The Astronaut (1972 film)

The Astronaut
Genre	Drama
Written by	Harve Bennett Robert Biheller Gerald Di Pego Charles Kuenstle
Directed by	Robert Michael Lewis
Starring	Jackie Cooper Monte Markham
Music by	Gil Melle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Harve Bennett
Production locations	Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
Cinematography	Alric Edens
Editors	Les Green John Kaufman
Running time	73 minutes
Production company	Universal Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	January 8, 1972 (1972-01-08)

The Astronaut is a 1972 science fiction film starring Jackie Cooper and Monte Markham. This made-for-television film follows a man who has been hired to impersonate an astronaut who died during the first manned mission to Mars.

Plot

Television coverage of Brice Randolph, the first astronaut on the surface of Mars, is interrupted, indicating the signal has been lost. Shortly afterward, Eddie Reese is recruited, and shown what happened after the TV signal was interrupted: Brice reported something penetrating his EVA suit, and soon expired. The other astronaut lifted off alone. NASA (who fear their project will be canceled) needs to keep it secret until they have answers about what exactly happened.

Reese is surgically altered, and begins learning his role as Brice. At the arrival of the spacecraft back on Earth, the splashdown site is altered so that the press is unaware of Reese being brought to join the returning space crew, and Reese, maintaining the cover, is now having to act his role with the dead man's wife Gail. Uneasy about being intimate with another man's wife, Reese unwittingly betrays himself to her, and her suspicions are raised.

Eventually, NASA determines what happened on Mars, and is ready to let Reese out of the masquerade, but Reese and Gail are willing to carry on as if he is Brice Randolph. Reese then hears from a boy, who asked for an autograph, that the Soviets have just launched their own mission to land on Mars.

Cast

Actor	Role
Jackie Cooper	Kurt Anderson
Monte Markham	Eddie Reese
	Col. Brice Randolph
Richard Anderson	Dr. Wylie
Robert Lansing	John Phillips
Susan Clark	Gail Randolph
John Lupton	Don Masters
Walter Brooke	Tom Everett
James Sikking	Astronaut Higgins
Paul Kent	Carl Samuels

See also

• List of American films of 1972

References

• Wingrove, David (1985). Science Fiction Film Source Book. Longman Group Limited. ISBN 0582892392.
• Pomerance, Murray (2005). Johnny Depp Starts Here. pp. 140–141. ISBN 0-8135-3565-4. Retrieved September 10, 2015.

External links

• The Astronaut at IMDb
• ‹The template AllMovie title is being considered for deletion.› The Astronaut at AllMovie