Way... Way Out (1966)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Jerry Lewis (Peter), Connie Stevens (Eileen), Robert Morley (Quonset), Dennis Weaver (Hoffman), Howard Morris (Schmidlap), Brian Keith (General Hallenby), Dick Shawn (Igor), Anita Ekberg (Anna), William O'Connell (Ponsonby), Bobo Lewis (Esther Davenport), Sig Ruman (Russian delegate), Milton Frome (American delegate), Alex D'Arcy (Deuce), Linda Harrison (Linda), James Brolin (Ted), Michael Jackson (TV announcer). Narrated by Colonel "Shorty" Powers.Directed by GORDON DOUGLAS. Written for the screen by William Bowers and Laslo Vadnay. Costumes designed by Moss Mabry. Director of photography: William H. Clothier. Art direction: Jack Martin Smith and Hilyard Brown. Set decorations: Walter M. Scott and Stuart A. Reiss. Unit production manager: Nathan R. Barragar. Assistant director: Joseph E. Rickards. Film editor: Hugh S. Fowler. Special photographic effects: L. B. Abbott, Emil Kosa, Jr and Howard Lydecker. Make-up by Ben Nye. Hair styles by Margaret Donovan. Music composed and conducted by Lalo Schifrin. Title song (Gary Lewis and the Playboys) by Hal Winn (lyrics), Lalo Schifrin (music). Co- ordinator for Jerry Lewis Productions: Joe E. Stabile. Sound recording: Al Overton, David Dockendorf. Westrex Sound System. A CinemaScope picture in DeLuxe Color. Producer: Malcolm Stuart. Copyright 26 October 1966 by Jerry Lewis Productions/Coldwater Productions/Way Out Company. Released through 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at neighborhood cinemas: 26 October 1966. U.S. release: 26 October 1966. U.K. release: 1 October 1967. 9,432 feet. 105 minutes. For U.S. release, the film was cut to 101 minutes. The full-length version was shown in England and probably Australia. Sydney opening at the Esquire (or Town).SYNOPSIS: 20th Century-Fox provides a new launching pad for Jerry Lewis in Way... Way Out, and literally sends him to the moon. In the film, a provocative satire on global politics, the space race and the battle of the sexes, Lewis portrays a weather astronaut stationed in space. It is a role which utilizes the full gamut of Lewis' comic talents and, with the current worldwide interest in interplanetary subjects, Way... Way Out shapes up as a film that will not only appeal to the ever growing audience of Jerry Lewis fans but to moviegoers of all types seeking modern first-rate entertainment fun. Co-starring with Lewis are vivacious Connie Stevens, fast rising young star Dick Shawn, the well-known British actor Robert Morley who was recently seen in "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines" and the voluptuous Anita Ekberg. Under the direction of Gordon Douglas who guided the successful "Rio Conchos" and the soon to be released "Stagecoach", "Way... Way Out" is currently being filmed on location at the Manned Space Flight Center in Houston and at the NASA facilities in Cape Kennedy and Huntsville, Ala. Malcolm Stuart is the producer. — Fox publicity.NOTES: Final film appearance of one of our favorite character actors, Sig Rumann, who died of a heart attack in 1967 at the age of 83. Gary Lewis is Jerry's son.COMMENT: For the second time in a movie, Lewis uses his natural voice, but his vehicle here is not as successful as "Boeing Boeing". Lewis, mind you, is very good and he makes his lines seem much funnier than they are, but the film is let down by some atrocious over-acting by Dennis Weaver and Howard Morris and by a script that sags badly once the moon is reached.Director Gordon Douglas has a fine time with the sets.I think this was Sig Rumann's final film. He is very appropriately cast as one of the Russian delegates but, for some unexplained reason, his fine voice has been deleted from the sound-track and some colorless nonentity's dubbed in.The special photographic effects are extremely well done. The sets look very attractive and the whole film has been produced on an exceptionally lavish scale.

Remember when there was Cold War and the Soviets and the Americans both wanted to conquer the space? The year is 1989 and there is an unmarried soviet couple on the moon. The Americans only have two fighting men, so they send astronauts Peter Mattemore and Eileen Forbes there. But they have to get married first. Way Way Out (1966) is a Jerry Lewis movie that is not directed by Jerry Lewis but by Gordon Douglas. Mr. Lewis recently passed away so I watch stuff by him I haven't seen before. This movie is not his better work. It's only mildly amusing. I don't know if the result would have been better Jerry having directed it himself. Sure there's something pretty funny, like both of the wedding scenes. But the Vodka drinking scene simply goes on for too long and it's not that funny. The fact is I'd rather see Jerry doing his childlike act than behaving like that. Connie Stevens plays Eileen and she's good. And Anita Ekberg and Dick Shawn as Anna and Igor. Robert Morley is a lot of fun as Mr. Quonset, the head of NAWA. Dennis Weaver and Howard Morris are funny as Hoffman and Schmidlap. James Brolin and Linda Harrison are also pretty great. Although I didn't find this movie a great Jerry Lewis film, I do think it's rather fascinating to see what kind of a future they create. Like we find out that Richard Nixon plans to come out of retirement to reunite the Republican Party. Can't recall such a thing ever taking place.

Arguably despite having Jerry Lewis, Dick Shawn and Howard Morris (3 great comedic actors) in the cast this was the most unfunny Jerry Lewis movie I have ever seen. The cold war/space race humor is indeed dated but despite being an attempt at political satire it failed as comedy and probably didn't get lots of laughs even back in 1966. I'm used to Jerry Lewis as a great comedic actor but in this movie he was playing it straight and totally lacking the kind of outrageous antics and physical comedy that made his earlier movies great comedy. I'm inclined to believe that even in France this Jerry Lewis effort would have been a great disappointment. Not only was it lame comedy but it wasn't even good science fiction. Absolutely thumbs down.

We have VHS! So I rented it last night--first laid eyes on this gem back in '66 when I was ten years old. Ten year olds shouldn't see movies like this, hehe.Jerry Lewis does less of his wacky character here, and tries playing it straight, not for gonzo laughs. He's nearly laid back compared to Robert Morley's curtain rattling performance as Jerry and Connie Stevens "first married couple on the moon. He's a handler like Leo G. Carroll was for Napoleon Solo in the Man From Uncle. Brian Keith appears several times in short inserts as a gruff-but-still-gruffer General who orders third act action where Jerry must "secure the moon".Sure, all the sets are drenched in futuristic lighting as the story is set sometime after the Sixties, doesn't say when though. So in the background are cool concept cars of the future, during the Earth based scenes. You see solid patches of red and brilliant white furniture,(and very cool clear, plastic pillows), straight out of movies like "In Like Flint" or the British set designer for Sixties movies Ken Adam.The Moon base location has cool looking pods for sleeping/working--and yes the patented "Batman"-style, big, blinking lights computers are strewn all over your eyeline, which I totally loved as a kid. Lighting-wise, the production simply pours all available light at all times during the indoor moon scenes, which has a television-feel about it; later verified by the technical names, especially Jack Martin Smith, who worked scores of sci-fi/fantasy pics during the Sixties for TV and low budget independents.The film is super-sexy with tease galore supplied by Anita Ekberg's fab legs, shot from at least three angles during her opening house call on the American married couple living next door on the moon. There's all sort of adult-level innuendo that flew over my head at the time: things about wife swapping, watching two girls makeout on one's wedding night, and others that are cleverly enfolded into the dialog, some PC types of the Two-Thousands would call this "leering" and it probably is, hehe.Dick Shawn as the Tarzan-like Russian counterpart to Jerry simply does his patented "thing" with grimacing and good accents. There's an extended sequence of everybody getting drunk and kinda swapping, which today's producers would be cutting out because bad things happen to people who drink to excess, right? --oh yeah everybody knows that. The drunk thing was big in the sixties for some reason. Dick Shawn's other picture that year "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?" had him being drunk through days of story time.Seeing this movie without any warning would certainly remind some of Austin Powers; it's inescapable really. However I saw this tonight with a 28 year old who reminded me, "Austin Powers got it's look from this, not the other way around"