The Right Stuff
Encyclopedia
The Right Stuff is a 1983 American film adapted from Tom Wolfe
's 1979 book The Right Stuff
about the test pilot
s who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base
as well as those selected to be astronaut
s for Project Mercury
, the United States
' first attempt at manned spaceflight
.
The story contrasts the "Mercury Seven
" and their families with pilots like Chuck Yeager
. While never selected as an astronaut, Yeager was considered by many test pilots to be the best of them all. The Mercury Seven were Scott Carpenter
, Gordon Cooper
, John Glenn
, Gus Grissom
, Wally Schirra
, Alan Shepard
, and Deke Slayton
.
The film stars Scott Glenn
as Shepard, Ed Harris
as Glenn, Fred Ward
as Grissom, Dennis Quaid
as Cooper and Sam Shepard
as Yeager.
s often die flying high-speed aircraft such as the rocket-powered Bell X-1
. After another pilot demands $150,000 to attempt to break the sound barrier
, war hero Chuck Yeager
(Sam Shepard
) receives the chance to fly the X-1. While on a horseback ride with his wife Glennis (Barbara Hershey
), Yeager collides with a tree branch and breaks his ribs, which inhibits him from leaning over and locking the door to the X-1. Worried that his injury might become known, Yeager confides in friend and fellow pilot Jack Ridley
(Levon Helm
). Ridley cuts off part of a broomstick and tells Yeager to use it as a lever to help seal the hatch to the X-1, and Yeager becomes the first man to fly at supersonic
speed, defeating the "demon in the sky."
In 1953 Muroc, now Edwards Air Force Base
, still attracts the best test pilots. Yeager and friendly rival Scott Crossfield
(Scott Wilson
) repeatedly break the other's speed records. The "prime" pilots often visit the Happy Bottom Riding Club
run by Pancho Barnes
(Kim Stanley
), where Gordon "Gordo" Cooper
(Dennis Quaid
) and Virgil "Gus" Grissom
(Fred Ward
) of the United States Air Force
are among the newer "pudknockers" that hope to also prove that they have "the Right Stuff". The tests are no longer secret, as the military recognizes that it needs good publicity for funding, and with "no bucks, no Buck Rogers
". Cooper's wife, Trudy (Pamela Reed
), and other wives are afraid of becoming widows, but cannot change their husbands' ambitions and desire for success and fame.
In 1957, the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite alarms the United States government
. Politicians such as Senator Lyndon B. Johnson
and military leaders demand that NASA
help America defeat the Russians in the new Space Race
. The search for the first Americans in space excludes Yeager, because he lacks a college degree. Grueling physical and mental tests select the Mercury Seven
astronauts, including John Glenn
(Ed Harris
) of the United States Marine Corps
, Alan Shepard
(Scott Glenn
) of the United States Navy
, Cooper, Grissom, and three others; they immediately become national heroes. Although many early NASA rockets explode during launch, the ambitious astronauts all hope to be the first in space as part of Project Mercury
. Although engineers see the men as passengers, the pilots insist that the Mercury spacecraft have a window, a hatch with explosive bolts, and pitch-yaw-roll controls.
Shepard is the first to reach space on the 15-minute sub-orbital flight of Mercury-Redstone 3
in May 1961. After Grissom's sub-orbital flight on Mercury-Redstone 4
lands in the ocean, the spacecraft's hatch inexplicably jettisons during the ocean recovery and quickly fills with water. Grissom escapes, but the spacecraft, overweight with seawater, sinks. Many criticize Grissom for possibly panicking and opening the hatch prematurely. Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth on Mercury-Atlas 6
in February 1962, surviving a possibly loose heat shield, and receives a ticker-tape parade
. He, his colleagues, and their families become celebrities, including a gigantic celebration in Texas, despite Glenn's wife Annie
's (Mary Jo Deschanel
) fear of public speaking due to a stutter.
Although test pilots at Edwards mock the Mercury program for sending "spam in a can" into space, they recognize that they are no longer the fastest men on Earth, and Yeager states that "it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially when it's on national TV." While testing the new Lockheed NF-104A
, Yeager sets a new altitude record at the edge of space but is nearly killed in a high-speed ejection when his engines fail. Though badly burned, after reaching the ground Yeager gathers up his parachute and walks to the ambulance, proving that he still has the Right Stuff.
The film ends with Cooper's successful launch in May 1963 on Mercury-Atlas 9
, ending the Mercury program. As the last American to fly into space alone, he "went higher, farther, and faster than any other American ... for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen."
A number of cameos were actually based on archival footage:
outbid Universal Pictures
for the movie rights to Tom Wolfe
's book, hiring William Goldman
to write the screenplay. Goldman's adaptation focused on the astronauts, entirely ignoring Chuck Yeager. United Artists
agreed to finance the film but the producers were not satisfied with Goldman's take on the book. They approached director Philip Kaufman
who shared their dissatisfaction with the existing script. Kaufman began working on the film as early as 1980 and Goldman quit the project. When Wolfe showed no interest in adapting his own book, Kaufman wrote a draft in eight weeks. His draft restored Yeager to the story because "if you're tracing how the future began, the future in space travel, it began really with Yeager and the world of the test pilots. The astronauts descended from them".
After the financial failure of Heaven's Gate
, the studio put The Right Stuff in turnaround and The Ladd Company
stepped in with an estimated $17 million. According to Alan Ladd, Jr.
, the final budget was closer to $27 million. Actor Ed Harris auditioned twice in 1981 for the role of John Glenn. The first time was in an office with Chartoff and Kaufman and the actor felt that he did not do a good job. A month later, he auditioned again on videotape. Originally, Kaufman wanted to use a troupe of contortionists to portray the press corps, but settled on the improvisational comedy troupe Fratelli Bologna
, known for its sponsorship of "St. Stupid's Day" in San Francisco. The director created a snake-like hiss to accompany the press corps whenever they appear, which was achieved through a sound combination of (among other things) motorized Nikon cameras and clicking beetles.
Shot between March and October 1982, with additional filming continuing into January 1983, most of the film was shot in and around San Francisco, where a waterfront warehouse was transformed into a studio. Location shooting took place primarily at the abandoned Hamilton Air Force Base
north of San Francisco which was converted into a sound stage for the numerous interior sets. No location could substitute for the distinctive Edwards Air Force Base
landscape which necessitated the entire production crew move to the Mojave Desert
for the opening sequences that framed the story of the test pilots at Edwards.
Yeager was hired as a technical consultant on the film. He took the actors flying, studied the storyboards and special effects, and pointed out the errors. To prepare for their roles, Kaufman gave the actors playing the seven astronauts an extensive videotape collection to study.
The efforts at making an authentic feature led to the use of many full size aircraft, scale models and special effects to replicate the scenes at Edwards Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral. According to special visual effects supervisor Gary Gutierrez, the first special effects were too clean and they wanted a "dirty, funky, early NASA look." Kaufman was unhappy with the results and shut down work and fired many of the effects crew. Gutierrez and his team started from scratch, employing unconventional techniques—like going up a hill with model airplanes on wires and fog machines to create clouds, or shooting model F-104s from a crossbow device and capturing their flight with up to four cameras. Avant garde filmmaker Jordan Belson created the background of the Earth as seen from high-flying planes and from orbiting spacecraft.
Kaufman gave his five editors a list of documentary images the film required and they searched the country for film from NASA, the Air Force, and Bell Aircraft vaults. They also discovered Russian stock footage not viewed in thirty years. During the course of the production, Kaufman met with resistance from the Ladd Company and threatened to quit several times. In December 1982, 8,000 feet of film portraying John Glenn's trip in orbit and return to Earth disappeared or was stolen from Kaufman's editing facility in Berkeley, California
. The missing footage was never found but the footage was reconstructed from copies.
liaison to the production, beginning his role as a technical consultant in 1980 when the pre-production planning had begun. The first draft of the script in 1980 had concentrated only on the Mercury 7 but as subsequent revisions developed the treatment into more of the original story that Wolfe had envisioned, the aircraft of late-1940s that would have been seen at Edwards AFB were required. Wilmore gathered World War II era "prop" aircraft including:
The first group were mainly "set dressing" on the ramp while the Confederate Air Force (now renamed the Commemorative Air Force) B-29 "Fifi"
was modified to act as the "mothership" to carry the Bell X-1
and X-1A rocket-powered record-breakers.
Other "real" aircraft included the early jet fighters and trainers as well as current USAF and United States Navy
examples. These flying aircraft and helicopters included:
A number of aircraft significant to the story had to be recreated. The first was an essentially static X-1 that had to at least roll and even realistically "belch flame" which was accomplished by a simulated rocket blast from the exhaust pipes. A series of wooden mock-up X-1s were used to depict interior shots of the cockpit, the mating up of the X-1 to a modified B-29 fuselage and bomb bay and ultimately to recreate flight in a combination of model work and live-action photography. The "follow-up" X-1A was also an all-wooden model.
The U.S. Navy's Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket that Crossfield duelled with Yeager's X-1 and X-1A was recreated from a modified Hawker Hunter
jet fighter. The climactic flight of Yeager in a Lockheed NF-104A
was originally to be made with a modified Lockheed F-104 Starfighter but ultimately, Wilmore made the decision that the production had to make do with a Luftwaffe F-104G, which lacks the rocket engine of the NF-104.
Wooden mock-ups of the Mercury space capsules also realistically depicted the NASA spacecraft and were built from the original mold.
For many of the flying sequences, scale models were produced by USFX Studios and filmed outdoors in natural sunlight against the sky. Even off-the-shelf plastic scale models were utilized for aerial scenes. The X-1, F-104 and B-29 models were built in large numbers as a number of the more than 40 scale models were destroyed in the process of filming. The blending together of miniatures, full-scale mock-ups and actual aircraft was seamlessly integrated into the live-action footage. The addition of original newsreel footage was used sparingly but to effect to provide another layer of authenticity.
to benefit the American Film Institute
. It was given a limited release on October 21, 1983 in 229 theaters, grossing $1.6 million on its opening weekend. It went into wide release on February 17, 1984 in 627 theaters where it grossed an additional $1.6 million on that weekend. Despite immense critical acclaim, and winning four Academy Awards, the film grossed only $21.5 million in North America on an estimated $27 million dollar budget.
As part of the promotion for the film, Veronica Cartwright, Chuck Yeager, Gordon Cooper, Scott Glenn and Dennis Quaid appeared at the 1983 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
. Film critic Roger Ebert
named The Right Stuff best film of the year, and wrote, "it joins a short list of recent American movies that might be called experimental epics: movies that have an ambitious reach through time and subject matter, that spend freely for locations or special effects, but that consider each scene as intently as an art film". He later named it one of the best films of the decade and wrote, "The Right Stuff is a greater film because it is not a straightforward historical account but pulls back to chronicle the transition from Yeager and other test pilots to a mighty public relations enterprise". In his review for Newsweek
, David Ansen
wrote, "When The Right Stuff takes to the skies, it can't be compared with any other movie, old or new: it's simply the most thrilling flight footage ever put on film". Gary Arnold in his review for the Washington Post, wrote, "The movie is obviously so solid and appealing that it's bound to go through the roof commercially and keep on soaring for the next year of so". In his review for the The New York Times
, Vincent Canby praised Shepard's performance: "Both as the character he plays and as an iconic screen presence, Mr. Shepard gives the film much well-needed heft. He is the center of gravity". Pauline Kael
wrote, "The movie has the happy, excited spirit of a fanfare, and it's astonishingly entertaining, considering what a screw-up it is".
Yeager said of the film: "Sam [Shepard] is not a real flamboyant actor, and I'm not a real flamboyant-type individual ... he played his role the way I fly airplanes". Deke Slayton said that none of the film "was all that accurate, but it was well done". Walter Schirra said, "They insulted the lovely people who talked us through the program - the NASA engineers. They made them like bumbling Germans". Scott Carpenter felt that it was a "great movie in all regards".
Wolfe made no secret that he disliked the film, especially because of changes from his original book. William Goldman, involved in early drafts of the script, also disliked the choices made by Kaufman, saying in his book Adventures In The Screen Trade that Kaufman believed that Yeager was a true hero, and only he had the titular "right stuff", while the astronauts had just gotten lucky and did not match up to him in any way. Critics, however, generally were favorable toward the film. Robert Osborne
, who introduced showings of the movie on Turner Classic Movies
, was quite enthusiastic about the film. The cameo appearance by the real Chuck Yeager in the film was a particular "treat" which Osborne cited. The recounting of many of the legendary aspects of Yeager's life was left in place, including the naming of the X-1, "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife and his superstitious preflight ritual of asking for a stick of Beemans chewing gum
from his best friend, Jack Ridley.
When the film came out, former (and future) astronaut and Senator
John Glenn
(Ohio
) was running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States
. It was felt that the movie might help his chances, but in fact, his candidacy did not go far.
While the movie took liberties with certain historical facts as part of "dramatic license", criticism focused on one: the portrayal of Gus Grissom
panicking when his Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft sank following splashdown. Most historians, as well as engineers working for or with NASA
and many of the related contractor agencies within the aerospace industry, are now convinced that the premature detonation of the spacecraft hatch's explosive bolts was caused by mechanical failure not associated with direct human error or deliberate detonation at the hands of Grissom. This determination had, in fact, been made long before the movie was filmed, and even Tom Wolfe
's book only states that this possibility was considered, not that it was actually judged as being the cause of the accident.
Another fact that had been altered in the film was the statement by Trudy Cooper
, who commented that she "wondered how they would've felt if every time their husband went in to make a deal, there was a one-in-four chance he wouldn't come out of that meeting." According to the book, this actually reflected the 23% chance of dying during a 20-year career as a normal pilot. For a test pilot, these odds were higher, at 53%, but were still considerably less than the movie implied. In addition, the movie merely used the fictional Mrs. Cooper as a vehicle for the statement; the real Mrs. Cooper is not known to have said this.
for Best Sound Effects Editing
; Best Film Editing
; Best Original Score
and Best Sound (Mark Berger
, Tom Scott
, Randy Thom and David MacMillan
). It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
(Sam Shepard), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
(Geoffrey Kirkland
, Richard Lawrence
, W. Stewart Campbell
, Peter R. Romero
, Jim Poynter
, George R. Nelson
), Best Cinematography
and Best Picture
.
It was nominated for the 1984 Hugo Award
for Best Dramatic Presentation.
In addition, the British Film Institute
published a book on the movie by Tom Charity in October 1997 that offered a detailed analysis and behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
In 2005, Tom Hanks
had expressed interest in a radio interview in producing a new Right Stuff miniseries in hopes of giving the history and the myths associated a bit more in-depth representation.
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's 1979 book The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff (book)
The Right Stuff is a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the pilots engaged in U.S. postwar experiments with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft as well as documenting the stories of the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the NASA space program...
about the test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
s who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
as well as those selected to be astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s for Project Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' first attempt at manned spaceflight
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
.
The story contrasts the "Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...
" and their families with pilots like Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
. While never selected as an astronaut, Yeager was considered by many test pilots to be the best of them all. The Mercury Seven were Scott Carpenter
Scott Carpenter
Malcolm Scott Carpenter is an American engineer, former test pilot, astronaut, and aquanaut. He is best known as one of the original seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury in April 1959....
, Gordon Cooper
Gordon Cooper
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...
, John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
, Gus Grissom
Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan Grissom , , better known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot...
, Wally Schirra
Wally Schirra
Walter Marty Schirra, Jr. was an American test pilot, United States Navy officer, and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts chosen for the Project Mercury, America's effort to put humans in space. He is the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs...
, Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...
, and Deke Slayton
Deke Slayton
Donald Kent Slayton , better known as Deke Slayton, was an American World War II pilot and later, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts....
.
The film stars Scott Glenn
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn is an American actor. His roles have included Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy , astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff ,Emmett in Silverado , Commander Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October , Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs and The Wise Man in Sucker Punch -Early...
as Shepard, Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
as Glenn, Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
as Grissom, Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as Cooper and Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Yeager.
Plot
The film begins in 1947 at Muroc Army Air Field, an arid California military base where test pilotTest pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
s often die flying high-speed aircraft such as the rocket-powered Bell X-1
Bell X-1
The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was a joint NACA-U.S. Army/US Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft. Conceived in 1944 and designed and built over 1945, it eventually reached nearly 1,000 mph in 1948...
. After another pilot demands $150,000 to attempt to break the sound barrier
Sound barrier
The sound barrier, in aerodynamics, is the point at which an aircraft moves from transonic to supersonic speed. The term, which occasionally has other meanings, came into use during World War II, when a number of aircraft started to encounter the effects of compressibility, a collection of several...
, war hero Chuck Yeager
Chuck Yeager
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
(Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
) receives the chance to fly the X-1. While on a horseback ride with his wife Glennis (Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey
Barbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
), Yeager collides with a tree branch and breaks his ribs, which inhibits him from leaning over and locking the door to the X-1. Worried that his injury might become known, Yeager confides in friend and fellow pilot Jack Ridley
Jack Ridley
Jackie L. "Jack" Ridley was a colonel in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot who worked with Chuck Yeager....
(Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
). Ridley cuts off part of a broomstick and tells Yeager to use it as a lever to help seal the hatch to the X-1, and Yeager becomes the first man to fly at supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
speed, defeating the "demon in the sky."
In 1953 Muroc, now Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
, still attracts the best test pilots. Yeager and friendly rival Scott Crossfield
Albert Scott Crossfield
Albert Scott Crossfield was an American naval officer and test pilot.-Biography:Born in Berkeley, California, Crossfield grew up in California and Washington. He served with the U.S. Navy as a flight instructor and fighter pilot during World War II...
(Scott Wilson
Scott Wilson (actor)
Scott Wilson is an American actor.-Movies:Wilson appeared in such films as In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Gypsy Moths, The Great Gatsby, The Right Stuff, A Year of the Quiet Sun, Malone, Dead Man Walking, The Grass Harp, Junebug, The Host, Monster, Young Guns II, Pearl Harbor, and...
) repeatedly break the other's speed records. The "prime" pilots often visit the Happy Bottom Riding Club
Happy Bottom Riding Club
The Happy Bottom Riding Club, more formally known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, was a dude ranch restaurant and hotel operated by Pancho Barnes on the site of current-day Edwards Air Force Base in southern California's Antelope Valley, in the southwestern part of the United...
run by Pancho Barnes
Pancho Barnes
Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator, the founder of the first test pilots union and the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant. She broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record in 1930...
(Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley
Kim Stanley was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances....
), where Gordon "Gordo" Cooper
Gordon Cooper
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...
(Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
) and Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan Grissom , , better known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot...
(Fred Ward
Fred Ward
Freddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
) of the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
are among the newer "pudknockers" that hope to also prove that they have "the Right Stuff". The tests are no longer secret, as the military recognizes that it needs good publicity for funding, and with "no bucks, no Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
". Cooper's wife, Trudy (Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
), and other wives are afraid of becoming widows, but cannot change their husbands' ambitions and desire for success and fame.
In 1957, the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite alarms the United States government
Sputnik crisis
The Sputnik crisis is the name for the American reaction to the success of the Sputnik program. It was a key event during the Cold War that began on October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial Earth satellite....
. Politicians such as Senator Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
and military leaders demand that 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...
help America defeat the Russians in the new Space Race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
. The search for the first Americans in space excludes Yeager, because he lacks a college degree. Grueling physical and mental tests select the Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven
Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1...
astronauts, including John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
(Ed Harris
Ed Harris
Edward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
) of the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, Alan Shepard
Alan Shepard
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit...
(Scott Glenn
Scott Glenn
Theodore Scott Glenn is an American actor. His roles have included Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy , astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff ,Emmett in Silverado , Commander Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October , Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs and The Wise Man in Sucker Punch -Early...
) of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, Cooper, Grissom, and three others; they immediately become national heroes. Although many early NASA rockets explode during launch, the ambitious astronauts all hope to be the first in space as part of Project Mercury
Project Mercury
In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...
. Although engineers see the men as passengers, the pilots insist that the Mercury spacecraft have a window, a hatch with explosive bolts, and pitch-yaw-roll controls.
Shepard is the first to reach space on the 15-minute sub-orbital flight of Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3
Mercury-Redstone 3 was the first manned space mission of the United States. Astronaut Alan Shepard piloted a 15-minute Project Mercury suborbital flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961 to become the first American in space, three weeks after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had carried...
in May 1961. After Grissom's sub-orbital flight on Mercury-Redstone 4
Mercury-Redstone 4
Mercury-Redstone 4 was the second United States manned space mission, launched on July 21, 1961. The Mercury program suborbital flight used a Redstone rocket. The spacecraft was named Liberty Bell 7 piloted by astronaut Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom. It reached an altitude of more than 118.26 mi ...
lands in the ocean, the spacecraft's hatch inexplicably jettisons during the ocean recovery and quickly fills with water. Grissom escapes, but the spacecraft, overweight with seawater, sinks. Many criticize Grissom for possibly panicking and opening the hatch prematurely. Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth on Mercury-Atlas 6
Mercury-Atlas 6
Mercury-Atlas 6 was a human spaceflight mission conducted by NASA, the space agency of the United States. As part of Project Mercury, MA-6 was the successful first attempt by NASA to place an astronaut into orbit. The MA-6 mission was launched February 20, 1962. It made three orbits of the Earth,...
in February 1962, surviving a possibly loose heat shield, and receives a ticker-tape parade
Ticker-tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in a built-up urban setting, allowing large amounts of shredded paper to be thrown from nearby office buildings onto the parade route, creating a celebratory effect by the snowstorm-like flurry...
. He, his colleagues, and their families become celebrities, including a gigantic celebration in Texas, despite Glenn's wife Annie
Annie Glenn
Annie Glenn, born Anna Margaret Castor , is the wife of former astronaut and Senator John Glenn.-Private life:Annie was born in 1920 to Homer and Margaret Castor of Columbus, Ohio. In 1923, Dr. Castor and his family moved to New Concord, Ohio, where they became friends with the family of John...
's (Mary Jo Deschanel
Mary Jo Deschanel
-Life and career:Deschanel was born as Mary Jo Weir. In her first major appearance in show business in 1983, Deschanel played Annie Glenn, the wife of the astronaut John Glenn in the movie adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book, The Right Stuff....
) fear of public speaking due to a stutter.
Although test pilots at Edwards mock the Mercury program for sending "spam in a can" into space, they recognize that they are no longer the fastest men on Earth, and Yeager states that "it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially when it's on national TV." While testing the new Lockheed NF-104A
Lockheed NF-104A
The Lockheed NF-104A was an American mixed power, high-performance, supersonic aerospace trainer that served as a low cost astronaut training vehicle for the X-15 and projected X-20 Dyna-Soar programs....
, Yeager sets a new altitude record at the edge of space but is nearly killed in a high-speed ejection when his engines fail. Though badly burned, after reaching the ground Yeager gathers up his parachute and walks to the ambulance, proving that he still has the Right Stuff.
The film ends with Cooper's successful launch in May 1963 on Mercury-Atlas 9
Mercury-Atlas 9
Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final manned space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963 from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named Faith 7, completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper, then...
, ending the Mercury program. As the last American to fly into space alone, he "went higher, farther, and faster than any other American ... for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen."
Cast
In order of screen credits:- Sam ShepardSam ShepardSam Shepard is an American playwright, actor, and television and film director. He is the author of several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child...
as Chuck YeagerChuck YeagerCharles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound... - Scott GlennScott GlennTheodore Scott Glenn is an American actor. His roles have included Wes Hightower in Urban Cowboy , astronaut Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff ,Emmett in Silverado , Commander Bart Mancuso in The Hunt for Red October , Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs and The Wise Man in Sucker Punch -Early...
as Alan ShepardAlan ShepardAlan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was an American naval aviator, test pilot, flag officer, and NASA astronaut who in 1961 became the second person, and the first American, in space. This Mercury flight was designed to enter space, but not to achieve orbit... - Ed HarrisEd HarrisEdward Allen "Ed" Harris is an American actor, writer, and director, known for his performances in Appaloosa, Radio, The Rock, The Abyss, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, and The Truman Show. Harris has also narrated commercials for The Home Depot and other companies...
as John GlennJohn GlennJohn Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original... - Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as Gordon CooperGordon CooperLeroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States... - Fred WardFred WardFreddie Joe "Fred" Ward is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz. He is best known for his starring roles in the motion pictures Remo Williams, Tremors, Henry & June, Short Cuts, The Right Stuff and Exit Speed...
as Gus GrissomGus GrissomVirgil Ivan Grissom , , better known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot... - Barbara HersheyBarbara HersheyBarbara Hershey , also known as Barbara Seagull, is an American actress. In a career spanning nearly 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema, in several genres including westerns and comedies...
as Glennis Yeager - Kim StanleyKim StanleyKim Stanley was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances....
as Pancho BarnesPancho BarnesFlorence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator, the founder of the first test pilots union and the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant. She broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record in 1930... - Veronica CartwrightVeronica CartwrightVeronica A. Cartwright is an English-born American actress who has worked mainly in American film and television. She is best known for her role of Lambert in Alien, for which she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress....
as Betty Grissom - Pamela ReedPamela ReedPamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Ruth Powers in various episodes of TV's The Simpsons, as Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic partner in the 1990 movie Kindergarten Cop and as the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho...
as Trudy Cooper - Scott PaulinScott PaulinScott Paulin is an American actor and television director.-Career:His work includes appearances in well-known television series like House M.D., ER, Cold Case, 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
as Deke SlaytonDeke SlaytonDonald Kent Slayton , better known as Deke Slayton, was an American World War II pilot and later, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts.... - Charles FrankCharles FrankCharles R. Frank is an American actor noted for playing Bret Maverick's cousin Ben Maverick in the 1978 TV-movie The New Maverick with James Garner and Jack Kelly, and in the short-lived 1979 television series Young Maverick. Graduated with the class of 1969 from MIddlebury College.-Career:From...
as Scott CarpenterScott CarpenterMalcolm Scott Carpenter is an American engineer, former test pilot, astronaut, and aquanaut. He is best known as one of the original seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury in April 1959.... - Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
as Wally SchirraWally SchirraWalter Marty Schirra, Jr. was an American test pilot, United States Navy officer, and one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts chosen for the Project Mercury, America's effort to put humans in space. He is the only person to fly in all of America's first three space programs... - Donald MoffatDonald MoffatDonald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...
as Senator (later Vice President) Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States... - Robert Beer as President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
- Levon HelmLevon HelmMark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
as Jack RidleyJack RidleyJackie L. "Jack" Ridley was a colonel in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot who worked with Chuck Yeager....
/ Narrator - Mary Jo DeschanelMary Jo Deschanel-Life and career:Deschanel was born as Mary Jo Weir. In her first major appearance in show business in 1983, Deschanel played Annie Glenn, the wife of the astronaut John Glenn in the movie adaptation of the Tom Wolfe book, The Right Stuff....
as Annie GlennAnnie GlennAnnie Glenn, born Anna Margaret Castor , is the wife of former astronaut and Senator John Glenn.-Private life:Annie was born in 1920 to Homer and Margaret Castor of Columbus, Ohio. In 1923, Dr. Castor and his family moved to New Concord, Ohio, where they became friends with the family of John... - Scott WilsonScott Wilson (actor)Scott Wilson is an American actor.-Movies:Wilson appeared in such films as In the Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Gypsy Moths, The Great Gatsby, The Right Stuff, A Year of the Quiet Sun, Malone, Dead Man Walking, The Grass Harp, Junebug, The Host, Monster, Young Guns II, Pearl Harbor, and...
as Scott Crossfield - Kathy BakerKathy BakerKatherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...
as Louise Shepard - Mickey Crocker as Marge Slayton
- Susan Kase as Rene Carpenter
- Mittie Smith as Jo Schirra
- Eric SevareidEric SevareidArnold Eric Sevareid was a CBS news journalist from 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents—dubbed "Murrow's Boys"—because they were hired by pioneering CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow....
as Himself - William RussWilliam RussWilliam Russ is an American actor, best known for his role as Alan Matthews on Boy Meets World.-Early life:Russ was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and is the son of a naval officer...
as Slick Goodlin - Peggy Davis as Sally RandSally RandSally Rand was a burlesque dancer and actress, most noted for her ostrich feather fan dance and balloon bubble dance. She also performed under the name Billie Beck.-Early life and career:...
- John DehnerJohn DehnerJohn Dehner was an American actor in radio, television, and films, playing countless roles, often as a droll villain. Between 1941 and 1988, he appeared in over 260 films and television programs. Prior to acting, Dehner had worked as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, and later became a radio...
as Henry LuceHenry LuceHenry Robinson Luce was an influential American publisher. He launched and closely supervised a stable of magazines that transformed journalism and the reading habits of upscale Americans... - Royce Grones as 1st X-1 pilot, who was Jack WoolamsJack WoolamsJack Woolams attended the University of Chicago for two years before joining the United States Army Air Corps. He served on active duty for approximately eighteen months, after which he returned to the University of Chicago and graduated with a degree in economics in June 1941.-Career and Flight...
- Chuck YeagerChuck YeagerCharles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
as Fred, the bartender at Pancho's - Jeff GoldblumJeff GoldblumJeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
and Harry ShearerHarry ShearerHarry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
as the NASA recruiters sent to find astronaut candidates.
A number of cameos were actually based on archival footage:
- Ed SullivanEd SullivanEdward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
: Himself (archive footage) (uncredited) - Nikolai BulganinNikolai BulganinNikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defense and Premier of the Soviet Union . The Bulganin beard is named after him.-Early career:...
: Himself – Viewing Parade for Gagarin (archive footage) (uncredited) - Bill Dana: José Jiménez (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Yuri GagarinYuri GagarinYuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961....
: Himself – Embracing Khrushchev (archive footage) (uncredited) - Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
: Himself – Standing behind JFK (archive footage) (uncredited) - John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
: Himself (archive footage) (uncredited) - Nikita KhrushchevNikita KhrushchevNikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
: Himself – Embracing Gagarin (archive footage) (uncredited) - Georgi Malenkov: Himself – Viewing Parade for Gagarin (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Anastas MikoyanAnastas MikoyanAnastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
: Himself – Viewing Parade for Gagarin (archive footage) (uncredited) - Kliment VoroshilovKliment VoroshilovKliment Yefremovich Voroshilov , popularly known as Klim Voroshilov was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman...
: Himself – Viewing Parade for Gagarin (archive footage) (uncredited)
Production
In 1979, independent producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin WinklerIrwin Winkler
Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of 50 major motion pictures, dating back to 1967's Double Trouble, starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , starring Jane Fonda, was nominated for nine Academy Awards...
outbid Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
for the movie rights to Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's book, hiring William Goldman
William Goldman
William Goldman is an American novelist, playwright, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.-Early life and education:...
to write the screenplay. Goldman's adaptation focused on the astronauts, entirely ignoring Chuck Yeager. United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
agreed to finance the film but the producers were not satisfied with Goldman's take on the book. They approached director Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman
Philip Kaufman is an American film director and screenwriter. His movies have adapted novels of widely different types – from Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being to Michael Crichton’s Rising Sun; from Tom Wolfe’s heroic epic The Right Stuff to the erotic writings of Anaïs Nin’s...
who shared their dissatisfaction with the existing script. Kaufman began working on the film as early as 1980 and Goldman quit the project. When Wolfe showed no interest in adapting his own book, Kaufman wrote a draft in eight weeks. His draft restored Yeager to the story because "if you're tracing how the future began, the future in space travel, it began really with Yeager and the world of the test pilots. The astronauts descended from them".
After the financial failure of Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (film)
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s...
, the studio put The Right Stuff in turnaround and The Ladd Company
The Ladd Company
The Ladd Company is a film production and distribution company founded by Alan Ladd, Jr. in 1979, after ending his job as President of 20th Century Fox. Under Warner Bros...
stepped in with an estimated $17 million. According to Alan Ladd, Jr.
Alan Ladd, Jr.
Alan Ladd, Jr. is an American film industry executive and producer. He is famous for giving George Lucas the go-ahead to make Star Wars and remained as Lucas' only support at times when the Board of Directors wished to shut down production...
, the final budget was closer to $27 million. Actor Ed Harris auditioned twice in 1981 for the role of John Glenn. The first time was in an office with Chartoff and Kaufman and the actor felt that he did not do a good job. A month later, he auditioned again on videotape. Originally, Kaufman wanted to use a troupe of contortionists to portray the press corps, but settled on the improvisational comedy troupe Fratelli Bologna
Fratelli Bologna
Fratelli Bologna is a business theater company based in San Francisco.The group brings their theater skills to the business world through engaging trade show presentations, creativity training, improv training, meeting facilitation and theatrical interventions during conferences...
, known for its sponsorship of "St. Stupid's Day" in San Francisco. The director created a snake-like hiss to accompany the press corps whenever they appear, which was achieved through a sound combination of (among other things) motorized Nikon cameras and clicking beetles.
Shot between March and October 1982, with additional filming continuing into January 1983, most of the film was shot in and around San Francisco, where a waterfront warehouse was transformed into a studio. Location shooting took place primarily at the abandoned Hamilton Air Force Base
Hamilton Air Force Base
Hamilton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located along the western shore of San Pablo Bay, south of Novato, California.-History:...
north of San Francisco which was converted into a sound stage for the numerous interior sets. No location could substitute for the distinctive Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
landscape which necessitated the entire production crew move to the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
for the opening sequences that framed the story of the test pilots at Edwards.
Yeager was hired as a technical consultant on the film. He took the actors flying, studied the storyboards and special effects, and pointed out the errors. To prepare for their roles, Kaufman gave the actors playing the seven astronauts an extensive videotape collection to study.
The efforts at making an authentic feature led to the use of many full size aircraft, scale models and special effects to replicate the scenes at Edwards Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral. According to special visual effects supervisor Gary Gutierrez, the first special effects were too clean and they wanted a "dirty, funky, early NASA look." Kaufman was unhappy with the results and shut down work and fired many of the effects crew. Gutierrez and his team started from scratch, employing unconventional techniques—like going up a hill with model airplanes on wires and fog machines to create clouds, or shooting model F-104s from a crossbow device and capturing their flight with up to four cameras. Avant garde filmmaker Jordan Belson created the background of the Earth as seen from high-flying planes and from orbiting spacecraft.
Kaufman gave his five editors a list of documentary images the film required and they searched the country for film from NASA, the Air Force, and Bell Aircraft vaults. They also discovered Russian stock footage not viewed in thirty years. During the course of the production, Kaufman met with resistance from the Ladd Company and threatened to quit several times. In December 1982, 8,000 feet of film portraying John Glenn's trip in orbit and return to Earth disappeared or was stolen from Kaufman's editing facility in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. The missing footage was never found but the footage was reconstructed from copies.
Film models
A large number of film models were assembled for the production; for the more than 80 aircraft appearing in the film, static mock-ups and models were used as well as authentic aircraft of the period. Lt. Col. Duncan Wilmore (ret.) acted as the United States Air ForceUnited States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
liaison to the production, beginning his role as a technical consultant in 1980 when the pre-production planning had begun. The first draft of the script in 1980 had concentrated only on the Mercury 7 but as subsequent revisions developed the treatment into more of the original story that Wolfe had envisioned, the aircraft of late-1940s that would have been seen at Edwards AFB were required. Wilmore gathered World War II era "prop" aircraft including:
- Douglas A-26 Invader
- North American P-51 Mustang
- North American T-6 TexanNorth American T-6 TexanThe North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...
and - Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The first group were mainly "set dressing" on the ramp while the Confederate Air Force (now renamed the Commemorative Air Force) B-29 "Fifi"
FIFI (aircraft)
FIFI, Boeing B-29A Superfortress, s/n 44-62070, civil registration N529B, is one of only a few surviving in existence and the only one currently flying. It is owned by the Commemorative Air Force, currently based at Addison, Texas. FIFI tours the U.S.A...
was modified to act as the "mothership" to carry the Bell X-1
Bell X-1
The Bell X-1, originally designated XS-1, was a joint NACA-U.S. Army/US Air Force supersonic research project built by Bell Aircraft. Conceived in 1944 and designed and built over 1945, it eventually reached nearly 1,000 mph in 1948...
and X-1A rocket-powered record-breakers.
Other "real" aircraft included the early jet fighters and trainers as well as current USAF and United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
examples. These flying aircraft and helicopters included:
- Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
- LTV A-7 Corsair II
- North American F-86 Sabre
- Convair F-106 Delta Dart
- McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
- Sikorsky H-34 Choctaw
- Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King
- Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star
- Northrop T-38 Talon
A number of aircraft significant to the story had to be recreated. The first was an essentially static X-1 that had to at least roll and even realistically "belch flame" which was accomplished by a simulated rocket blast from the exhaust pipes. A series of wooden mock-up X-1s were used to depict interior shots of the cockpit, the mating up of the X-1 to a modified B-29 fuselage and bomb bay and ultimately to recreate flight in a combination of model work and live-action photography. The "follow-up" X-1A was also an all-wooden model.
The U.S. Navy's Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket that Crossfield duelled with Yeager's X-1 and X-1A was recreated from a modified Hawker Hunter
Hawker Hunter
The Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
jet fighter. The climactic flight of Yeager in a Lockheed NF-104A
Lockheed NF-104A
The Lockheed NF-104A was an American mixed power, high-performance, supersonic aerospace trainer that served as a low cost astronaut training vehicle for the X-15 and projected X-20 Dyna-Soar programs....
was originally to be made with a modified Lockheed F-104 Starfighter but ultimately, Wilmore made the decision that the production had to make do with a Luftwaffe F-104G, which lacks the rocket engine of the NF-104.
Wooden mock-ups of the Mercury space capsules also realistically depicted the NASA spacecraft and were built from the original mold.
For many of the flying sequences, scale models were produced by USFX Studios and filmed outdoors in natural sunlight against the sky. Even off-the-shelf plastic scale models were utilized for aerial scenes. The X-1, F-104 and B-29 models were built in large numbers as a number of the more than 40 scale models were destroyed in the process of filming. The blending together of miniatures, full-scale mock-ups and actual aircraft was seamlessly integrated into the live-action footage. The addition of original newsreel footage was used sparingly but to effect to provide another layer of authenticity.
Box office
The Right Stuff had its world premiere on October 16, 1983 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to benefit the American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
. It was given a limited release on October 21, 1983 in 229 theaters, grossing $1.6 million on its opening weekend. It went into wide release on February 17, 1984 in 627 theaters where it grossed an additional $1.6 million on that weekend. Despite immense critical acclaim, and winning four Academy Awards, the film grossed only $21.5 million in North America on an estimated $27 million dollar budget.
As part of the promotion for the film, Veronica Cartwright, Chuck Yeager, Gordon Cooper, Scott Glenn and Dennis Quaid appeared at the 1983 World Science Fiction Convention in Baltimore.
Reviews
The Right Stuff was well received by critics and currently holds a 97% approval rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Film critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
named The Right Stuff best film of the year, and wrote, "it joins a short list of recent American movies that might be called experimental epics: movies that have an ambitious reach through time and subject matter, that spend freely for locations or special effects, but that consider each scene as intently as an art film". He later named it one of the best films of the decade and wrote, "The Right Stuff is a greater film because it is not a straightforward historical account but pulls back to chronicle the transition from Yeager and other test pilots to a mighty public relations enterprise". In his review for Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
, David Ansen
David Ansen
David Ansen is a reviewer and senior editor for Newsweek, where he has been reviewing movies since 1977. He came to Newsweek after several years as the chief film critic at Boston's The Real Paper...
wrote, "When The Right Stuff takes to the skies, it can't be compared with any other movie, old or new: it's simply the most thrilling flight footage ever put on film". Gary Arnold in his review for the Washington Post, wrote, "The movie is obviously so solid and appealing that it's bound to go through the roof commercially and keep on soaring for the next year of so". In his review for the The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Vincent Canby praised Shepard's performance: "Both as the character he plays and as an iconic screen presence, Mr. Shepard gives the film much well-needed heft. He is the center of gravity". Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael
Pauline Kael was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. Earlier in her career, her work appeared in City Lights, McCall's and The New Republic....
wrote, "The movie has the happy, excited spirit of a fanfare, and it's astonishingly entertaining, considering what a screw-up it is".
Yeager said of the film: "Sam [Shepard] is not a real flamboyant actor, and I'm not a real flamboyant-type individual ... he played his role the way I fly airplanes". Deke Slayton said that none of the film "was all that accurate, but it was well done". Walter Schirra said, "They insulted the lovely people who talked us through the program - the NASA engineers. They made them like bumbling Germans". Scott Carpenter felt that it was a "great movie in all regards".
Wolfe made no secret that he disliked the film, especially because of changes from his original book. William Goldman, involved in early drafts of the script, also disliked the choices made by Kaufman, saying in his book Adventures In The Screen Trade that Kaufman believed that Yeager was a true hero, and only he had the titular "right stuff", while the astronauts had just gotten lucky and did not match up to him in any way. Critics, however, generally were favorable toward the film. Robert Osborne
Robert Osborne
Robert Jolin Osborne is an American actor and film historian best known as the primary host for Turner Classic Movies, and previously a host of The Movie Channel.-Life and career:...
, who introduced showings of the movie on Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
, was quite enthusiastic about the film. The cameo appearance by the real Chuck Yeager in the film was a particular "treat" which Osborne cited. The recounting of many of the legendary aspects of Yeager's life was left in place, including the naming of the X-1, "Glamorous Glennis" after his wife and his superstitious preflight ritual of asking for a stick of Beemans chewing gum
Beemans gum
Beemans gum is a chewing gum invented by Ohio physician Dr. Edward E. Beeman in the late 19th century.-History:...
from his best friend, Jack Ridley.
When the film came out, former (and future) astronaut and Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
John Glenn
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
(Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) was running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. It was felt that the movie might help his chances, but in fact, his candidacy did not go far.
While the movie took liberties with certain historical facts as part of "dramatic license", criticism focused on one: the portrayal of Gus Grissom
Gus Grissom
Virgil Ivan Grissom , , better known as Gus Grissom, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot...
panicking when his Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft sank following splashdown. Most historians, as well as engineers working for or with 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 many of the related contractor agencies within the aerospace industry, are now convinced that the premature detonation of the spacecraft hatch's explosive bolts was caused by mechanical failure not associated with direct human error or deliberate detonation at the hands of Grissom. This determination had, in fact, been made long before the movie was filmed, and even Tom Wolfe
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly "Tom" Wolfe, Jr. is a best-selling American author and journalist. He is one of the founders of the New Journalism movement of the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life and education:...
's book only states that this possibility was considered, not that it was actually judged as being the cause of the accident.
Another fact that had been altered in the film was the statement by Trudy Cooper
Gordon Cooper
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States...
, who commented that she "wondered how they would've felt if every time their husband went in to make a deal, there was a one-in-four chance he wouldn't come out of that meeting." According to the book, this actually reflected the 23% chance of dying during a 20-year career as a normal pilot. For a test pilot, these odds were higher, at 53%, but were still considerably less than the movie implied. In addition, the movie merely used the fictional Mrs. Cooper as a vehicle for the statement; the real Mrs. Cooper is not known to have said this.
Awards
It won four Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Sound Effects Editing
Academy Award for Sound Editing
The Academy Award of Merit for Best Sound Editing is an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound editing or sound design...
; Best Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
; Best Original Score
Academy Award for Original Music Score
The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
and Best Sound (Mark Berger
Mark Berger (sound engineer)
Mark Berger is an American sound engineer. He has won four Academy Awards for Best Sound. He has worked on over 160 films since 1973.-Selected filmography:* Apocalypse Now * The Right Stuff * Amadeus...
, Tom Scott
Tom Scott (sound engineer)
Tom Scott is an American sound engineer. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Sound.-Selected filmography:* The Right Stuff * Amadeus -External links:...
, Randy Thom and David MacMillan
David MacMillan (sound engineer)
David MacMillan is an American sound engineer. He has won three Academy Awards for Best Sound. He has worked on over 70 films since 1973.-Selected filmography:* The Right Stuff * Speed * Apollo 13 -External links:...
). It was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Sam Shepard), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
(Geoffrey Kirkland
Geoffrey Kirkland
Geoffrey Kirkland is an English production designer. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film The Right Stuff.-Selected filmography:* Fame * WarGames...
, Richard Lawrence
Richard Lawrence (art director)
Richard Lawrence is an art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film The Right Stuff.-Selected filmography:* The Shootist * The Right Stuff * Crimson Tide...
, W. Stewart Campbell
W. Stewart Campbell
W. Stewart Campbell is an American production designer and art director. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:Campbell was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Art Direction:...
, Peter R. Romero
Peter R. Romero
Peter R. Romero was an art director. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film The Right Stuff.-External links:...
, Jim Poynter
Jim Poynter
Jim Poynter is an American set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film The Right Stuff. In most of his earlier work, he was credited under the pseudonym of Pat Pending....
, George R. Nelson
George R. Nelson
George R. Nelson was an American set decorator. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for three more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
), Best Cinematography
Academy Award for Best Cinematography
The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
and Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
It was nominated for the 1984 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Re-releases
On June 23, 2003, Warner Brothers released a two-DVD Special Edition that featured scene-specific commentaries with key cast and crew members, deleted scenes, three documentaries on the making of the film including interviews with Mercury astronauts and Chuck Yeager, and a feature-length documentary, John Glenn: American Hero.In addition, the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
published a book on the movie by Tom Charity in October 1997 that offered a detailed analysis and behind-the-scenes anecdotes.
In 2005, Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
had expressed interest in a radio interview in producing a new Right Stuff miniseries in hopes of giving the history and the myths associated a bit more in-depth representation.
External links
- Beemans Gum Featured In The Right Stuff - At Beemans gumBeemans gumBeemans gum is a chewing gum invented by Ohio physician Dr. Edward E. Beeman in the late 19th century.-History:...