Blast from the Past: Gregory Peck Career Revisited
John Sturges directed Marooned, a sci-fi starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman about three astronauts trapped and slowly suffocating in space.
Grade: B
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Theatrical release poster
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Martin Caidi’s original novel was based on the single-pilot Project Mercury, but the film expamded the scope by depicting an Apollo command and service module with three astronauts and a space station resembling Skylab.
Three astronauts—Commander Jim Pruett (Richard Crenna), “Buzz” Lloyd (Gene Hackman), and Dr. Clayton “Stoney” Stone (James Franciscus)—are the crew of an experimental space station on extended-duration mission.
About five months into a planned seven-month mission, the crew and Lloyd in particular begins exhibiting erratic performance, and NASA management decides to end the mission early.
While oriented for retrofire, the main engine on the spacecraft, dubbed Ironman One, fails. Ironman doesn’t have enough fuel to initiate entry, nor to redock with the station and wait for rescue. The crew is marooned in orbit, thus the title.
X-RV execute retrofire to return to Earth, and the final scene fades out with a view of the abandoned Ironman One adrift in orbit.
An earlier version of the film (based on the novel’s 1964 version) was in preproduction in 1965, with Frank Capra directing, from screenplay by Walter Newman.
Several scenes show people communicating with the astronauts in space, whereas in actuality, only CAPCOMs (astronauts) and their wives would have been permitted to do so.
The New York premiere, on December 17, 1969, was the first film shown at the new Ziegfeld Theatre.
Maroooned was released less than four months after the Apollo 11 Moon landing, attracting enormous public attention.
The film was still in theaters during the Apollo 13 mission, in April 1970, and exhibitors considered pulling it from release depending on the outcome. However, some distributors used the interest in the subject to expand the movie’s distribution, putting it back on release.
My Oscar Book:
Oscar Context
The movie won the Best Visual Effects Oscar for Robbie Robertson.
Cast
Gregory Peck as Charles Keith
Richard Crenna as Jim Pruett
David Janssen as Ted Dougherty
James Franciscus as Clayton Stone
Gene Hackman as Buzz Lloyd
Lee Grant as Celia Pruett
Nancy Kovack as Teresa Stone
Mariette Hartley as Betty Lloyd
Scott Brady as Public Affairs Officer
Frank Marth as Air Force Systems Director
Craig Huebing as Flight Director
John Carter as Flight Surgeon
Walter Brooke as Network Commentator
Vincent Van Lynn as Aerospace Journalist
George Gaynes as Mission Director
John Forsythe (uncredited) as The President (voice only)
Credits:
Directed by John Sturges
Screenplay by Mayo Simon, based on “Marooned,” 1964 novel by Martin Caidin
Produced by M. J. Frankovich
Cinematography Daniel L. Fapp
Edited by Walter Thompson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release dates: Nov 10, 1969 (Premiere); Dec 11, 1969 (LA)
Running time: 134 minutes
Budget $10 million
Box office $4.1 million (USA rentals)
