprint in the genre is his role in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." The movie tries to go above and beyond the campy nature seen in all the typical American sci-fi movies of the decade, even in the UK no doubt. And I can't say it doesn't succeed.

Perhaps the dry acting is an intentional depiction of the characters who are void of the endless insight and thoughts found in books. A repressive regime will do that to people. Otherwise, it's a lot of dry performances which makes maintaining interest a challenge. Still, it gives the audience so much to consider. What won't governments and regimes do for control and power? 

We live in a similar regime with impulsive people led around by the passions they're enslaved to, forcing everyone to acknowledge them, or else. 

The movie beautifully captures human behavior. It's not a bad movie in the least. In fact, it makes me want to check out Bradbury's novel.