X-15: The Hollywood Version
Charles Bronson starred. The Pentagon had a few minor corrections.
- By airspacemag.com
- Air & Space magazine, August 2007
Courtesy movieposter.com
Although the movie X-15, starring Charles Bronson and Mary Tyler Moore, is today viewed unfavorably by movie and aviation fans, it was well received by critics in November 1961. The Washington Evening Star raved, “Whatever its serious scientific intentions, the X-15 is an almost unbelievable screen spectacular.”
Scripted by Tony Lazzarino and James Warner Bellah, X-15 underwent several name changes including Exit, Time of Departure, and Beyond the Unknown. In March 1958, when Lazzarino first approached the Department of Defense for assistance, he had just come from working on the 1950s TV series, NORAD. In his initial correspondence with the DoD, he requested access to X-2 footage. As the following letter notes, U.S. Air Force Major Stockton Shaw recommended that the subject be the X-15, which had rolled out of North American hangars just four weeks previous. Some $350,000 was put aside for primary shooting, with an additional $72,500 for post-production work. By August 1960, production had moved from Bob Hope’s company to Frank Sinatra’s Essex Productions.
In September 1960, producer Hank Sanicola at Essex requested access to X-15 footage. At this point, Lazzarino was in the middle of a rewrite, presumably to add the latest X-15 data. The final shooting script is dated April 7. Richard Donner (best known today for the Lethal Weapon and Superman franchises) directed. Narrator Brigadier General James Stewart introduced the film to moviegoers.
The following letter shows just how involved the Pentagon was in helping the producers do justice to the subject.
Department of the Air Force, Washington
Office of the Secretary
18 November 1958
Memorandum for Chief, Production Branch Audio-Visual Division, Office of News Services
Subject: “Exit”
Objections
1. The story outlines placing a man in orbit on a crash basis because of a desire on the part of the government to “top” the Russian Sputnik. Neither promise does credit to the government or the U.S. Air Force and the latter is no longer valid. We recommend that some other premise be established and suggest that the reason for the fast pace is a breakthrough in propellants which makes space flight possible.
2. The participating pilots appear to add very little to the program except their presence. They are tested, probed and finally given the seal of approval with almost no evidence of having contributed to the program itself. This trend is noted in the following dialogue. Scene 132, page 67: Dr. Anthony says, “I’ll have someone ready by Saturday.” Scene 134, page 67, Dr. Anthony again says, “If anything at all goes wong before the drop…I want you to abort the mission.” The pilot answers, “Right, Sir, thank you!” The total impression is that the pilot is another piece of complicated equipment that is to be modified, perfected, and then brought out to take its place at the right time with the rest of the machinery. We believe this downgrades our pilots to a great extent considering the fact that they are engineers and have worked with the factory throughout the production of the aircraft. In addition the pilot’s tests seem solely to be concerned with their physical aptitude and ability. Nothing indicates either a mental aptitude, ability, or any contribution which they had made to the project.
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