Capricorn One: Peter Hyams' Conspiracy Thriller

Moments before the launch of a manned mission to Mars, Capricorn One's three astronauts are secretly pulled from the rocket. Hidden from view, they are whisked away to a remote desert facility. As the empty rocket blasts off, the project director explains to the bewildered astronauts that he learned of a critical fault in their life support systems three weeks earlier.

The Capricorn One studio set.

With Congress already concerned about the Mars program's $24 billion price tag, certain individuals feared that a rocket launch cancellation could mean the end of federal funding. They made the decision to fake the mission. A recording of an earlier simulation would give the illusion that the astronauts were still on-board the rocket. However, it would be necessary for the three men to "act out" certain scenes, such as the Mars landing. That would be accomplished in a TV studio complete  with a Mars set and a replica of the landing module.

James Brolin's astronaut learns the truth.

When the astronauts refuse to go along with the massive deception, the project director expresses concern about the safety of their families: "There are people out there--forces out there--with a lot to lose." In other words, the three astronauts do not have a choice.

Made in 1977, Capricorn One is an entertaining thriller inspired by moon landing conspiracy theories. Writer-director Peter Hyams' central premise is that most people believe real-life events viewed through the lens of the news media. Therefore, if you could manipulate that media, then you could deceive the world. Hyams provides just enough detail to make his story work, such as the ingenious plan to send the space capsule off-course as it lands back on earth--thereby providing enough time to insert the astronauts into the capsule before the recovery team's arrival.

Elliott Gould trying to control his car.

Hyams propels the plot by cutting back-and-forth between the astronauts and a news reporter (Elliott Gould) who learns that something isn't right about the Mars mission. The latter storyline implies that the shadowy people behind the deception have limitless power and will stop at nothing--even murder. That leads to the film's two best scenes:  a nerve-racking sequence in which Gould can't stop his car as it speeds through crowded metropolitan streets and an aerial chase between a crop-dusting biplane and two military helicopters. (Parts of the car scene were later recycled in the TV series The Fall Guy.)

Capricorn One is what Hollywood moguls now call a high-concept film. As such, it doesn't require big stars and so the cast features actors like Gould (who worked with Hyams earlier in the comedy Busting), Hal Holbrook (the project leader), James Brolin (who heads the astronauts' team), Brenda Vaccaro (Brolin's wife), and O.J. Simpson (another astronaut). With the exception of Simpson, they all do solid work, which is all the script requires. It's worth noting that the cast includes both of Barbra Streisand's husbands: She was married to Gould from 1963-71 and has been married to Brolin since 1998.

The real star of Capricorn One is writer-director Hyams, who takes an outrageous premise and makes you believe--if only for a moment--that it could happen. Incidentally, in regard to the cast, Hyams said in a 2014 interview in Empire: "O.J. Simpson was in it, and Robert Blake was in Busting. I’ve said many times: some people have AFI Lifetime Achievement awards; some people have multiple Oscars; my bit of trivia is that I’ve made films with two leading men who were subsequently tried for the first degree murder of their wives."

DVD Spotlight Review: Hal Holbrook as "The Senator"

Hal Holbrook's critically-acclaimed TV series finally gets its long-awaited DVD release when Timeless Media Group releases The Bold Ones: The Senator (The Complete Series) today. Originally broadcast on NBC in 1970-71, The Senator was nominated for 11 Emmys and won five, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series. (If you're unfamiliar with this classic series, check our our tribute to it on the Cafe's YouTube Channel.)

The pilot film A Clear and Present Danger aired in March 1970. The TV series The Senator debuted the following September as part of the already established umbrella TV series The Bold Ones. During the 1970-71 season, The Bold Ones consisted of three separate TV series which rotated from week to week: The New Doctors, The Lawyers, and The Senator. As a result, only eight episodes of The Senator were produced.

Hal Holbrook as Hays Stowe.

In A Clear and Present Danger, Holbrook plays Hays Stowe, a lawyer in the Attorney General's office who starts a crusade against air pollution when he learns it contributed to the death of a former Yale Law School professor. It's clear from the beginning that Stowe comes from an affluent family; his father is an incumbent U.S. Senator who has announced plans to retire. The media stalk Stowe in the hope of learning about his political aspirations, but the lawyer just wants to discuss air pollution. His interest in his cause reaches new heights when a college professor warns the public that environmental conditions are perfect for a repeat of the Donora "killing smog." This real-life 1948 incident resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people in a Pennsylvania mill town.

Sharon Acker as Erin/Ellen.

Hal Holbrook's portrayal of Hays Stowe is fully developed from the beginning. Although his party affiliation is never stated, Stowe comes across as an intelligent, energetic liberal who, despite his upper-class background, connects with the "common people." (While some critics have speculated that Stowe was based on Robert Kennedy, Holbrook has never publicly revealed his inspiration.) The pilot film efficiently establishes the relationships among Stowe and his father, his wife Erin (Sharon Acker), and his staff (especially assistant Jordan Boyle, played by Joseph Campanella). Still, it's a leisurely film with too many scenes of Stowe walking around and thinking. We don't need to see Stowe think; Holbrook conveys that through his actions.

When the regular series debuted several months after the pilot, several key changes occurred. Hays Stowe was now a junior senator, his wife's name had changed from Erin to Ellen (still played by Sharon Acker), and Michael Tolan took over the role of Jordan Boyle (since Campanella was a regular on the The Lawyers segment of The Bold Ones). The one-hour running time tightened the focus on the issues, several which seem as relevant today as they were in 1970. In an interview included in the new boxed set, Holbrook reflected: "(The Senator) was saying something important. I wasn't interested in politics. I was interested in America."

The highlight of the show's only season was a two-part episode called "A Continual Roar of Musketry." It's a fictional reworking of the May 1970 Kent State shootings, in which four college students were killed by the Ohio National Guard during a campus protest. In the Senator episode, Stowe is appointed to head a commission tasked with looking into a campus shooting by National Guardsmen. This well-written episode captures all viewpoints (in Rashomon-like style) leading up to and including the shootings. The committee's deliberations and Stowe's report of its findings make for exceptional television drama. Not surprisingly, Universal Studios, which produced The Senator, and NBC considered pulling this hot-button episode. But after the real President's Commission on Campus Unrest issued its findings in September 1970, NBC broadcast "A Continual Roar of Musketry" the following November.

Michael Tolan as Jordan Boyle.

Other episodes of The Senator revolve around the influence of the Mob, the rights of Native Americans, personal privacy, and political infighting at the state level. Senator Stowe deals with these issues with honesty and resolve, but his flaws come through as well. His aide, Jordan Boyle (the excellent Tolan), often serves as his confidante and conscience ("Every senator has days when he wants to be President").  And yet, as much as Stowe trusts and relies on Boyle, he is willing to sever ties with him when he learns that Boyle has been used unwittingly to promote Mob-financed construction.

Guest star Burgess Meredith.

The reason behind the cancellation of The Senator remains a mystery. Certainly, The Bold Ones was not a big ratings hit; it didn't crack the Top 30 for the 1970-71 season despite following No. 9 Bonanza on NBC on Sunday nights (The ABC Sunday Night Movie won the 10:00-11:00 P.M. time slot). Still, NBC renewed The Bold Ones--just not The Senator. In the Hal Holbrook interview, the actor hints that the cancellation may have been "politically inspired." Timing may have been a factor, too. The Senator was cancelled before it won all those Emmys.

Timeless Media Group's 3-disk DVD set includes: the pilot film A Clear and Present Danger; all eight regular season episodes; a new 34-minute interview with Hal Holbrook on the series; a 3-minute interview with Holbrook from a 1971 episode of The Dick Cavett Show; and an anti-drug PSA with Holbrook. Picture quality is acceptable for a 1970-71 TV series; the series has not been digitally remastered. For those of us who fondly remember this quality TV series, The Bold Ones: The Senator (The Complete Series) is a must-have. It is also strongly recommended for anyone who appreciates classic television that remains as timely today as it was 45 years ago.

Timeless Media provided a review copy of this DVD set.