The Andromeda Strain (1971)

This sci-fi thriller cleverly builds tension throughout a well-structured plot. It contains wonderful set designs and the actors deliver intelligent and credible performances. A film that stands the test of time.

Directed by Robert Wise
Screenplay by Nelson Gidding
Story by Nelson Gidding, Robert Wise
Based on The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Produced by Robert Wise
Cinematography: Richard H. Kline
Edited by Stuart Gilmore, John W. Holmes
Music by Gil Mellé
Production company: Universal Pictures
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Running time: 130 minutes
Budget: $6.5 million
Box office: $12.4 million

Cast

Arthur Hill as Dr. Jeremy Stone
James Olson as Dr. Mark Hall
David Wayne as Dr. Charles Dutton
Kate Reid as Dr. Ruth Leavitt
Paula Kelly as Karen Anson (nurse, laboratory technician)
George Mitchell as Mr. Peter Jackson (Piedmont)
Mark Jenkins as Lt. Shawn (Piedmont Team)
Peter Helm as Sgt. Crane (Piedmont Team)
Joe Di Reda as Sgt. Burk (Wildfire Computer Technician)
Ramon Bieri as Major Arthur Manchek (Scoop Mission Control)
Carl Reindel as Lt. Comroe (Scoop Mission Control)
Frances Reid as Clara Dutton
Peter Hobbs as General Sparks
Kermit Murdock as Dr. Robertson (White House Science Advisor)
Richard O'Brien (II) as Grimes
Eric Christmas as Senator Phillips (Vermont)
Ken Swofford as Toby (Technician)
John Carter as Capt. Morton (military police)
Richard Bull as Air Force Major
James W. Gavin as Dempsey (helicopter pilot)
Garry Walberg as a scientist
Emory Parnell as Pete "Old Doughboy" Arnold
Georgia Schmidt as Old Lady (Piedmont)
Victoria Paige Meyerink as Additional Character
Don Messick as Alarm Voice
Michael Crichton: non-speaking cameo appearance during the scene where Dr. Hall is told to break scrub, because he has to report to the Wildfire research facility.

Why have nearly all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico suddenly died?

What is ‘Project Scoop?’

What does it have to do with the deaths of Piedmont’s citizens?

Why have a team of scientists been recruited?

What is the role of the top secret sealed and secure ‘Wildfire’ facility?

What is….. ‘Andromeda?’

Trailer

Read on for more.....

“Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures,” by Joe Jordan

Title: Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures
Author: Joe Jordan
Contributors: Gavin MacLeod, Douglas E. Wise
Edition: illustrated 
Publisher: BearManor Media, 2020
ISBN: 1629335363, 978-1629335360
Length: 506 pages

“Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures,” by Joe Jordan is a product of meticulous research by the author, covering a period of over fifty years. It contains detailed plot synopses and commentary of many of Robert Wise’s memorable and important films. 

By photo by Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2227156

Robert Wise began his film career at RKO as a sound and music editor. He later became more involved in editing film content and went to work for RKO film editor William "Billy" Hamilton. At RKO, Wise worked with Orson Welles on “Citizen Kane” (1941) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Film Editing.

In his role as producer and director, Wise aimed for establishing a connection to the viewer and had a reputation for a strong work ethic, attention to detail, budgetary thrift and well-researched preparation for a film. 

Of relevance to this blog is Robert Wise’s film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, a classic science fiction masterpiece that warned about the dangers of atomic warfare.

Other films of Robert Wise that have stayed in my mind over the years are;

• “I Want To Live” (1958)
• “Run Silent, Run Deep” (1958)
• “The Haunting” (1963)
• “The Andromeda Strain” (1971) 

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19705323 

• "Startrek The Motion Picture" (1979)

Joe Jordan's book includes over twenty interviews, as well as presenting a comprehensive analysis of Robert Wise’s work. 

I am sure that after reading this fascinating tribute, you’ll come away with an even greater appreciation of this two-time winner of the Academy Award for Best Director – the legendary Robert Wise. 

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A Tribute

Rosetta and Joe Jordan

Joe's Robert Wise book is dedicated to his father and it is very sad to note the recent sudden passing of his father.

Joe's mother, Rosetta preceded her husband in death by 37 years. He missed her so much and never remarried.

Joe has managed to find comfort in knowing that both of his parents are finally together again. It is also of comfort to Joe that his father was able to enjoy the revised edition of his son's book prior to his passing.

According to Joe, "My father was so excited to receive his copy of the Robert Wise book. You should have seen the look on his face when he found out the book is dedicated to him. My father was always a big fan of The Sand Pebbles," (a 1962 novel by American author Richard McKenna about a Yangtze River gunboat and its crew in 1926. In 1966 it was used as the storyline for a movie of the same name starring Steve McQueen and directed by none other than Robert Wise.)

Our condolences go out to Joe for his loss along with our best wishes and kind thoughts. I'm certain his father would have been very proud of Joe.

Sci-Fi Stories That Inspired Classic Sci-Fi Films: “The Andromeda Strain” by Michael Crichton

Trailer

Summary:

When all but two of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a US space satellite (Scoop VII), the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency.

Dr Stone and his team of top scientists consisting of Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall, transfer to a secure hi-tech facility, known as Wildfire, which had been constructed as a base in the event of an alien biological life form being returned to Earth from a space mission.

Such an event appears to have happened and it is up to the scientists to try to isolate the alien life form while determining why two people from Piedmont (an old Sterno drinker with an ulcer and a six-month-old crying baby have managed to survive.

As the scientists continue with their study of the alien life form, they are about to be confronted by the dual danger of its having mutated along with the lab’s fail-safe nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape!!!

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Comparisons

The Andromeda Strain was made into a movie in 1971 and was directed and produced by Robert Wise. The film and the book quite closely parallel each other with a few minor deviations such as the Peter Leavitt character being a female, Ruth Leavitt in the film version.

[Spoiler alert paragraph!!!!]

The ending of the movie also differs from the book. In the book, Stone speculates that the Andromeda Strain will migrate up into Earth’s upper atmosphere where the oxygen content is lower, better suiting its growth and where it will mutate into a benign form. In the movie version, the now benign mutated bacteria drifts out over the Pacific Ocean into which it falls to be destroyed by the salt water.

Context

Crichton’s novel was written within the context of the Cold War and the resulting space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The political and military conflict between the superpower rivals forms an important part of the backdrop to the events in the story. For instance, Project Scoop is part of a U.S. government program for the development of biological weapons. Should a Scoop satellite come down in a major city in the Soviet Union, war would likely result and that is why it was decided that the Russians would not be informed about the likelihood of any deadly disease occurring. The kind of Cold War mentality that was evident would dictate a preference for a few million Russians dying of disease as opposed to many hundreds of millions of people dying as a result of nuclear war

Assessment

I personally favoured the film treatment of the story. In the original book version, I felt that the story was bogged down by far too much scientific exposition, detail and explanation of processes involved. There were moments when I literally nodded off!

Audiobook Online

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©Chris Christopoulos 2020