I Aim at the Stars is a 1960

1960 in film

The year 1960 in film involved some significant events, with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho the top-grossing release in the U.S.-Events:* April 20 - for the first time since coming home from military service in Germany, Elvis Presley returns to Hollywood, California to film G.I...

 biographical film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 which tells the story of the life of Wernher von Braun

Wernher von Braun

Wernher Magnus Maximilian, Freiherr von Braun was a German rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and in the United States after that.A former member of the Nazi party,...

. The film covers his life from his early days in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, through Peenemünde

Peenemünde

The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....

, up until his work with the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

, and the American space program.

The film stars Curt Jürgens, Victoria Shaw, Herbert Lom

Herbert Lom

Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...

, Gia Scala

Gia Scala

Gia Scala was an English actress and model of Italian and Irish descent.-Early life:She was born Giovanna Scoglio in Liverpool, England, to an Sicilian father, Pietro Scoglio, and an Irish mother, Eileen Sullivan...

, and James Daly.

The movie was written by Jay Dratler

Jay Dratler

Jay Dratler was born in 1911 in New York City. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1920s, he transferred to a college in France where he became fluent in French and German....

 based on a story by George Froeschel

George Froeschel

Georg "George" Froeschel was an Austrian screenwriter best known for Mrs. Miniver, Quentin Durward, and The Story of Three Loves, while working for MGM in the 1940s and 1950s. Before working in film he was a lawyer and journalist.-Biography:Georg Froeschel was born in 1891, the son of a Jewish...

, H. W. John, and Udo Wolter. It was directed by J. Lee Thompson

J. Lee Thompson

John Lee Thompson , better known as J. Lee Thompson, was an English film director, active in England and Hollywood.- Early years :...

.

The film's original British title was simply Wernher von Braun. In Germany the film was titled Ich greife nach den Sternen ("I reach for the stars"). In Italy the film was released as Alla Conquista dell' Infinito.

Satirist Mort Sahl

Mort Sahl

Morton Lyon "Mort" Sahl is a Canadian-born American comedian and actor. He occasionally wrote jokes for speeches delivered by President John F. Kennedy. He was the first comedian to record a live album and the first to perform on college campuses...

and others are often credited with suggesting the subtitle "(But Sometimes I Hit London)", but in fact the line appears in the film itself, spoken by actor James Daly, who plays the cynical American press officer.