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:

psychotronic film | astronaut | marriage of convenience | faked pregnancy | video telephone | 

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Taglines:

The Space Race gets Racier when . . .

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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 film takes place in 1989.

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Goofs

On their first night on the moon the valve on Pete's pillow appears and disappears.

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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

Jerry at his very... very worst!

Believe me, any of those French critics who can see this odious mess and STILL consider Jerry Lewis a genius ought to be drowned in their own vichysoisse! Jerry is at his most self-indulgent on this project, and isn't helped by a lot of leering jokes that even a horny twelve-year-old would consider in bad taste. The all-but-incomprehensible plot and sluggish acting don't help, either. Only bright spot about this film is the underrated, under-used Dick Shawn as Jerry's Russian counterpart.

At least a good director experienced in handling Jerry, like Frank Tashlin or Norman Taurog, could have possibly made something out of this, but Gordon Douglas was always a director (?) whose main virtue was that he could bring in films on-time and at or under budget. Douglas' films were successful because of either their stars or stories ("Robin and the Seven Hoods," the Carroll Baker "Harlow"), but he himself was a director of workmanlike competence and no more. It's a reputation he upholds here, with his indulgent direction and sluggish pacing.

All of which proves, once again, that Jerry Lewis' last really good film on his own was "The Nutty Professor." After that, he started believing his press clippings, especially his foreign ones, and, after a while, he wasn't as much funny as downright pathetic. And "Way... Way Out" is a textbook example of this.