Down on the Range (1953, dir. Marvin Jackson): Starring Vista Bill, Vitamin Flintheart and Jane Wyman. Blazing, six-boostered, rip-roaring tale of the wild and lawless early days of America’s missile development program. (“Down range” – get it?) Shot on location at White Sands in New Mexico, this was a change-of-pace role for all actors concerned. Flintheart, especially, found the jargon of rocketry tough to master, as was trying to lose his “thespian voice” in favor of sounding more like test pilots such as Chuck Yeager. (“Medicine was far easier,” he would write in his memoirs.) German-Austrian actor Curt Jergens had an early role (billed as David Liebens) playing Wehrner von Braun. Being that the subject matter would not achieve public consciousness until the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union five years later, the film did not perform well at the box office. Much of this was blamed on director Jackson’s choice in his first directorial assignment of casting actors who were more accustomed to old-school westerns in the lead roles. (Flintheart: “It was the first time I ever heard the phrase, You’ll never work in this town again! shouted by film producers.”) Even after the triumph of the Apollo Program, it was a difficult title to find in most film catalogs. However, it is available on DVD if you know where to look. Your best bet is the “one trick pony” or “Extreme Cult” sections.
Down on the Range (1953, dir. Marvin Jackson): Starring Vista Bill, Vitamin Flintheart and Jane Wyman. Blazing, six-boostered, rip-roaring tale of the wild and lawless early days of America’s missile development program. (“Down range” – get it?) Shot on location at White Sands in New Mexico, this was a change-of-pace role for all actors concerned. Flintheart, especially, found the jargon of rocketry tough to master, as was trying to lose his “thespian voice” in favor of sounding more like test pilots such as Chuck Yeager. (“Medicine was far easier,” he would write in his memoirs.) German-Austrian actor Curt Jergens had an early role (billed as David Liebens) playing Wehrner von Braun. Being that the subject matter would not achieve public consciousness until the launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union five years later, the film did not perform well at the box office. Much of this was blamed on director Jackson’s choice in his first directorial assignment of casting actors who were more accustomed to old-school westerns in the lead roles. (Flintheart: “It was the first time I ever heard the phrase, You’ll never work in this town again! shouted by film producers.”) Even after the triumph of the Apollo Program, it was a difficult title to find in most film catalogs. However, it is available on DVD if you know where to look. Your best bet is the “one trick pony” or “Extreme Cult” sections.