A Trip to the Moon (Chronicle)
"A Trip to the Moon" | |
---|---|
Chronicle episode | |
Teleplay by | |
Based on | From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne |
Narrated by | Charles Collingwood |
Produced by | Robert Goldman |
Featured music | Robert Prince |
Original air date | February 12, 1964 |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Guest appearances | |
"A Trip to the Moon" is a 1964 television science fiction comedy film, produced as an episode of the CBS series Chronicle. The script was written by Jonathan Miller and Robert Goldman, based on Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. All characters are portrayed by Alan Bennett, Peter Cook, Miller, and Dudley Moore, who had first worked together in the revue Beyond the Fringe.
The hour-long show adapts the plot of Verne's novel to comment satirically on the
Plot
In 1865, six months after the
Production
Miller, following his success in the revue
It is a stylized comedy. We've gone off the track and into an insane area. I read the Verne novel about the time of the moon shot and was impressed by the strong contrast of moon travel and Victorian travel. … Our space capsule looks like a
Pullman car. And there we are—toasting each other in velvet smoking jackets.[3]
The film was produced for Chronicle,[3] a CBS documentary series that aired alternately with the CBS Reports. Chronicle, broadcast on Wednesday nights from October 1963 through April 1964 and hosted by Charles Collingwood, focused on modern culture and its historical origins, as a counterpoint to the "hard news" slant the CBS Reports emphasized. Other episodes in the series were devoted to topics such as Edgar Allan Poe, the Constitution of the United States, and the British music hall tradition.[5] The series was nominated for "Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News Commentary or Public Affairs" at the 16th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1964.[6]
Miller co-wrote the script with Goldman, who also produced the show.[2] Miller reunited the original cast of Beyond the Fringe[4]—Bennett, Cook, Moore, and himself—to play all the characters in the show, each actor taking on several roles.[7] Between the taped scenes with the actors,[8] the show features montage sequences by the animator Fred Mogubgub,[7] edited from silent film clips,[7] animation, and still images.[1] One such montage covers the entire American Civil War in a single minute.[7] Robert Prince contributed the music score.[7]
Reception
The
References
- ^ a b c "Jules Verne's Rocket Dusted off for Moon Trip by Zany Britons" (PDF), The Leader Herald, Gloversville-Johnstown, NY, p. 7, 12 February 1964
- ^ a b Adams, Val (15 January 1964), "Original 'Beyond Fringe' Cast To Do a Comedy for C.B.S.-TV", The New York Times, p. 63
- ^ a b c Gardner, Paul (9 February 1964), "The British Boys: High-Brows and No-Brows", The New York Times, p. X19
- ^ ISBN 9781849437387
- ISBN 9780307483201
- Emmy Awards, retrieved 15 February 2015
- ^ St. Petersburg Times, p. 9D, 12 February 1964
- ^ a b "TV: Voyage to the Moon", The New York Times, 13 February 1964, retrieved 14 February 2015
External links
- "A Trip to the Moon" at IMDb