Doppelgänger (1969)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Robert Parrish

Writers:

Gerry Anderson (story) &
Sylvia Anderson (story) ...

Release Date:

11 November 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi

Tagline:

You will meet yourself face-to-face when Earth meets its duplicate in outer space!

Plot:

A planet is discovered in the same orbit as Earth's but is located on the exact opposite side of the sun...

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Sun | Astronaut | Space Travel | Outer Space

Cast

Roy Thinnes	...	Colonel Glenn Ross
Ian Hendry	...	John Kane
Patrick Wymark	...	Jason Webb
Lynn Loring	...	Sharon Ross
Loni von Friedl	...	Lisa Hartmann
Franco De Rosa	...	Paulo Landi (as Franco Derosa)
George Sewell	...	Mark Neuman
Ed Bishop	...	David Poulson (as Edward Bishop)
Philip Madoc	...	Dr. Pontini
Vladek Sheybal	...	Psychiatrist
George Mikell
Herbert Lom	...	Doctor Hassler

Also Known As:

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (USA)
Danger, planète inconnue (France) [fr]
Doppia immagine nello spazio (Italy) [it]
Más allá del sol (Venezuela) [es]
Matka auringon taakse (Finland) [fi]
Matka auringon tuolle puolen (Finland) [fi]
Rumrejsen bag solen (Denmark) [da]
Unfall im Weltraum (West Germany) [de]
Viagem ao Outro Lado do Sol (Portugal) [pt]

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Norway:12 | UK:A | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Albufeira, Algarve, Portugal

Company:

Century 21 Television

Trivia:

The Phoenix spacecraft's power reactor is depicted as having been manufactured by Rolls Royce.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When placing the astronauts in the capsule, we see Roy Thinnes facing us on the left-hand side and Ian Hendry on the right-hand side of the capsule. A few seconds later, the positions are reversed and remain so throughout the scenes involving the capsule.

Quotes:

Desk Sergeant: Your pen, Doctor Hassler.
Doctor Hassler: Sorry, Sergeant.
[removes pen from pocket and hands to sergeant]
Doctor Hassler: (joking) Now my plan is ruined. You see, this is not a pen at all. It's a "secret camera".
Desk Sergeant: Better luck next time, Doctor.

Movie Connections:

References "Stingray" (1964)

Flawed but fascinating. Possibly the most underrated SF movie of the 1960s.

'Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun' is quite possibly the most underrated SF movie of the 1960s. It certainly has some flaws - especially the lack of character development, and a few ponderous sequences seemingly modeled on '2001: A Space Odyssey', released the previous year - but if you overlook them you'll find a quietly intelligent and fascinating movie that deserves to be rediscovered. The brains behind this movie were Gerry and Sylvia Anderson best remembered for their wildly entertaining marionette TV shows such as 'The Thunderbirds'. This movie was their first foray into live action SF and in some ways was the precursor to their 1970s cult series 'UFO'. Ed Bishop, George Sewell and some of the other supporting cast members went on from this movie to that TV show. The real stars however are Roy Thinnes, best known at the time for 'The Invaders', and Brit character actors Ian Hendry and Patrick Wymark. Hendry was the star of the little seen first series of 'The Avengers', and also appeared in Polanski's disturbing 'Repulsion' (alongside Wymark), and the camp classic 'Theatre Of Blood' with horror legend Vincent Price. Wymark appeared in another Price movie 'The Conqueror Worm', and starred in 'Blood On Satan's Claw'. Thinnes, Hendry and Wymark are all very good in this movie, albeit a little too cold and remote for my liking, but that is obviously the script's failing not the performers. I haven't mentioned much about the plot of the movie wary of spoiling it for those who have never seen it. Suffice to say it involves the discovery of a hereto unknown planet in our solar system. The less you know about it after that the more you will enjoy it. Overall, despite the script problems and one or two other minor criticisms I highly recommend this movie to all SF fans who prefer ideas over action.