I remember reading an interview with Mary Tyler Moore when she was just making the transition from a supporting role in a sitcom (Laura Petrie in The Dick van Dyke Show) to a starring role (Mary Richards in the Mary Tyler Moore Show). "X-15" was one of her earliest film roles. She made no bones about how awful she thought the film was. And by far, the most interesting thing about the film is the out-the-windshield cockpit footage, which is real. The rest of the film was, according to Moore, shot in three days and was of course mere fill, and it shows. It was barely up to the standard of the most forgettable soap operas of the 1960s.
The X-15 rocket plane program was famous and a really big deal in its time. The X-15's rocket engine burned through its fuel supply in just two minutes, so it couldn't waste time taking off; it was drop-launched at altitude from under the wing of a B-52, and like the space shuttle orbiter, it glided back to the ground. I wonder: Did the studio somehow luck into possession of a lot of Air Force B-reel footage shot from the cockpit camera of the X-15 for research purposes and decide to try for a quick buck, or did they deliberately commission this?
The X-15 rocket plane program was famous and a really big deal in its time. The X-15's rocket engine burned through its fuel supply in just two minutes, so it couldn't waste time taking off; it was drop-launched at altitude from under the wing of a B-52, and like the space shuttle orbiter, it glided back to the ground. I wonder: Did the studio somehow luck into possession of a lot of Air Force B-reel footage shot from the cockpit camera of the X-15 for research purposes and decide to try for a quick buck, or did they deliberately commission this?