A few nights ago I watched THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT on Starz. Let's be frank, shall we? Don Knotts was hardly an American version of Laurence Olivier (he wasn't meant to be). I'd never seen this film before. In fact, aside from his TV sitcom work, I think the only film I'd ever seen him in was THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET since TCM aired it a few times. I wasn't impressed with LIMPET, and since I feel he's only ever playing variations of Barney Fife (including Ralph Furley), I wasn't expecting much when I sat down to watch RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT.
I have to admit it was pretty tough going. At around 100 minutes, the film is simply too long, padded with filler and the dialogue is atrocious. The main idea about a guy mistaken to be an astronaut is a gag that could have been done in twenty minutes. They stretch it out by having NASA choose him, the most unlikely of candidates, to go into outer space after all. Then we get the last sequence where he's in space, things malfunction and he eventually returns home safely (and gets the girl!). The whole thing was implausible, utterly ridiculous.
Could I have called it dumb or stupid? Sure. Did I do that? No. Because a light bulb went on and it suddenly occurred to me that I was not the intended audience. This is a kids' movie. Not for kids of today probably, but for kids in 1967. That was Don Knotts' audience, and those are the people Universal was selling tickets to, by making and releasing this film. So on that level, as harmless entertainment for children, it works. He's not Olivier, this is not Hamlet, and so what.
I have to admit it was pretty tough going. At around 100 minutes, the film is simply too long, padded with filler and the dialogue is atrocious. The main idea about a guy mistaken to be an astronaut is a gag that could have been done in twenty minutes. They stretch it out by having NASA choose him, the most unlikely of candidates, to go into outer space after all. Then we get the last sequence where he's in space, things malfunction and he eventually returns home safely (and gets the girl!). The whole thing was implausible, utterly ridiculous.
Could I have called it dumb or stupid? Sure. Did I do that? No. Because a light bulb went on and it suddenly occurred to me that I was not the intended audience. This is a kids' movie. Not for kids of today probably, but for kids in 1967. That was Don Knotts' audience, and those are the people Universal was selling tickets to, by making and releasing this film. So on that level, as harmless entertainment for children, it works. He's not Olivier, this is not Hamlet, and so what.