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.