X-15 is a 1961 movie that tells a fictionalized account of the X-15 research rocket plane, the men who flew it and the women who loved them.
Practical Effects
Real X-15 footage mixed with staged drama
Direction
Richard Donner's feature debut, already competent
Director
Richard Donner
David McLean
Matt Powell
Charles Bronson
Lt. Col. Lee Brandon
Mary Tyler Moore
Pamela Stewart
Stanley Livingston
Mike Brandon
Ralph Taeger
Maj. Ernest Wilde
Brad Dexter
Maj. Anthony Rinaldi
Kenneth Tobey
Col. Craig Brewster
James Gregory
Tom Deparma
Patricia Owens
Margaret Brandon
James Stewart
Himself / Narrator (voice)
Lisabeth Hush
Diane Wilde
Dick Wilson
Flight Engineer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Donner later directed Superman and Lethal Weapon; this was his training ground for handling men in dangerous vehicles.
Released four months before Gagarin's actual spaceflight, the film accidentally captures the desperation of American space race psychology.
US
