Countdown *** (1967, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Joanna Moore) – Classic Movie Review 8569

Director Robert Altman concentrates more on human emotions than the special effects in his 1967 sci-fi  thriller Countdown and the result is always fascinating if a little earnest and uncommercial, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Class actors James Caan as geologist Lee Stegler and Robert Duvall as experienced astronaut Chiz lift this sci-fi space soap about American attempts to beat the Soviets to the lunar surface. Nasa decide to send one man in a modified Gemini capsule and pick geologist Lee Stegler to go, with only three weeks to learn the intricacies of the spacecraft.

Also in the cast are Barbara Baxley, Joanna Moore, Charles Aidman, Steve Ihnat, Ted Knight, Michael Murphy, John Rayner, Charles Irving, Harry Ellerbe, Mike Farrell, Mike Lally, Bob Peoples, Bobby Riha Jr and Stephen Colt.

Loring Mandel’s screenplay is based on Hank Searls’s novel The Pilgrim Project.

Countdown is directed by Robert Altman, runs 101 minutes, is made by William Conrad Productions, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Loring Mandel, based on Hank Searls’s novel The Pilgrim Project, is shot in Technicolor by William W Spencer, is produced by William Conrad (executive producer) and Jimmy Lydon (producer), and is scored by Leonard Rosenman, with Art Direction by Jack Poplin.

Executive producer William Conrad is heard as the voice of the TV newscaster.

Caan and Duvall reconvened for The Godfather.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8569

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