Gli eroi della stratosfera

While high-performance aircraft were being tested at places like Edwards Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Patunxet River, equally important work was being done at places such as Holloman Air Force Base.

Edwards and Patunxet River tested the flying machine. Holloman tested the men who would fly them. Among the work that was done at Holloman was the effects of high acceleration on the human body with Col. John Stapp one of the investigators. There was also Project Manhigh which took men to the edge of space to study the effects of cosmic rays on the body.

All of this was essential in order to put men into space. Among those who would participate were Maj. David Simons and Capt. Joe Kittinger.

"On the Threshold of Space" tells the latter part of that story and does so quite effectively, being quite matter-of-fact. It shows some of the work being done that would help make high-altitude flight and spaceflight itself not only possible but safe for the crews. This was cutting-edge research conducted even before Sputnik was launched and there were a lot of questions that had to be answered before anybody could be launched into space.

There is a side story in which the main character gets married to one of the civilian assistants, but, fortunately, it doesn't take much away from the plot.

I liked it better than I expected. If you're an aviation and/or space buff, this movie would be definitely worth watching. I came across this one quite accidentally and I'm glad I did.

I saw this film in 1959 and again in the 1970's and it reminded me how much research and testing went into the space program before John Glenn made his historic entry into space. This film is a must for younger people to see what went on before they were born and how the space program began. Stand back and look at it today and see just how far we have come in just 42 years.

Guy Madison portrays an Air Force flight surgeon who performs daring experiments in space medicine. He's somewhat of a cross between real-life researchers Col. John Paul Stapp (rider of the famous rocket sled) and Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, who performed a free-fall parachute jump from a balloon floating at 102,800 feet in 1961...5 years or so after the release of this movie!

The planning and execution of the high-altitude balloon jumps is detailed in this movie.

Admittedly, it's not a film for everyone, and it has its share of cliches, but remember that this was released in 1956. It's an interesting movie, very dated now, but that actually enhances its appeal for those interested in the earliest days of the space program.

I assume this film won't appeal to everyone. It's a bit cerebral and a bit slow, but a very important movie historically. The title of the film refers to the experiments that made even the consideration of space travel possible. In other words, the film is NOT about early rockets or the space program, but experiments on the suitability of humans for the harsh demands this or ultra-high speed planes would put on their bodies. Two particular scientific programs run by the air force are featured here--high speed rocket sled trials as well as super high-altitude balloon flights combined with insanely dangerous parachute drops from as high at 100,000 feet! For folks like me who are fascinated by airplanes and space travel, this film is a must-see. And, instead of the typical science fiction film of the day, this is all based on scientific fact--feats that even today seem extraordinary. What I particularly liked, other than the story, is that the film did NOT rely on grainy stock footage--everything looked very real. And, on top of that, the acting and direction were excellent.

While teens and kids might not sit still for this sort of film, try to get them to. It's highly educational and makes you really appreciate these men and their brave deeds.

I was fortunate enough, along with my Air Force, Air Research, Balloon- Launch teammate's to be at Holloman AFB from 1953 to 1957 and took part in the actual making of the movie while they were shooting there for three months, July, August and September, 1955. I was in nine different scenes, working in the background and one "walk across" scene, handling the gondola for launch. Of course, we were not paid, however a Sargent in the outfit did because he had a "speaking line". I was "bigger than life" walking across that Cenimascope and Stereophonic Sound screen at the age of 22. My green '55 Chevy was in the crash scene of the gondola in the desert and I drove it across the sand dunes and mesquite bushes. The gondola was dropped from a crane in that scene and "catsup" was spread on Guy Madison's face and mouth to look like blood! I remember talking baseball and the World Series with Dean Jagger while lying on a mattress in a Quonset hut near the set. He was a "regular Joe". I passed football with Martin Milner, Warren Stevens and John Hodiak on the tarmac near the movie set and launch site...John Hodiak died suddenly one week before the film was finished. Scenes were also shot in Florida. Guy Madison would arrive in his black limousine, late, every morning, with his French wife and poodle. Guy was smoking his cigarette with a cigarette holder dangling in his mouth. Yes, he was very "snooty!" Virginia Leith could not remember her lines and we had to repeat the scenes with her 15 times or so before she would get it right! It was fun helping to make the movie and seeing the finished product at the premier showing on the base in 1956. I made a lot of good friend's including the set electrician while working around the set. He promised me that if I would come to Hollywood after I was discharged, that he could get me a job as Studio Projectionist at Twentieth Century Fox, as I was working part-time at the Frontier theaters in Alamogordo, New Mexico as a projectionist! My life took a different route and I never did take him up on the offer. Could have been a "movie star!" By today's standards it was a humdrum movie and kind of "corny", but it was a chance of a lifetime for me.

Ron K. Brown, Dayton, Ohio retired, now age 71 March 28, 2005