Countdown

This review contains spoilers

1967 film Countdown is an interesting, almost forgotten film which marked another signpost on Robert Altman's way to 1970 and M*A*S*H - it was Altman's first proper feature since The Delinquents in 1957, but this was much more weighty - A William Conrad Production at Warner Brothers which saw him progress from his work on television to a proper budgeted studio film. It aimed at cashing in on the fervent interest in space exploration at the time, with the United States aiming to land people on the moon before the end of the decade. The experience must have shaken the young director, for before the film had made it's way through post-production Altman was fired and barred from entering the studio. The film was edited by somebody else, and was critically panned on release - soon being forgotten by most.

The film is based on the 1964 novel "The Pilgrim Project" by Hank Searls. A few years before the Apollo program has progressed far enough to land a man on the moon, the world is shocked to discover the Soviets have nearly got there - they've managed to get a manned flight into orbit around Earth's celestial neighbour. Obviously, if the United States doesn't act immediately their rival will beat them, but there exists a contingency plan for just this situation. Operation Pilgrim involves launching a one-manned Gemini spacecraft on a one-way journey - there, the landing astronaut will have to find a pre-launched and landed shelter to keep him alive for up to a year - when an Apollo craft will come and retrieve him. Charles "Chiz" Stewart (Robert Duvall) has trained for this, but the American government insist on sending a civilian instead of a military man, and as such Lee Stegler (James Caan) - a man who lacks Stewart's unflappable manner - must quickly train and familiarize himself with the mission. Stegler's wife Mickey (Joanna Moore) worries, as the mission encounters difficulties and Stegler must make life of death decisions on his perilous journey.

This production was given a huge boost when NASA agreed to cooperate and let Altman's crew film on location at places including their facilities at Cocoa Beach, Florida. It gives the film tremendous credibility, because everything we see looks perfectly real - and this feeling of authenticity continues throughout. The opening credits, which pan across launching facilities where a Saturn V rocket is poised for takeoff look gorgeous, and would be great to see on the big screen. That reality crosses over into parts of the screenplay as well, which is detailed and contains a lot of real and probable training methods and technical jargon. It was based on Searls' novel, and adapted by screenwriter Loring Mandel, who (interestingly) along with Altman, mainly worked in television at the time this was made. Mandel became an Emmy winner in 1968, for his writing on CBS Playhouse, and would go on to win another in 2001 for the television movie Conspiracy - something that is recommended viewing.

The film's score is from 2-time Oscar winner Leonard Rosenman (Barry Lyndon and Bound for Glory - nominated for Cross Creek and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) - his Oscar winning days were still a decade away, and the music in Countdown is so typical of what you'd get in a sci-fi thriller that you could possibly use it for a parody (Airplane! for example) - it's hackneyed, trite and does absolutely nothing for me. I would very much prefer some kind of musical accompaniment that isn't bombarding me with - DRAMA! - SUSPENSE! - SHOCK! I've never liked scores that overdo this kind of thing, and although this kind of accentuated noise fits in well with the credits and a moment or two, it's very much overused. The cinematography was handled by William W. Spencer, again a television specialist like Mangel and Altman at the time. The film looks really nice at times, even with it's lack of effects. Spencer had won a Best Cinematography Emmy for the TV series 12 O'Clock High and would go on to win one for an episode of Fame. It's something to ponder - the reason why so many television specialists were brought on board for a film like this.

Robert Altman was a man for experimenting, pushing boundaries and making films that were different - so he was always apt to find himself in trouble with studios, and this is what happened here. When characters argue in this film, their dialogue often overlaps, just like it does in real life. Altman did this very much on purpose, and the results work just fine - at least, the results we get to see do. Unfortunately, Jack Warner happened to look in one day and see one of the scenes which had overlapping dialogue - and he took it for incompetence rather than experimentation. Altman wasn't only taken away from his own film as far as editing goes - he was locked out of the studio altogether, and had to pick up a box of his personal effects at the gate. The editing was done by Gene Milford (who had won Oscars for his editing on Lost Horizon and On the Waterfront) with no input from Altman. I don't know how much this altered the film in the end - it is a little lifeless, despite it's feeling of authenticity. I do know that a lot can change depending on how films are cut, and so we never really got to see Altman's ultimate vision here, despite this being his film.

Another result of the studio's interference here is a very familiar story. Countdown is a film that has a heavy sense of doom hanging in the air - the rushed mission and the wrong choice of astronaut all combine to make this seem like a cautionary tale. Stegler is a frustrating character, and during his mission he's always on the verge of panic - which at times can get tiring and exasperating. He seems destined to mess this mission up, and when close to landing he tells mission control that he sees the habitat marker when really he can't. He should abort. So when we get to his ultimate fate, there are three ways the film could go. Either he finds the shelter and is saved, he runs out of oxygen and dies, or else the ending is left ambiguous. The ultimate plan, according to Altman himself, was to leave his fate as an ambiguous uncertainty - he probably didn't make it - but we don't find out. "I left it ambiguous--the guy was probably going to die on the moon...He goes off in one direction, and the camera pans back and reveals the beacon is in the opposite direction. That was how I ended it." The studio, of course, couldn't resist shooting and inserting a happy ending. It ruins the film's end, because it feels incongruous to everything we've seen to that point.

Overall, Countdown is a difficult film to judge - but I appreciate the dedication everyone had to make this as realistic as possible. We also get some sense of the personal drama, with the astronaut's wives (Barbara Baxley plays Jean, Stewart's wife) giving us the familiar stress that they were always under - their husband's lives on the line. Also adding something to the much-needed drama is the personal conflict between Duvall and Caan, one chosen over the other for being the first man on the moon, despite one of them being more trained and ready than the other. It simmers at the edges, and breaks out here and there over other things by proxy. Arguments between bureaucrats, who make up most of the rest of the characters in the film, might not be some people's idea of an action-packed film however. When we do get to the action - it's a little anticlimactic. There's a lack of effects showing what's really happening, and what the audience gets are descriptions of what's happening from Caan strapped to his spacecraft seat and Duvall in mission control. The film is a mix of stress, anxiety and anger - seemingly headed towards disaster in a rushed attempt to beat the Russians to a lunar landing.

Not many people like Countdown - it was critically panned on release, and the same holds for today. Only once did I read a positive review, and that came from Leonard Maltin's book of reviews where it gets 3½ out of 4, praising the "excellent ensemble performances" and calling it an "early gem from Altman". I feel good about that, because I find myself really rooting for this film's success - but judging for myself, I can't help but feel this is a very average film on balance. There are some things I really like about it - it's realism, location cinematography, cautionary story - and things I really dislike - it's lack of special effects, it's score, it's lack of really strong drama and eventfulness. I'd suggest watching it to other people interested in this era of space travel, and NASA's history. It's interesting enough in that respect to be recommended viewing. Everyone else could very much get by without watching it. It's a little dry and technical, and stays true to reality in places where a little artistic license could have helped the film's pace and drama. I love that authentic stuff, but I feel most people will be turned off by it.

We have to be very thankful that Countdown didn't permanently kill Altman's feature film career. He did go back to television for a short time, but was soon after making another film, and after that came his breakout hit M*A*S*H. In any case - this was more a case of Altman being a director for hire, directing somebody else's movie instead of his own. Despite it not being a great film, it did show enough promise to prove that he had great skill as a director - an experimental filmmaker who wasn't afraid of making risky choices. This movie is only a nudge away from being really good - if only we had that ambiguous ending that fit the rest of the film, with a few special effects inserts and a better edit from the director. He might have even wanted a few reshoots, because we're close with the one we got. That's not the film I watched however, and as such it falls just short of really being something. I love watching Duvall and Caan this early in their careers, and it's fascinating following Altman on his unusual and long apprenticeship. Here's another movie Warner Brothers sabotaged - shooting themselves in the foot for the umpteenth time and wrecking a film that could have been great. This film still might not have found an audience, at least right away, but as it is, it falls just short of the moon.