The Astronaut (1972)

Admirable film.

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

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

I remember this movie as a kid. Its been 40 years since i saw it and it still is powerful. This is when TV Networks made ground breaking movies; Brian's Song, That Certain Summer, Rich Man Poor Man, Roots, QB VIIThe Astronaut is was ground breaking. Just wish I could get this Video. ABC TV should release all their Movie of the Weeks

From the title, you might think The Astronaut was a sci-fi movie, but it wasn't. It was a very good made for TV movie which focused more on people than special effects, and dealt with the human cost of living a lie. The basic plot is that on the first manned mission to Mars, the first man to step on the Martian surface dies of poisoning due to mysterious gases in the Martian atmosphere that permeated his spacesuit. The head of the space program, fearing that this disaster could end the space program, covered it up and found a pilot who bore an uncanny resemblance to the deceased Astronaut and trained the lookalike to be the first man to step on Mars once the spacecraft returned to Earth. The deal was that after a period of time, the Astronaut would be killed in a pre-arranged boating accident with the body never found, giving the lookalike his life back.The Astronaut's wife soon figured out he was a fraud, but, over time, began to fall in love with the lookalike. She chose to join him on the boat so she also would be "killed" and have her identity changed to be with him. As they were getting ready to board the boat, they were informed that the Soviets had just announced that they had launched their mission to Mars. Knowing the same fate that befell the American Astronaut would also happen to the Soviet Astronauts, and the scam they pulled would be revealed, they decided not to board the boat, and instead decided to come clean. The Space Program Administrator, coming to the same conclusion, decided that he too had to come clean to the President and tell the truth about what happened on Mars.The acting was a notch above your run of the mill MFTVM, with Monte Markham playing the Astronaut and his doppleganger, Susan Clark as the Astronaut's wife, and Jackie Cooper as the Space Program head. The movie was predictable, but it was well done by TV standards.

Either Monte Markham has good taste, or he was lucky in the TV movies in which he was cast. He's certainly made some gems: Visions of Death, Death Takes a Holiday, and The Astronaut. The Astronaut pairs him with Susan Clark, a major actress of the '70s.This film is based on the same idea as Capricorn One. In Capricorn One, the astronauts have to fake a space landing for the government. In The Astronaut, the astronaut doesn't make it back, so the government plants a look-alike and returns him to the man's wife (Clark).Because of the story and strong acting, this is another film that sticks in the minds of people who saw it, and another one I wouldn't mind seeing again.

This was probably the first Susan Clark movie that I saw and I became a lifelong fan of hers. I saw it when I just a young kid. I have thought about it often and told friends what a good movie it was. I've always been more of plot fan of movies than of the actors in the movie. This movie was really good and the performance of Susan Clark and Monte Markham was well above average for a television movie. It's unfortunate that I entice my friends to see the movie and it's not available for viewing that I know of. Too bad Nick at Night doesn't show old television movies also.