moonspinner55 As the director of many films for the Disney Studios, both comedic and dramatic, James Neilson never livened up; his name in the credits usually means a picture with a steady, sometimes leaden pace. "Moon Pilot" is no exception, and one can only imagine family audiences from 1962 dozing through the movie's more sluggish sections. Tom Tryon was a good casting choice for the part of an Air Force captain chosen to orbit around the moon, yet his hot-tempered superiors on the ground (Edmond O'Brien and the usually-reliable Brian Keith) do nothing but bark at him and at each other. Dany Saval twinkles like a manic pixie playing a flirtatious young woman who may be a spy--maybe not. For the Disney faithful, there's also a monkey clowning around. Production values solid, theme song "Seven Moons" very sweet, though this is still an awfully slow rocket-ride into space. *1/2 from ****

MARIO GAUCI I'd missed out on this one as both as a VHS rental and on local TV in the past but which, bafflingly, hasn't been available anywhere else (not even on DVD) until now…or, perhaps, not so strange – since it's considered pretty much an outdated early movie about the space program!That said, the film has always enjoyed a reputation as one of the better Walt Disney live-action efforts – an opinion I was happy to share after watching it for myself (especially given my recent disappointment with such other popular albeit ultra-juvenile fare as THE GNOME-MOBILE [1967] and the two "Witch Mountain" outings). In fact, this has very few concessions to the typical Disney 'cuteness' (basically extending to the inevitable romance and an over-eager member at the space center breaking into a would-be hip "Go, man, go!" routine with every shuttle launch) and is clearly elevated by the presence of strong actors – Tom Tryon is ideally cast in the lead, though it's Brian Keith as his constantly exasperated superior and Edmond O'Brien as the dogged yet bewildered Federal Security man who dominate much of the proceedings (especially when the two engage in shouting matches between themselves).Anyway, as can be gleaned from the title, the plot involves attempts by the U.S. to orbit the moon: the first guinea-pig is a chimp which, however, goes berserk on returning home; undeterred, a human volunteer is requested – Tryon, of course (though he's actually air-sick!). Soon after, he begins to be followed by a petite girl of obvious foreign origins (Dany Saval, whose gaucheness starts off by being corny but eventually proves disarming) – who not only knows all about his supposedly top-secret mission but actively wants to impart to him vital information about his safety 'up there'; however, he believes her to be a spy and tries his best to avoid her! Still, she manages to turn up at the most unexpected places (even after O'Brien has him 'kidnapped' to a hotel) and eventually confesses to being an alien – clearly possessing advanced knowledge and who, atypically for the sci-fi genre, intends to extend help to Earth people rather than conquer them! MOON PILOT, then, resorts agreeably to such well-worn albeit effective suspense/spy movie trappings as the "McGuffin" (in the form of the missing element which would allow humans to adapt to the atmosphere in outer space), chases, impersonation and, it goes without saying, the growing affection between hero and heroine thrown into this unusual situation. Apart from the obvious space gadgetry, the sci-fi aspect of the film is evident in the scene in which, to demonstrate her powers, Saval gives Tryon a foretaste of his/their future. As always with Disney films, however, comedy is as much an intrinsic ingredient of the formula: best of all are the running 'unreliable elevator' gag with Tryon and O'Brien, and the potentially campy suspects' line-up of beatniks (under whose guise Saval has descended to Earth – clearly a sign of the times). Keith's queasy look during the latter sequence is priceless…as is his final flustered off-screen outburst when Tryon and Saval sign off in space courtesy of a Sherman Brothers love song!

fom4life The Eagle has Landed.Back in the good ol' days of Disney Live action films (before the 1980's) Disney produced quite a few wholesome if not entertaining family films. Back then you didn't have to worry about dad sleeping with his kids tutor, or some wacky comic villain, hero, or sidekick getting hit in the nuts. There were hardly any poop jokes for kids to wet their paints laughing so hard. Sadly some smoked cigarettes, which is the greatest evil known to mankind next to the destruction of polar bears in the arctic due to global warming. Some even drank beer and perhaps ate some sweets like cookies. Sesame Street realized this evil and transformed Cookie Monster into the Vegetable Monster (I think) This brings us to my short but not fully formed review of Disney's 1962 comedy Sci-Fi film "Moon Pilot". It chronicles the space program sending a man to orbit the moon before such events have taken place. Some chick from an alien planet has come to help out the pilot so his brain doesn't become scrambled like the chimp they sent up before him. Disney had a lot of chimps and chumps in this film, and this monkey does a great acting job if a monkey ever did one.There is the usual Disney army general yelling at the main bumbling astronaut played by Tom Tryon. You all know Tom Tryon form, you know, those films he was in. There is also a security chief yelling at him a lot. Wish I could help you in this review and tell you who they are, but unless you're a wiz at movie triv you might not know who they are if I told you.Some interesting and harmless scenes with French actress Dany Saval. Capt. Richmond Talbot (Tom Tryon) teaches the chick from outer space who earthlings exchange affection. She is so fascinated by she just has to try it again and again. In her culture they bite each other on the ear. In her culture when they predict the future they can bring a living thought into reality for just a moment. Her prediction of the future provides a future for her and her hunky moon pilot.This is a fun little entertaining comedy with some lite sci-fi touches. Overall there is nothing particularly memorable about the film, but could be fun for the kids and the Disney die hard fan. 'The Cat from Outer Space', is a better Disney Sci-Fi comedy but there are plenty of other great family comedies out there to see in general. Wouldn't own it in a collection but it might be worth a rental.The Eagle is now lifting off.

lucky_ladybug Pun aside, this really is a great movie. I don't know why it wasn't one of Disney's bigger hits. Anyway, the plot concerns an unwilling astronaut who meets up with an alien shortly before he needs to leave for the space center. And the alien has a very important message for him! Then when the astronaut disappears to talk with the alien, Federal Security and some high-ranked Air Force men get involved in the search! If you can find this movie somewhere, definitely buy it! I'm anxiously waiting for Disney to reissue this movie on video, like they've been doing with so many of their old classic comedies.