Catacombs Reference LibraryUK Press
Mission Incredible!
Catacombs Reference Library
Daily Express, Monday 17 September 1979 p31
Now puppeteer Anderson puts men into space for an epic with no strings
SPOTLIGHT: ALL THE BEST IN ENTERTAINMENT By GARTH PEARCE
GERRY ANDERSON had done just about everything he could with puppets on television. Their lips moved, their eyes swivelled and their arms flapped like crazy.
But try every gimmick he could, there was no way those puppets were going to look as if they were walking.
Then, in one flash of simple genius that the rest of us are convinced will one day make us our first million, he decided that his TV puppets need never walk again.
He could put them in a car. He would put the car in space. Anywhere, in fact, where the machine did the walking for them.
That was back in 1959 with his first science-fiction series called Supercar. Since then we've thrilled to the antics of Captain Scarlet, marvelled at Steve Zodiac and gasped at Thunderbirds
With one series after another - Fireball XL-5, Stingray, Joe 90, U.F.O., The Protectors and Space 1999 - Gerry Anderson's reputation as the number one sci-fi producer has soared.
Today, Britain. Tomorrow. the Earth. Next week, the Universe. Why not? Anderson, it seems, has the key to outer space.
Now, at 50, London-born Anderson is contemplating his coupe de grace of sci-fi magic - a spectacular £26 million movie called Five Star Five.
He has persuaded private investors to hack the film, so there will be none of the American interference which so often results in banality.
SUCCESS
"It will be", he says firmly. "the best science fiction film ever made and I include those which had success and publicity last year.
"That sounds most immodest" he adds swiftly. "But I can't help it. I have learned exactly what is possible and how much you need to spend to achieve maximum effect."
Anderson is a tall, balding. urbane man who lives alone in a flat in Buckinghamshire. He looks more like a doctor than a film-maker. One of the joys of the last 20 years is that he has constantly beaten Americans at what they consider their own game.
Indeed. Fireball XL-5 was our first-ever TV series to sell to the United States back in 1961. A year later, he achieved another break through when Stingray became the first series to be filmed in colour.
"My new film will be as much a picture about people as machines." he tells me. There are characters to identify with and the film techniques, I am convinced, will be brilliant.
But what appeals to me especially is that there will be no one interfering and telling me what to do."
Many actors and personalties have used Anderson's space adventures as what could well be described as their own launching pad.
Nicholas Parsons was the voice of the star on Four Feather Falls in 1958. Francis Matthews was the voice of Captain Scarlet. And Rupert Davies, of Maigret fame, was Joe 90.
Anderson's special effects have also gone on to great things. Derek Meddings (Superman and Moonraker) won an Oscar. Brian Johnson is the mastermind of Star Wars II and Nick Allder of Alien.
Says Anderson: "Science fiction--or science fantasy, as it became in Star Wars - is produced best by a well-trained scientist who is an artist with a wonderful imagination."
VETERAN
Now a veteran of some 300 television episodes and films of sci-fi, Anderson started as a cutting room boy at 16. He launched his own company at 25 and a year later made his first film, The Adventures of Twizzle, about a little boy who had legs which grew 10 feet tall.
So what's the secret?
"You must not, he answers, "let the technical problems depress you while you're writing the script."