The Right Stuff Movie

The Right Stuff
Rating:
Run Time: 193 min
MPAA Rating: PG
Released: 1983
Directors: Philip Kaufman
Genre/Type: Drama
Docudrama
Producers: Robert Chartoff
Irwin Winkler
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
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.

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Editor's note: The story you are about to read is true. An experienced designated pilot examiner (DPE) related it to the author several years ago. Only the names have been changed to protect those thoroughly rotten with guilt. About a half-...
The article focuses on responsibility and presents a quiz about it.
either one should work, curl or regular.
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Sam Shepard Chuck Yeager Nov 5, 1943 in Fort Sheridan, IL
Scott Glenn Alan Shepard Jan 26, 1941 in Pittsburgh, PA
Ed Harris John Glenn Nov 28, 1950 in Tenafly, NJ
Dennis Quaid Gordon Cooper Apr 9, 1954 in Houston, TX
Fred Ward Gus Grissom Dec 30, 1942 in San Diego, CA
Barbara Hershey Glennis Yeager Feb 5, 1948 in Hollywood, CA
Kim Stanley Pancho Barnes Feb 11, 1925 in Tularosa, NM
Veronica Cartwright Betty Grissom Apr 20, 1949 in Bristol, England, UK
Pamela Reed Trudy Cooper Apr 2, 1949 in Tacoma, WA
Scott Paulin Deke Slayton
Charles Frank Scott Carpenter
Lance Henriksen Wally Schirra May 5, 1940 in New York City, NY
Donald Moffat Lyndon B. Johnson Dec 26, 1930 in Plymouth, Devon, England, UK
Mary Jo Deschanel Annie Glenn
Scott Wilson Scott Crossfield
Kathy Baker Louise Shepard Jun 8, 1950 in Midland, TX
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Back to the topReview

Review by Nathan Southern
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.
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