By the mid 1960s, Frank Capra, director of some of the most well respected films ever, was washed up. William Wyler's postwar masterpiece The Best Years of Our Lives had taken every Oscar that would have otherwise gone to It's a Wonderful Life, but almost 2 decades later, Capra did not let go of directing. This film, while not appearing to be much by today's standards, essentially predicted the use of space shuttles and space stations such as the ISS, in orbit above Earth right now. The film doesn't really have a story, but shows rockets shooting towards space and draws comparisons between humanity's attempts to visit other worlds and the first aquatic lifeforms to exist on earth. Millions of years before us, they bravely left their ocean home and ventured onto the land, evolving into every type of animal we see today. The film showcases a mobile space laboratory which moves at 18k miles per hour around the earth and contains everything you would need to live comfortably (almost). It explains how drinking water is recycled from the urine of the crew and then purified. I'm better off without that explanation. This is the least of your problems in space. No one could make an accurate guess yet as to how zero gravity and weightlessness would affect your appetite, sleeping pattern, etc. There's also the hazard of cancerous radiation from the sun penetrating the hull of the ship. Next, we see a Titan 3 rocket with a small yellow craft attached to its nosecone. This is what's known as a space taxi. It's able to detach from the rocket and bring supplies to the flying lab or take its crew back to earth. The craft (according to the short) apparently lands in a desert area in the Southwestern United States, most likely Groom Lake, a salt flat in Nevada and part of Area 51; an air base notorious for its alleged knowledge and safekeeping of exotic flying machines. The film ends by saying that knowledge about space will contribute to people having pleasant lives on earth as well, as earth is a part of space. While this was the last thing Capra directed, you probably wouldn't notice it upon viewing it. It's entertaining and managed to make some quite accurate guesses regarding humanity's endeavors into the endless void of space. They even got Mel Blanc to participate, which was a surprise for sure, but a nice one. Keep in mind, this was made before the landing on the moon and the information is still remarkably precise, although the USSR's space program was ahead in many ways and might have served as a basis. Either way, Capra was still making good things to watch even during his fade into irrelevancy.
