The Spaceman and King Arthur
Cert: U / 93 mins / Dir. Russ Mayberry / Trailer
Although the company has been an entertainment behemoth almost from the point of its creation, there was a long old time when Disney's live-action output was generally less than stellar, and here we take a walk back to its tackling of a much older subject-matter which, somewhat ironically, lends itself more toward animation.
Landing in UK cinemas in the summer of 1979, Russ Mayberry's historical farce King Arthur and The Spaceman (or Unidentified Flying Oddball in some overseas territories and A Spaceman In King Arthur's Court in others) is based on the similarly-monikered 1889 novel by Mark Twain, and stars Dennis Dugan as NASA boffin Tom Trimble. Our hero is instrumental in his employer's attempts to build a machine for faster-than-light travel, and constructs an android facsimile of himself (so also played by Dugan) to pilot the vessel on its thirty year exploratory journey. True to form for this sort of thing, an accident during a lightning storm sees the pair inadvertently jetted out of the earth's atmosphere and back in time.
Landing in England during the reign of King Arthur in 508AD, Trimble has to make sense of his surroundings, repair his spacecraft, avoid being executed as a heretic and try and work out a way to get home...
AGE
Long story short, I thoroughly enjoyed this when I was six years old. That I didn't enjoy it quite as much 43 years later should perhaps come as no surprise, although whether that's down the difference in chronological age or the overall standard of the cinematic landscape is a point for some debate. I'd be surprised if The Spaceman made 2022's youngsters want to conduct their own percussion-based metallurgical experimentation, anyway.
From the kooky central plot-conceit to the zeitgeist-capturing methodology of space travel and an A-list comedy cast, there are few things to dislike going into the film. It's just... not all it could (or should) be. The early segments in NASA's headquarters channel Kubrick's 2001 rather than the euphorically popular Star Wars. But that's okay, Disney scratched that itch in the same year with The Black Hole. And if this suggests an altogether more scientific approach, the film's title sequence (featuring the the most mechanical (pun intended) construction of an android ever depicted) quickly assures the audience that Facts™ may be referenced here but certainly won't be relied upon. The model and effects-work looks deliciously low-tech (especially the crane-wires which are visible suspending Trimble's jet-pack-chair during the final battle), and it's important to remember that even in 1979 this was intended to be slightly crap. The cheesiness is a feature, not a bug. However...TRAIN
With 'mild-mannered' heroism in full force, Dennis Dugan does well in terms of his dual roles (and he's certainly the cast member putting in the most effort), but this is utilised nowhere near enough. The potential for mistaken identity is a staple of the farce genre, and while his characters' identical looks are a plot device for one sequence, there's no real comedic payoff. The trouble with his low-key (or if you like, 'tempered') performance is that he risks being overshadowed by the rest of the cast.
Because once we get to England (specifically, Alnwick Castle and Pinewood Studios standing in for Camelot), the players are plucked from the British light entertainment royalty of the time. As a result, the film is full of masterfully performed light deadpan, and the whole thing comes across as a Carry On film but without the smut. Unfortunately, it's also a Carry On film but without the jokes. This is more the fault of Don Tait's script than Russ Mayberry's direction, but the pair work hand-in-hand to ensure that comedy can travel through the cosmos but has its traditional difficulty crossing the pond.
Ron Moody and Jim Dale chew the scenery as Merlin and the no-good Sir Mordred, whereas Kenneth More, John Le Mesurier and Rodney Bewes effectively just turn up and engage autopilot as King Arthur, Sir Gawain and Clarence the serf (although it should be pointed out that Bewes is the only one adopting medieval speech patterns. It's for comedic effect rather than any sense of historial accuracy, but fair play to him). And that autopilot is as accomplished as one would hope, but without solid material it counts for little. Sheila White spends the entire film simpering as Alisande the peasant with no forceful performances to bounce-off, and ends up as the most irritating thing about it as a result.
CLUNK-CLICK
Paul Beeson's cinematography is functional in the interior shots but manages to make an actual eleventh-century castle feel like a hastily constructed film set. And it seems that the only person having more fun here than Jim Dale is composer Ron Goodwin, his score grandiose and earnest in all the right places, clearly enjoying the medieval pageantry rather than any futuristic soundscape.
The end result is that The Spaceman spends most of its run-time feeling like it's about to really get going, and then you notice there's only ten minutes left on the clock and this is it. Considering how outlandish the general premise is and the bold approach to just getting the setup done in the first five minutes, The Spaceman and King Arthur is remarkably boring.
Screen-fantasy has made huge leaps over the last forty years, and if any story idea is ripe for a smart, odd-couple / fish-out-of-water time-travel comedy, then it's A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It would be good to see this re-done well. Although much like Sir Mordred's self-absorbed idea of incinerating an astronaut in an asbestos spacesuit, the problem with this film was never in the idea but the execution...
...and if you want to listen to some words about this film which are swearier and with The Drink involved, here's a podcast version you might be interested in:

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