Moon Pilot (1962)

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.

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.

I never did get around to seeing Moon Pilot back when it was in theaters when I was a lad. Looking at it now, I'm sure glad I didn't waste the money.By 1962 the NASA Program for sending someone to the moon was launched and the public generally familiar with it. I can't believe that even the Disney Studios could have worked within the parameters that were known to the public, even for this innocuous comedy.Tom Tryon before Otto Preminger tried to make him a major star in The Cardinal was a Disney contract player and best known for the Texas John Slaughter films on television. Instead of going through the exacting selection process to be an astronaut, Tryon gets to be the first man to go to the Moon because the chimpanzee who had made the trip previously had stuck a fork in him, causing him to jump and make General Brian Keith think he volunteered.But that isn't all for our intrepid astronaut, this mysterious woman with a French accent played by Dany Saval keeps trying to contact him to make sure a special coat of paint is used on the space ship. Otherwise Tryon will exhibit the same behavior as the chimpanzee. And that wouldn't be good because Saval's getting a thing for him.Saval's not an American, but she isn't French either. She's from a faraway planet called Beta Lyrae and Tryon's attempts to at first shake her involve the Air Force as personified by Keith and the Federal Security Agency as typified by Edmond O'Brien. Due to reasons of national security these two keep working at cross purposes and of course neither are solving anything.I have to hand it to Keith and O'Brien. Both these veterans realized this film was a turkey and then they proceeded to enjoy it the best they could with one of the great blustering contests of all time. You have to be your own judge to determine which one you think is overacting more. Please note that the euphemism Federal Security Agency was used for the FBI. No one, least of all at Disney Studio was going to make fun of them in 1962.Moon Pilot was one of the least successful of Disney films, it certainly hasn't aged well. All of the cast did better things, even at the Magic Kingdom.

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.