Main Cast: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 193 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Covering some 15 years, The Right Stuff recounts the formation of America's space program, concentrating on the original Mercury astronauts. Scott Glenn plays Alan Shepard, the first American in space; Fred Ward is Gus Grissom, the benighted astronaut for whom nothing works out as planned; and Ed Harris is John Glenn, the straight-arrow "boy scout" of the bunch who was the first American to orbit the earth. The remaining four Mercury boys are Deke Slayton (Scott Paulin), Scott Carpenter (Charles Frank), Wally Schirra (Lance Henriksen) and Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid). Wolfe's original book related in straightforward fashion the dangers and frustrations facing the astronauts (including Glenn's oft-repeated complaint that it's hard to be confident when you know that the missile you're sitting on has been built by the lowest bidder), the various personal crises involving their families (Glenn's wife Annie, a stutterer, dreads being interviewed on television, while Grissom's wife Betty, angered that her husband is not regarded as a hero because his mission was a failure, bitterly declares "I want my parade!"), and the schism between the squeaky-clean public image of the Mercury pilots and their sometimes raunchy earthbound shenanigans. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
As adapted from Tom Wolfe's seminal novel about the early years of the space program, this stunning, soaring epic (magnificent in the purest sense of the word) manages to capture the exact overtones and themes of its source material while evincing extreme faithfulness to the individual experiences of the first astronauts. Director and scriptwriter Philip Kaufman (who inherited and quickly jettisoned an early adaptation by William Goldman) models his story within the framework of the American western, via countless homages to the cinema of John Ford. In fact, (as film critic Danny Peary notes) Kaufman utilizes the basic dramatic structure and premise of Ford's classic The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962); just as, in that picture, John Wayne rubbed out the villain (and thus, helped tame the west) enabling Jimmy Stewart to take credit for the feat, here Kaufman reveals how aviator Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) pioneered the early space program while allowing the media to bestow laurels on the undeserving astronauts. Undeserving, that is, until the men proved themselves once and for all by demonstrating that they had "the right stuff" to qualify as heroes. Throughout, Kaufman interweaves strands of liberal satirical humor, penetrating social commentary and even mysticism (in Australian scenes involving aboriginal rites) within a brilliantly crafted narrative; he also utilizes a healthy amount of footage by the San Francisco-based experimental filmmaker Jordan Belson, who helped create many of the visual effects for outer space. That collaboration paid off: throughout, we are continually dazzled by the showstopping grandeur of extraterrestrial exploration. An epic to end all epics, this picture boasts first rate work by an all-star cast - Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Scott Glenn, Scott Wilson and Barbara Hershey (to name only a few) deliver some of the finest performances of their careers. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Barbara Hershey - Glennis Yeager; Kim Stanley - Pancho Barnes; Veronica Cartwright - Betty Grissom; Pamela Reed - Trudy Cooper; Scott Paulin - Deke Slayton; Charles Frank - Scott Carpenter; Lance Henriksen - Wally Schirra; Donald Moffat - Lyndon B. Johnson; Mary Jo Deschanel - Annie Glenn; Scott Wilson - Scott Crossfield; Kathy Baker - Louise Shepard; Mickey Crocker - Marge Slayton; Susan Kase - Rene Carpenter; Mittie Smith - Jo Schirra; Royal Dano - Minister; David Clennon - Liaison Man; Jim Haynie - Air Force Major; Harry Shearer - recruiter; Jeff Goldblum - recruiter; Scott Beach - Chief Scientist; Jane Dornacker - Nurse Murch; Anthony Munoz - Gonzales; John Ryan - Head of Program; Darryl Henriques - Life Reporter; Mary Apick - Woman Reporter; Robert Beer - Dwight D. Eisenhower; Ed Corbett - Texan; Tom Dahlgren - Bell Aircraft Executive; John Dehner - Henry Luce; Bob Elross - Review Board President; David Gulpilil - Aborigine; John X. Heart - The Permanent Press Corp; Levon Helm - Jack Ridley/Narrator; Ed Holmes - The Permanent Press Corp; O-Lan Jones - Pretty Girl; Kaaren Lee - Young Widow; Michael Pritchard - Texan; William Russ - Stick Goodlin; Eric Sevareid - Himself; Lynn Stalmaster; Gen. Chuck Yeager - Fred; Edward Anhalt - Grand Designer; James Brady - Aide to Lyndon B. Johnson; Katherine Conklin - Woman TV Rerporter; Maureen Coyne - Waitress; Richard Duppell - The Permanent Press Corp; Toni Howard; William Hall - The Permanent Press Corp
Credit
W. Stewart Campbell - Art Director, Richard J. Lawrence - Art Director, Peter Romero - Art Director, Pat Pending - Art Director, Charles A. Myers - First Assistant Director, Philip Kaufman - Director, Glenn Farr - Editor, Lisa Fruchtman - Editor, Tom Rolf - Editor, Stephen A. Rotter - Editor, Douglas Stewart - Editor, James D. Brubaker - Executive Producer, Bill Conti - Composer (Music Score), David Whorf - Production Designer, Geoffrey Kirkland - Production Designer, Gene Rudolf - Production Designer, Ned Kopp - Production Designer, Peter Romero - Production Designer, Caleb Deschanel - Cinematographer, Robert Chartoff - Producer, Irwin Winkler - Producer, Craig Edgar - Set Designer, Nick Navarro - Set Designer, George R. Nelson - Set Designer, Michael Polaire - Set Designer, Joel David Lawrence - Set Designer, Jordan Belson - Special Effects, Gary Gutierrez - Special Effects, David MacMillan - Sound/Sound Designer, Buddy Joe Hooker - Stunts, William Goldman - Screenwriter, Philip Kaufman - Screenwriter, Stephen A. Hope - Music Editor, Tom Wolfe - Book Author
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