Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (also known by its original title Doppelgänger) is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring, Loni von Friedl and Patrick Wymark. It was written by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Donald James, and produced by the Andersons for their company Century 21.
Set in the year 2069, the film concerns a joint European-NASA mission to investigate a newly discovered planet which lies directly opposite Earth on the far side of the Sun. The mission ends in disaster and the death of one of the astronauts, following which his colleague realises that the planet is a mirror image of Earth in every detail, with a parallel and duplicate timeline.
The film was the first major live-action production by the Andersons, known for their puppet television programmes such as Thunderbirds. Having originally conceived the story as a television play, they were encouraged by their employer Lew Grade to pitch the project as a feature film to Jay Kanter of Universal Pictures. Though underwhelmed by the script, Kanter greenlit the film after the Andersons hired Parrish as director. The film was shot between July and October 1968 at Pinewood Studios and on location in England and Portugal.
As filming progressed, the working relationship between Parrish and the Andersons became strained. Creative disagreements between Gerry Anderson and business partner John Read, the director of photography, led to Read's resignation from Century 21. To distinguish the film from their puppet productions, the Andersons wrote adult themes into the script, although cuts were required for the film to be awarded an A certificate by the British Board of Film Censors.
The film premiered in August 1969 in the United States and October 1969 in the United Kingdom. It performed poorly at the box office during its initial theatrical run but has since garnered a cult following. The film has received mixed reviews from critics; while the special effects and production design have been praised, some commentators have judged the parallel Earth premise to be clichéd and uninspired. Various plot devices and imagery have been viewed as pastiches of other science fiction films, such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Several members of the cast went on to appear in UFO, the Andersons' first live-action TV series, that re-used many of the film's props.
Plot In 2069, the European Space Exploration Council's (EUROSEC) Sun Probe discovers a planet in the same orbital path as Earth on the far side of the Sun. The findings are transmitted to a power in the East by double agent Dr Hassler. Tracing the messages to Hassler's laboratory, Security Chief Mark Neuman corners the scientist and kills him.
EUROSEC director Jason Webb convinces NASA representative David Poulson that the West must send a crewed mission to the planet before Hassler's allies in the East. NASA astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross and EUROSEC astrophysicist Dr John Kane are assigned to the mission. After undergoing training at the EUROSEC Space Centre in Portugal, Ross and Kane blast off in the spacecraft Phoenix. They are put into an artificial hibernation for the outbound journey, with "Heart-Lung-Kidney" machines maintaining their vital functions. Three weeks later, Phoenix reaches the planet and Ross and Kane are revived. Scans for life prove inconclusive, so the astronauts decide to make a surface landing in their auxiliary craft, Dove. During its descent, Dove is damaged in a thunderstorm and crashes in a mountain range, seriously injuring Kane. The astronauts are picked up by a human rescue team, who tell Ross they have landed near Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It appears that Ross and Kane have returned to Earth, and they are flown back to the Space Centre.
Neuman and EUROSEC official Lise Hartman question Ross, who denies that he aborted the mission. Later, Kane dies of his injuries. Ross discovers that people are now driving on the wrong side of the road and that he can no longer read printed text because it is all backwards. He comes to the realisation that he is indeed on the unknown planet, a Counter-Earth where every detail is a mirror image of his Earth. Ross's wife Sharon refuses to accept his claims, but Webb is convinced when Ross demonstrates his ease in reading reflected text and Kane's post mortem examination reveals that his internal organs are on the "wrong" side of his body. Ross theorises that the two Earths are parallel and that his counterpart from this world is experiencing similar events on his Earth. Webb proposes that Ross retrieve the flight recorder from the orbiting Phoenix and return home.
EUROSEC builds a new Dove designed to be compatible with the reversed technologies of Phoenix. Modifications include reverse-polarisation of the electrical circuits. Ross blasts off in the spacecraft, which he has named Doppelganger, and attempts to dock with Phoenix. However, the electrical systems malfunction, crippling the spacecraft and causing it to fall back towards the Space Centre. EUROSEC are unable to correct the fault and Doppelganger crashes into a parked spacecraft, killing Ross and starting a chain reaction that destroys much of the Space Centre. All records of Ross's presence on the Counter-Earth are lost in the disaster.
Years later, Webb, now using a wheelchair and in a much-diminished mental state, is admitted to a nursing home, where he sees his reflection in a mirror. He rolls forward quickly, trying to touch his doppelganger, but crashes into the mirror and dies.
Cast
Roy Thinnes as Colonel Glenn Ross Ian Hendry as Dr John Kane Patrick Wymark as Jason Webb Lynn Loring as Sharon Ross Loni von Friedl as Lise Hartman Franco De Rosa as Paolo Landi George Sewell as Mark Neuman Ed Bishop as David Poulson Philip Madoc as Dr Pontini Vladek Sheybal as Dr Beauville George Mikell as Dr Bernhardt BrissonBentley 2016, p. 27. Herbert Lom as Dr Kurt Hassler Uncredited Keith Alexander as Launch Controller Edward Cast as Security Vaults Sergeant Anthony Chinn as Air-Sea Rescue Crew Member Cy Grant as Dr. Gordon Annette Kerr as Nurse Martin King as Dove Service Technician Basil Moss as Assistant Doctor Norma Ronald as Pam Kirby Arnold Diamond as Clavel, Paris delegate John Stone as London Delegate Peter Burton and Nicholas Courtney as Medical Techs Constantine Gregory and Jeremy Wilkin as Launch Control Techs
Production
Development In 1967, producer Jay Kanter arrived in London to set up a European office for Universal Pictures.Bentley 2008, p. 306. Kanter was open to funding promising film ideas, so Lew Grade, the Andersons' employer and financial backer, set up a meeting for Gerry Anderson to pitch a story about a hypothetical "mirror" Earth.Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 172. On the inspiration for the film, Anderson said: "I thought, rather naively, what if there was another planet on the other side of the Sun, orbiting at exactly the same speed and the same size as Earth? That idea then developed into the planet being a replicated Earth and that's how it ended up, a mirrored planet".
The earliest version of the script was written by Tony Williamson.Bentley 2016, p. 20. At one point it ran to 194 pages, enough for a three-hour film.Bentley 2016, p. 25. The Andersons had conceived the story as a one-hour drama for Associated Television, but Sylvia thought the premise "too good for a television play" and suggested making it as a feature film instead.Anderson 2007, p. 65. John Read, the Andersons' business partner, proposed the title "Doppelgänger". According to Gerry, the term "...means 'a copy of oneself', and the legend goes that if you meet your doppelganger, it is the point of your death. Following that legend, clearly, I had to steer the film so that I could end it illustrating the meaning of that word". Responding to claims that the tone was overly "dark", Anderson said that he wanted the film to have an interesting premise.
Kanter was dissatisfied with the Williamson script, so the Andersons' began to re-write it themselves and brought in Donald James as a co-writer to improve the characterisation. The revisions included substantial changes to the parts set on the mirror Earth, essentially causing the characters of Ross and Kane to switch roles.Bentley 2008, p. 307. In the original script, Ross was blinded in the Dove crash, while Kane survived but was declared insane. A structural defect in Doppelganger caused it to burn up in the atmosphere with Kane inside, and the film ended with Kane's wife, the Rosses and Webb attending his funeral.
Despite James's efforts, Kanter remained unenthusiastic. However, he agreed to finance the film provided that the Andersons chose a "bankable" director who met with his approval. Gerry's first choice was David Lane, who had directed Century 21's puppet films Thunderbirds Are Go (1966) and Thunderbird 6 (1968), but Kanter wanted an experienced mainstream director.Fryer 2016, p. 139. After weeks of searching, in June 1968 the Andersons hired Robert Parrish, who had co-directed Casino Royale (1967).Pixley 2016, p. 16.Archer and Nicholls 1996, p. 136. According to Gerry, Parrish "told us he loved the script and said it would be an honour to work with us. Jay Kanter gave Bob the thumbs up and we were in business".Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 173. Anderson said that while the negative critical response to Casino Royale raised questions about Parrish's ability, Doppelgänger could not have been made without him: "It wasn't a question of, 'Will we get on with him?' or, 'Is he the right man?' He was a name director, so we signed him up immediately".Archer and Hearn 2002, p. 174.
Casting Leading the cast was American actor Roy Thinnes as Colonel Glenn Ross of NASA. Thinnes was cast on the basis of his starring role in The Invaders and his resemblance to Paul Newman.Pixley 2016, p. 17. In the Andersons' script, Ross's first name was Stewart and he was the first person on Mars. In a 2008 interview, Thinnes said of the film: "I thought [it] was an interesting premise, although now we know that there isn't another planet on the other side of the Sun, through our space exploration and telescopic abilities. But at that time it was conceivable, and it could have been scary". To reflect the script's characterisation of Ross as a heavy smoker, Thinnes went through numerous packets of cigarettes over the course of the production, to the detriment of his health. In September 1969, The Age reported that the actor would demand a non-smoking clause for his next film: "He smokes about two packets a day, but the perpetual lighting up of new cigarettes for continuity purposes was too much".
Ian Hendry was cast as Dr John Kane, a British astrophysicist and head of the Phoenix project. In his biography, Anderson recalled that Hendry "was always drinking" and was visibly intoxicated during the filming of the Dove crash sequence: "... he was pissed as a newt, and it was as much as he could do to stagger away. Despite all that, it looked exactly as it was supposed to on screen."Archer and Hearn 2002, pp. 174–175 In the original script, Kane's first name was Philip and he had a wife called Susan. Scenes deleted from the finished film showed the character pursuing a romance with EUROSEC official Lise Hartman, played by Loni von Friedl, whom the Andersons cast in Berlin.Pixley 2016, pp. 17–18.