A principal argument of Moon Hoax believers is that the special effects of the 1960s was good enough to convince viewers of the reality of transmissions from the Moon that were actually filmed in a studio on Earth.
I decided to put this theory to the test by analyzing a movie from 1966, made three or so years before the Apollo 11 landing, that had extensive scenes that were set on the lunar surface. So, gentle readers, I present for your perusal, the Jerry Lewis space epic “Way...Way Out.”
(I picked this film instead of “2001: A Space Odyssey” because the latter film made little attempt to simulate lunar gravity, while WWO used wire work and slow motion techniques extensively.)
As delightful as the study of interpersonal relationships is in Part 1, extensive scenes on the moon do not start until:
Part 2.
00:52 – Schmidlap throws papers at Hoffman and then kicks a book across the room.
14:20 – Again, no special effects used. Hoffman quickly marches back and forth across the room with no attempt to simulate lunar gravity.
15:30 - Schmidlap nails a right cross on Hoffman's chin. Hoffman flies across the room, hits the wall, and slides to the floor. Cute, but it is clear that his body oscillates on the wire that is holding him. Under true lunar conditions, if he was hit hard enough to fly, the unbalanced force on his head would have sent him into a cartwheel spin, and he would likely have hit the wall upside down and then bounced. Then, in answer to the radio call, Hoffman runs across the room instead of doing a straight legged lope, which Apollo video has shown is more efficient for moving at moderate speeds faster than a slow walk.
17:00 – Schmidlap again swings at Hoffman, but this time misses. Unbalanced, he himself flies across the room instead of tumbling, which would be the more realistic result of suddenly throwing himself unbalanced on the Moon.
17:15 – Lunar Lander descends rotating on a single wire. Exhaust billows in clouds instead of moving off in flat sheets.
17:44 – EVA scene. Slow motion is used for the first time to simulate Lunar gravity (why only outdoors?) I didn't find it convincing. Instead of loping, astronauts used a high stepping walk.
22:53 - Why is Mattemore stuck on the wall? He's not magnetic.
24:37 – Mattemore climbs the ladder, exerting himself like he is on Earth.
24:50 – The station is on the Lunar limb. Kind of an odd place to place a station devoted to observing the Earth, isn't it?
Part 3.
09:10 – The dance sequence would have been a lot funnier if Igor was on a 1/6 gee wire rig.
09:38 – Igor splashes a glass of vodka; liquid falls at earth-normal rate.
10:13 – Once again, dance would have been funnier if a wire rig was used.
14:10 – No communications time lag between Moon base and Earth, pratfall at 16:13 would have been better with wire rig.
20:00 – EVA fight scene. Combination of slow motion and wire work. I doubt that Mattimore's swing would have launched him across approximately fifty feet of terrain, but if it had, he would continually tumbled instead of rotating 180 degrees and holding that attitude for the rest of his flight.
20:54 - Same criticism of second swing; also Mattimore is clearly oscillating on his harness.
21:10 – Mattimore is swinging on his harness at the end of his leap.
Part 4.
01:00 – After being hit on his head, Igor falls at earth-normal speed.
Conclusion: true, this film is a comedy, and scientific accuracy was not a priority in its production, but I believe that if more care was taken in simulating lunar conditions, the humorous aspect would have been enhanced. On the other hand, if the film's special effects were so easily seen through, it shows how difficult (read: impossible) it would have been to fake Apollo footage.
