Moon Pilot

Not only do we owe it to monkeys for we evolved from them but if it were not for Charlie sticking a fork up Richmond's posterior, mankind would not have made a leap to the moon. So behind every man there is a monkey putting a fork up the man's posterior. Richmond takes leave before the big launch. Espionage with comedic paranoia and sci-fi elements are present in this film and romance with the beautiful dame Lyrae by Dany Saval . She is quirky. Richmond breaks all the rules the general has set for him all for the dame with the unbelievable story. They search for this woman 'spy' like the usual suspects and find probably the craziest women in town. The Eagle got launched into space Lyrae appears. They stop communicating with the general as his shouting was killing the mood. Richmond and Lyrae take a minor detour to the twilight zone LOL. The end.

Walt Disney when that studio produced Moon Pilot was a studio that made a handful go "G" rated movies a yer at the compact, wonderful movie lot. Moon Pilot starred Tom Tryon a very very handsome Man sort of like Rock Hudson. Disney had Tommy Kirk under contract and cast him in this film. I liked this movie because the setting was the space contest in the early 60s. Tryon did two movies at 20th: Marines Lets Go, and was in MM's unfinished movie Somethings Got To Give. MM and Tryon would have been a spectacular eyeful of good looking beauty. Tom Tryon would join the Otto Preminger organization and starred in "The Cardinal;"- a very good film- and was featured with John Wayne, Richard Widmaark and a galaxy of fine supporting actors and the love interest to gorgeous Paula Prentiss on loan from MGM. It is now part of history that Preminger was tyrannical toward Tryon so much so that Kirk Douglas said he would quit unless Otto let up. Tryon left movies and became a great best selling Author.

Underwhelming start to Disney's 1962 live-action offerings. I didn't enjoy 'Moon Pilot'. It's far too talky for my liking, with pretty much 80/90% of the film filled with build-up to the 'main event' which ends up concluding all too quickly. There's slight mystery there with the secondary premise, but that's unfulfilled in favour of chit-chat. The cast don't give performances to be remembered. Tom Tryon is alright but mostly dull as Capt. Talbot. Dany Saval is OK as Lyrae, her role is barely developed in fairness - her overall shtick is being female, it seems. Brian Keith (Maj. Vanneman) and Edmond O'Brien (McClosky) standout most, but both overact from start-to-finish; especially the shouty Keith. The intrigued surrounding Lyrae is all I have to praise, to be honest. There's a potentially good film in there, but James Neilson and crew didn't realise it unfortunately. I'm sure we'll get a remake some day.

Pun aside, this really is a great movie. I don't know why it wasn't one of Disney's bigger hits. Anyway, the plot concerns an unwilling astronaut who meets up with an alien shortly before he needs to leave for the space center. And the alien has a very important message for him! Then when the astronaut disappears to talk with the alien, Federal Security and some high-ranked Air Force men get involved in the search! If you can find this movie somewhere, definitely buy it! I'm anxiously waiting for Disney to reissue this movie on video, like they've been doing with so many of their old classic comedies.

This film is cute little trick of a film. In the early days of space flights, it was time for a send-up. And the great character actor edmond O'Brien, was terrific as the "hard as nails" security agent. A treat for us Disney fans. The comic highlight of the film is the "parade of usual suspects", when San francisco beatnik chicks are brought in for review. A real HOOT! The alien chick is disarmingly funny, and I wish she could have had more films after this one. She was so fine, I wanted to sign up for astronaut training. The pacing is slow, and the humor is formulaic, but I still get a chuckle out of this minor classic.

Bearing in mind that this was a made-for-TV-movie, Moon Pilot isn't bad. Disney didn't blow their budget on it, but the production and effects were serviceable if spare. The actors try to inject as much into their bland dialogue as they can, but the writing isn't Disney's cleverest. The genuine highlight of the film is the parade of loony beatnik girls toward the end of the movie, as the military tries to identify their astronaut's supposed space-chick -- Very funny. Dany Saval is adorable. To the best of my knowledge, I've never seen her before. She shows off to advantage the cute outfits designed for her. What a doll.