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  James Caan, 'Countdown' actor, 1940-2022

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Author Topic:   James Caan, 'Countdown' actor, 1940-2022
onesmallstep
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posted 07-08-2022 12:08 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for onesmallstep   Click Here to Email onesmallstep     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Bronx, NY-born actor James Caan has died Wednesday (July 6, 2022), aged 82. Although best known for playing the hotheaded son of Marlon Brando's character Vito Corleone, "Sonny" Corleone, in the acclaimed Godfather and Godfather Part II films, he appeared in "Countdown," a 1968 film (released in 1967 in the UK) about a crash program by the US to land a single astronaut ahead of the Soviets on the moon.

Called the Pilgrim Project (the film was based on a novel of the same name), it consisted of a modified Gemini on an LM descent stage to carry the astronaut, which would land near a cache of food and supplies that was sent to the moon earlier, for the astronaut to subsist on until a return trip could be mounted. The original commander of an Apollo crew on which Caan's character was in, played by Robert Duvall, was passed over for the honor of being first to step on the moon due to him being a military officer; Caan's was a civilian pilot (ironically, echoing Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin).

Directed by neophyte Robert Altman (MASH; McCabe and Mrs Miller), it was a troubled production as studio executives, seeing the dailies, were aghast at characters speaking over each other's lines. Producer on the movie, actor William Conrad (TV's 'Canon'), phoned Altman and basically told him he was let go. The studio even changed the ending from the one intended by Altman (I won't spoil it for people who haven't seen it). NASA lent mockups and facilities at the Cape for authenticity.

bthumble
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sts205cdr
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randy
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GACspaceguy
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SpaceCadet1983
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Grounded!
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dss65
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Kevin T. Randall
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rjb1elec
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Rick Mulheirn
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capoetc
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GT76
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Jonnyed
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star51L
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mode1charlie
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ManInSpace
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issman1
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posted 07-10-2022 01:05 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for issman1     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Also a memorable performance in 'Alien Nation' 1988.

Kite
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Gilbert
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carl walker
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