Way... Way Out (1966)

In a futuristic world, the USA decides to send a married couple of astronauts to its moon base in order to prevent any improper contact with the Soviet female cosmonauts manning the USSR moon base.

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

William Bowers, László Vadnay (as Laslo Vadnay)

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens, Robert Morley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jerry Lewis	...	Peter Mattemore
Connie Stevens	...	Eileen Forbes
Robert Morley	...	Harold Quonset
Dennis Weaver	...	Hoffman
Howard Morris	...	Schmidlap
Brian Keith	...	Gen. 'Howling Bull' Hallenby
Dick Shawn	...	Igor Valkleinokov
Anita Ekberg	...	Anna Soblova
William O'Connell	...	Ponsonby
Bobo Lewis	...	Esther Davenport
Sig Ruman	...	Russian Delegate
Milton Frome	...	American Delegate
Alexander D'Arcy	...	Deuce Hawkins (as Alex D'Arcy)
Linda Harrison	...	Peggy
James Brolin	...	Ted Robertson

Storyline

In 1989, the Americans and the Russians each have a two-person base on the moon. The Americans have had to keep replacing their astronaut teams because they quickly go crazy; they have been using only male astronauts on the unspoken assumption that this would avoid any possibility of impropriety. The Russians, as godless Communists, are under no such constraints, and their male-female team has remained well-adjusted. At the start of the film, a male and female American astronaut team is sent up to replace the sex-starved all-male team. The government insists on them being married first to preserve morality. Most of the story revolves around the eventual consummation of this marriage of convenience, and around their relationship with their Russian neighbors, who keep casually dropping by.

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Plot Keywords:

astronaut | marriage of convenience | faked pregnancy | video telephone | pregnancy issue | 

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Taglines:

By Gemini, here's the wildest crew on Earth, Saturn, Mars, Moon etc.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Mondkalb

Filming Locations:

Stage 18, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,955,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Coldwater, Way Out Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (DeLuxe) Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title song, "Way . . . Way Out", is performed by Jerry Lewis' son's band, Gary Lewis & The Playboys.

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Goofs

During the elevator ride to board the rocket the building in the background doesn't change position or angle as it would in real life, revealing that the background film loop simply keeps repeating as the elevator supposedly passes each level.

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Quotes

[loading the sex-crazed Schmilap onto the return vessel]
Pete Mattemore: When do you untie him?
Hoffman: When I rendezvous with Deuce in the main ship, and get some help.
Schmidlap: NOTHIN'S gonna help ya Hoffman! You no good dir...
[Hoffman yanks the cord on Schmidlap's suit radio. Schmidlap continues shouting in silence, until quieted by a few blows by Hoffman to the side of his helmet]
Pete Mattemore: What happens when Schmidlap gets back, and there's girls all over the place?
Hoffman: Oh I don't know... I honestly don't know... If I could just get him ...

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Connections

Features Frankenstein (1931)

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Soundtracks

Way... Way Out
Words by Hal Winn
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Sung by Gary Lewis & The Playboys (as Gary Lewis and the Playboys)

User Reviews

Incredible sets, good camera-work, a few great gags

A few parts had me howling, even though the rest of the room was dead quiet. But I've always been a fan of Jerry's more subtle "deadpan" humour and surrealistic, wordless scenes where the comedy seeps into you rather than the bang-pow punchline type of laugh.

For example in CINDERFELLA there's that scene where he's trying to light his stepbrother's cigarette. No music, no dialogue, no camera motion at all. Just 120 seconds of pure disaster. Or in NUTTY PROFESSOR there's the hilarious scene where he timidly enters the dean's office--again, no sound, no words, just a thick, hilarious atmosphere.

WAY... WAY OUT has a few of those types of gags, and they were brilliantly done, including one of the funniest gags I've ever seen ("If I'm not mistaken, that's Stella Mary right there"). Unfortunately the film seemed to switch gears halfway through, once they're on the moon, and it became more of a silly sitcom. Still, I enjoyed it until the end.

A word about the visual presentation: magnificent! Sure, we don't generally go to Jerry Lewis movies to see artistic cinematography, but it's there. The sets are surreal (futuristic in a cool retro-60s way). Everything was large and colourful. Shots are framed wonderfully (be sure to see it in widescreen). The camera moves smoothly and brilliantly throughout the action. But then, as I said above, everything changes once they're on the moon. The sets become smaller, more claustrophobic and less grandiose. This returns us to the silly sitcom feel.

Overall it was wacky & entertaining. I think it's best watched by people who are familiar with Jerry's subtle style, rather than his slapstick skits. For that reason I'm afraid most people will be disappointed. But a few of you may really enjoy it.