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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - March 12th

"THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN" released in 1971

When the U.S. Army satellite Scoop VII falls to earth near Piedmont, New Mexico, the recovery team experiences difficulties as it becomes clear that the satellite has performed its intended function all too well, and has brought back a deadly virus from space, in Robert Wise adaptation of Michael Crichton's techno-thriller, The Andromeda Strain! 

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When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a US military space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency, enlisting Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill), who, many years prior to this incident, advocated for the construction of a secure laboratory facility that would serve as a base in the event an alien biological life form was returned to Earth from a space mission - code named: Wildfire. Stone and his team - Drs. Dutton, Leavitt and Hall (David Wayne, Kate Reid, and James Olson, respectively) - go to the facility and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont (an old wino and a six-month-old baby) survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device should it manage to escape!

TRIVIA:   The monkey was "killed" by being placed in a large set filled with carbon dioxide. When the monkey's cage, which contained oxygen, was opened the animal was rendered unconscious by the CO2. An assistant director was off camera and brought a breathing apparatus to the monkey, who recovered immediately.

Top:   The Wildfire Team, Drs Leavitt (Kate Reid), Dutton (David Wayne), Hall (James Olson) and Stone (Arthur Hill), struggle to understand the deadly virus;

Above:   The cure may well lay with Piedmont's sole survivors of the outbreak, Grimes (Richard O'Brien) and a 6-month old infant, assisted by nurse Karen Anson (Paula Kelly).

Original author Michael Crichton first wrote the rough draft for the novel from which this film is adapted while he was still a medical student, when he was inspired after a conversation with one of his teachers about the concept of crystal-based life-forms. Published in 1969, the film rights to the techno-thriller were almost immediately obtained by Universal Pictures for $250,000, with screenwriter Nelson Gidding adapting the novel. With Robert Wise later attached to direct, he soon cast Arthur Hill as Dr Jeremy Stone, James Olson as Dr Mark Hall, and David Wayne as Dr Charles Dutton (Burton in the novel). However, for the originally male role of  Dr. Peter Leavitt from the novel, Gidding broached the idea to Wise that one of the four scientists should be a woman. Initially, Wise envisioned a largely decorative character - reminiscent of Raquel Welch's character in the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage (which Wise objected to) - until Gidding described in detail the character which convinced Wise that it was a positive addition to the story. Asking the opinion of a number of scientists, who were unanimously enthusiastic about the idea, Wise eventually cast actress Kate Reid in the revised role of Dr. Ruth Leavitt, which turned out to be, in Wise's words, "the most interesting character" in the film.

The Andromeda Strain was one of the first films to use advanced computerized (or optical) photographic visual effects, with work by Douglas Trumbull, who had pioneered effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey, along with James Shourt and Albert Whitlock who worked on The Birds.  Reportedly $250,000 of the film's budget of $6.5 million was used to create the special effects, including the mapped 3-D view of the rotating structure of the 5-story cylindrical underground laboratory, and the microscopic images of the virus itself. Another $300,000 was spent building the Wildfire set on Universal's soundstage, which were described at the time as "one of the most elaborately detailed interiors ever built", with the Central Core set required the digging of a 70-ft.-deep by 40-ft.-wide hole in a soundstage. Crichton himself was invited to take a tour of Universal Studios during the production of the film, and his guide was none other than Steven Spielberg (who went on to adapt Crichton's most successful novel, Jurassic Park in 1993).

TRIVIA:   Effects footage and props from this film were reused in a number of episodes of Universal Pictures' TV series for more than a decade after its release, including The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), The Bionic Woman (1976), Knight Rider (1982) and Airwolf (1984).

 Top and Above:   Having now identified how to fight the Andromeda Strain, Hall must race against the clock to avert the facilities self-destruct after the fail-safe is accidentally triggered!

The Andromeda Strain was a moderate box office success on it's first theatrical release, grossing over $12 million at the US box office (against it's reported $4-6 million budget), making it the 16th highest-grossing film of 1971. Critical opinion was however divided, with some critics enjoying the film for its dedication to the original novel and with others disliking it for its drawn-out plot. Contemporary reviews just as polarized, with Dave Kehr of the Chicago Reader writing, "Robert Wise brings his Academy Award-winning sobriety and meticulousness to a pulp tale that cries out for the slapdash vigor of a Roger Corman", while Roger Ebert reviewing for the Chicago Sun-Times in 2004, wrote, "Splendid entertainment that will get you worried about whether they'll be able to contain that strange blob of alien green crystal".

In 2008, SyFy produced a mini-series/remake of The Andromeda Strain, with Ridley and Tony Scott and Frank Darabont producing, Mikael Salomon directing, and starred Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jeremy Stone, Christa Miller as Dr. Angela Noyce, Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. Tsi Chou, Viola Davis as Dr. Charlene Barton, Ricky Schroder as Major Bill Keane, M.D. and Andre Braugher as General George Mancheck. Premiering on the A&E Network May 26 to 27, the remake, like the original, received mixed reviews, with The Hartford Courant calling it an "entertaining piece of high-velocity intrigue", while The Boston Globe found it unoriginal, although "sometimes engaging".

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   67%

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