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

One of the rare Jerry Lewis movies from the 1960s that was not directed by himself or Frank Tashlin (Boeing, Boeing (1965) being one of the other exceptions up until 1966).

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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

[First lines]
Narrator: This is Colonel John "Shorty" Powers in Lunar Launch Control. This story takes place near the turn of the century -not the last century, the *next* century. Nothing very much has happened since the 1960's: There as still a United Nations, and peace in the world... or at least what we have come to accept as "peace".

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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

Many good laughs stand test of time, others were hilarious at the time

Saw this as a teen first time it hit TV - and laughed nearly all the way. Many good lines that stand the test of time (you should hear what she wanted to do last night) as well as usual over-the-top performance from Lewis and (more so) from Shawn.

Some of the humour is based on the very REAL socio-political situation with the space race and the cold war, so younger viewers might not always "get it". Too bad. You should still get enough from the rest of the lines. Movie wasn't meant to be "camp" in original release, but should gain somewhat due to campy appearance from a late 90's perspective.

Rent it - have some laughs - and "soap (yourself) all over".