mutiny-27268

When this film was released, William Howard Taft was president, the Titanic had just sunk and moving pictures were a relatively new concept. Helen Gardner made a good Cleopatra, although she probably couldn't have competed against Theda Bara or Elizabeth Taylor, both actresses having put indelible marks on the role of the Queen of the Nile after this film was made. Gardner was a teacher of pantomime, and thus used that ability in her film career. It is way overdone by today's standards, but it is not fair to judge a film made more than a century ago by today's standards of what is good cinema and what is not. Gardner put everything she had into the role, and made Cleo come to life on the screen. I believe that if Helen Gardner were alive today, she would sue Turner Classic Movies for the horrible and incomprehensible musical score accompanying this film...it is absolutely atrocious. If you come across this film on TCM, for your own enjoyment mute the sound because that is the real tragedy in this presentation.

This film was great to view, and a lot of the archival video has seldom, if ever been seen. You really felt you were on the lunar surface with those American astronauts. However, this film had some problems; there was no narration to let the viewer know exactly which Apollo mission he was seeing at any particular time. Another problem is that the film jumps around the timeline. Sometime you're seeing Apollo 8 footage, sometimes it's Apollo 11, 17, 13 or some of the other missions, with almost no way to discern between them. It should have been edited in chronological order, to give the viewer a sense of watching history in the making. The dialog between Capcom in Houston and the men on the moon is entertaining at times, showing that these were men like everyone else, in extraordinary situations and exhibiting uncommon bravery. If you're a fan of the space program, or can remember those heady times, this film, despite its shortcomings, is certainly worth viewing.

The plot of this 1990 made for TV offering seems to have been the inspiration for Stephen King's "11-22-63" novel. King expands on the possibility of what happens IF you actually succeed in such an alteration of history. That novel aside, this flick is very enjoyable and gripping. I wish it were available on DVD or BluRay. I'm hoping it will be before my VHS copy wears out.