The Right Stuff
original movie poster
Directed by	Philip Kaufman
Produced by	Irwin Winkler
Written by	Philip Kaufman Tom Wolfe (book)
Starring	Fred Ward Dennis Quaid Ed Harris Scott Glenn Sam Shepard Barbara Hershey Lance Henriksen Veronica Cartwright Jane Dornacker
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	21 October 1983 (premiere)
Running time	193 minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Right Stuff is a 1979 book (ISBN 0374250332) by Tom Wolfe, and a 1983 film adapted from the book. They recount the story of the first seven astronauts selected for the NASA space program, based on interviews and research by Wolfe. The story contrasts the "Mercury Seven" and their families with Chuck Yeager, who was considered by many test pilots to be the best of them all, but who was never selected as an astronaut. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (487x755, 67 KB)original movie poster source: www. ... Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is a film director and screenwriter from Chicago, Illinois. ... Irwin Winkler is an American film producer and director. ... Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is a film director and screenwriter from Chicago, Illinois. ... Thomas Kennerly Wolfe (born March 2, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia), known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling American author and journalist. ... Ward in Miami Blues (1990) Frederick Ward (born December 30, 1942) is an American actor. ... Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Edward Allen Ed Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, director and producer. ... Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26, 1941) is an American actor known for supporting roles. ... Actor Sam Shepard mulls over a scene in the motion picture Stealth, while filming on June 15, 2004, aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. ... Barbara Hershey is an American actress, known for her many film roles. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1950 in Bristol, England) is an actress. ... Jane Dornacker (in studio). ... Warner Bros. ... October 21 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 71 days remaining. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Thomas Kennerly Wolfe (born March 2, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia), known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling American author and journalist. ... For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation). ... This article is about the American space agency. ... Original seven Astronauts portrait (L-R: Schirra, Shepard, Slayton, Grissom, Glenn, Cooper, Carpenter) The Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts picked in April 1959. ... Charles Yeager Charles Elwood Chuck Yeager (born on February 13, 1923, in Lincoln County, West Virginia) is an American former general officer in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot. ... Test pilots are aviators who fly new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated. ...

Book

Author Wolfe wrote that the book was inspired by the desire to find out why the astronauts accepted the danger of space flight. He recounts the enormous risks that test pilots were already taking, and the mental and physical characteristics required for and reinforced by their jobs ("the right stuff"). Wolfe likens the astronauts to "single combat champions" from an earlier era who received the honor and adoration of their people before going forth to fight on their behalf.

The story is more about the space race than space exploration in general. The Soviet Union's early space efforts are mentioned only as background, focusing entirely on an early portion of the U.S. space program. Only Project Mercury, the first operational manned space-flight program, is covered. Emphasis is given to the personal stories of the astronauts and their wives rather than the technical aspects of space travel and the flights themselves. The storyline also involves the political reasons for putting people into space, asserting that the Mercury astronauts were actually a burden to the program and were only sent up for promotional reasons. Reasons for including living beings in spacecraft are barely touched upon, but the first option considered was to use a chimpanzee (and, indeed, chimpanzees were sent up first). Another option considered were athletes already accustomed to physical stress, such as circus trapeze artists. Wolfe states that President Eisenhower, however, insisted on pilots, even though the first crewmen would not actually fly the spacecraft. When Gus Grissom lands at sea and exits his space capsule, saving the capsule seems more important to the recovery team than saving the pilot because of the value of the data. Another political issue (mentioned in the film, not in the book) concerned the appropriateness of Grissom's names for publicity purposes. Neither his nickname, "Gus", nor his real first name, Virgil, were considered good names for an astronaut; but his second name was Ivan and that was even less appropriate, as it was a common Russian name. For a list of key events, see Timeline of space exploration. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer space by both manned and unmanned spacecraft. ... Human spaceflight Mercury program Gemini program Apollo program Apollo-Soyuz (Soviet Union partnership) Skylab Space Shuttle Shuttle-Mir Program (Russian partnership) International Space Station (working together with Russia, Canada, ESA, and JAXA along with co-operators, ASI and Brazil) Orion Program Satellite and Robotic space missions Earth Observing Explorer I... Mercury program monument Project Mercury was the United States first manned spaceflight program. ... Type species Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 distribution of Species Pan troglodytes Pan paniscus Chimpanzee, often shortened to chimp, is the common name for the two extant species in the genus Pan. ... An acrobat below a balloon Trapeze artists, in lithograph by Calvert Litho. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... Virgil Ivan Gus Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force pilot who became the second American astronaut and one of the first to die in the U.S. space program. ...

Both sides of the space race (US and USSR) used experienced German engineers and rocket scientists. In a particularly humorous moment in the film version, Senator Lyndon Johnson attends a meeting where the politicians are reacting to the news of Sputnik's 1957 launch. Senator Johnson asks "Is it their [the Soviets] German scientists that got them up there first?". At that moment, the "German scientist" (a composite character, heavily patterned on Wernher von Braun) responds: "No Senator...our Germans are better than their Germans." This may have been based upon the fact that, as a result of Operation Paperclip, most of the German managers and engineers went to the United States, while the Soviet Union gained many manufacturing workers. “LBJ” redirects here. ... Sputnik 1 The Sputnik program was a series of unmanned space missions launched by the Soviet Union in the late 1950s to demonstrate the viability of artificial satellites. ... Wernher von Braun stands at his desk in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... Operation Paperclip scientists pose together. ...

Another test pilot highlighted in the movie is the late Scott Crossfield. Crossfield and Yeager were fierce but friendly rivals for speed and altitude records. Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006), normally referred to as Scott Crossfield, was an American naval officer, aviator and test pilot. ...

Wolfe contrasts the Seven with Yeager, who was shut out of the astronaut program after NASA officials decided to use college-degreed pilots, not ones who gained their commissions as enlisted men, such as participants in the USAAF Flying Sergeants Program in World War II. Chuck Yeager spent time with Tom Wolfe explaining accident reports "that Wolfe kept getting all wrong." Publishing insiders say these sessions between Wolfe and Yeager led Wolfe to highlight Yeager's character, presence, thoughts, and anecdotes throughout the book. As an example, Yeager prides his speech to the Society of Test Pilots that the first rider in the Mercury development program would be a monkey, not a real test pilot, and Wolfe plays this drama out on the angst felt by the Mercury Astronauts over those remarks. Yeager himself downplayed the theory of "the right stuff," attributing his survival of potential catastrophes to simply knowing his airplane thoroughly, along with some good luck.

The Movie

The 3-hour-13-minute movie stars Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey, Kim Stanley, Levon Helm, Veronica Cartwright, Pamela Reed, Lance Henriksen, and the real Chuck Yeager in a cameo appearance. It features a score by composer Bill Conti. Image File history File links Rightstuff2. ... Image File history File links Rightstuff2. ... Actor Sam Shepard mulls over a scene in the motion picture Stealth, while filming on June 15, 2004, aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. ... Theodore Scott Glenn (born January 26, 1941) is an American actor known for supporting roles. ... Edward Allen Ed Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, director and producer. ... Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor. ... Ward in Miami Blues (1990) Frederick Ward (born December 30, 1942) is an American actor. ... Barbara Hershey is an American actress, known for her many film roles. ... Kim Stanley photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, 1961 Kim Stanley (February 11, 1925 – August 20, 2001) was an American actress. ... Levon Helm performing in The Last Waltz. ... Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1950 in Bristol, England) is an actress. ... Pamela Reed (born April 2, 1949 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American actress. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Charles Yeager Charles Elwood Chuck Yeager (born on February 13, 1923, in Lincoln County, West Virginia) is an American former general officer in the United States Air Force and a noted test pilot. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The screenplay was adapted by Philip Kaufman from the book, with contributions from screenwriter William Goldman. The film was also directed by Kaufman. Critical reaction was generally positive, although some complained that the non-astronaut character portrayals (most notably Vice President Lyndon Johnson) were sometimes cartoonlike. A screenplay or script is a blueprint for producing a motion picture. ... Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is a film director and screenwriter from Chicago, Illinois. ... William Goldman (born August 12, 1931) is an American novelist, playwright and two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ...

It won Academy Awards for Sound Effects Editing; Best Film Editing; Best Music, Original Score and Best Sound. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Sam Shepard), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography and Best Picture. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award of Merit for Best Sound Editing is an Academy Award granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound editing or sound design. ... The Academy Award for Film Editing was first given for films issued in 1934. ... As defined by Rule Sixteen of the Academy Awards Rules, the Academy Award for Original Music Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer. ... The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most aesthetic sound mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film. ... The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the awards given to male actors working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; nominations are made by Academy members who are actors and actresses. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is awarded each year to a cinematographer for his work in one particular motion picture. ... // The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards, awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which are voted on by others within the industry. ...

When the movie came out, former (and future) astronaut and Senator John Glenn (Ohio) was running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. It was felt that the movie might help his chances, but in fact, his candidacy did not go far. Seal of the U.S. Senate Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      Senate composition following 2006 elections The United States Senate is... For other persons named John Glenn, see John Glenn (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. ... The presidential seal was first used in 1880 by President Rutherford B. Hayes and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. ...

While the movie took liberties with certain historical facts as part of "dramatic license", criticism focused on one: the portrayal of Gus Grissom panicking when his Liberty Bell 7 spacecraft sank following splashdown. Most historians, as well as engineers working for or with NASA and many of the related contractor agencies within the Aerospace industry, are now convinced that the premature detonation of the spacecraft hatch's explosive bolts was caused by failure not associated with direct human error or deliberate detonation at the hands of Grissom. This determination had, in fact, been made long before the movie was filmed, and even Tom Wolfe's book only states that this possibility was considered, not that it was actually judged as being the cause of the accident. However, the book makes clear that, at the time, Grissom was thought to have erred, and this is what is portrayed in the film. Grissom was given only token appreciation by NASA, as compared with the acclaim for Shepherd and Glenn. NASA's long-term confidence in Grissom was demonstrated by his close involvement with the Gemini and early Apollo programs, which are beyond the scope of the film. Ironically, Grissom died in the Apollo 1 fire because there was no quick-opening hatch on the Block 1 Apollo Command Module, because NASA had determined that the explosive hatch used on Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 had most likely self-initiated. Image File history File links 1080235199. ... Image File history File links 1080235199. ... Virgil Ivan Gus Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was a United States Air Force pilot who became the second American astronaut and one of the first to die in the U.S. space program. ... Mercury 4 was a Mercury program manned space mission launched on July 21, 1961 using a Redstone rocket. ... This article is about the American space agency. ... Thomas Kennerly Wolfe (born March 2, 1931 in Richmond, Virginia), known as Tom Wolfe, is a best-selling American author and journalist. ... Apollo One is the official name given to the Apollo/Saturn 204 (AS-204) spacecraft, destroyed by fire during a training exercise on January 27, 1967, at Pad 34 (Launch Complex 34 at Cape Canaveral - then known as Cape Kennedy) atop a Saturn IB rocket. ...

Another fact that had been altered in the movie was the statement by Trudy Cooper, who commented that she "wondered how they would've felt if every time their husband went in to make a deal, there was a one-in-four chance he wouldn't come out of that meeting." According to the book (page 22), this actually reflected the 23% chance of dying during a 20-year career as a normal pilot. For a test pilot, these odds were higher, at 53%, but were still considerably less than the movie implied. In addition, the movie merely used the fictional Mrs. Cooper as a vehicle for the statement; the real Mrs. Cooper is not known to have said this. Leroy Gordon Gordo Cooper, Jr. ...

Wolfe made no secret that he disliked the movie, especially because of changes from his original book. Critics, however, generally were favorable toward the movie. Robert Osborne, who introduced showings of the movie on Turner Classic Movies, was quite enthusiastic about the film. The cameo appearance by the real Chuck Yeager in the film was a particular "treat" which Osborne cited. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a cable television channel featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. ...

On June 23, 2003, Warner Brothers released a two-DVD Special Edition that featured scene-specific commentaries with key cast and crew members, deleted scenes, three documentaries on the making of the film including interviews with Mercury astronauts and Chuck Yeager, and a feature-length documentary, John Glenn: American Hero. June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 191 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In addition, the British Film Institute published a book on the movie by Tom Charity in October 1997 that offered a detailed analysis and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. The British Film Institute (BFI) is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and...

In 2005, Tom Hanks had expressed interest in a radio interview in producing a new Right Stuff miniseries in hopes of giving the history and the myths associated a bit more in-depth representation. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Thomas Tom Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor, Emmy winning director, voice-over artist and movie producer who starred in family-friendly and screwball comedies before achieving notable success as a dramatic actor in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump. ...

External links

• The Right Stuff at the Internet Movie Database