The Right Stuff

Bell X-1 experimental plane replica, nicknamed Glamorous Glenniswhich was used during the filming Chosen for glory. He is currently at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas.

The Right Stuff is a 1983 American film directed by Philip Kaufman. The title, The Right Stuff, is an expression from the English language that is usually translated as 'what you have to have', referring to the courage necessary when facing a danger or difficulty.

In Spanish-speaking countries the film has been presented with slightly different titles:

• Argentina: The elect of glory
• SpainSpain: Chosen for glory
• Mexico Mexico: The elect and later marketed on DVD as The elect of glory
• Uruguay Uruguay: Chosen for glory
• Venezuela Venezuela: The elect

The Right Stuff is adapted from Tom Wolfe's book of the same title, first published in 1979. The book is about test pilots involved in tests to exceed the speed of sound in Edwards Air Force Base, as well as those selected for the Mercury Program, America's first project to send people into space.

The story contrasts the seven astronauts in the program and their families, with pilots such as Chuck Yeager, who was considered by many test pilots to be the best of all, despite not being selected as an astronaut. The seven astronauts selected for the program, known as the "Mercury Seven," were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Walter Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.

Plot

The film covers the post-WWII test pilots in the United States to those who participated in the Mercury Program and the successes they had.

Pilot Chuck Yeager is the greatest test pilot since World War II. He gets to fly faster than the speed of sound for the first time in the experimental X-1 aircraft, something many doubted was possible for a pilot. Thus, over time, the base of those tests, Edwards Air Force Base, becomes an attraction for the American public. Later Chuck Yaeger even exceeds the speed of sound several times, making him a legend.

When the Russians send up Sputnik 1, President Eisenhower decides to compete with the Russians in the space race in the interest of national security to prevent the Russians from dominating space and using it militarily against the United States. For this he decides to use test pilots such as those from the Edwards Base or the amrina. Many of them are recruited. Some like Chuck Yaeger don't believe in it, while others are willing to participate. The first astronauts are selected and undergo intensive training, of which only a fraction of them are accepted for the program while skeptics of the project make fun of it all with comedy shows on television.

Over time, however, little by little the astronauts realize that their superiors intend to send them into space in the same way they did with a monkey, that is to say that the astronauts will not control the spaceship and will also be subjected to the whim of their superiors. Between press conferences and other public relations sessions, in which everything is smiles, the astronauts therefore go on strike as long as they are not assured that they will be space capsule pilots, also demanding measures to improve the safety and effectiveness of these capsules. thus showing scientists their superior expertise regarding these matters. Finally, the scientists and those responsible for the Mercury program fulfill their wish and thus manage to stand up to them about it.

After Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov arrive in space, the Americans, humiliated by the events, react by sending Alan Shepard, Scott Glenn and others into space. Meanwhile, those astronauts must protect themselves and their families from attempts to be abused for political reasons, while pilots like Chuck Yeager continue to break records with planes, but without the publicity that astronauts get. Finally, with the sending of Gordon Cooper into space, which can make 22 orbits around the earth, the Mercury program ends, while Chuck Yaeger can finally see the stars with an experimental plane launching it to the highest altitude that anyone has ever been able to send a jet fighter.

Cast

Dubbing

Character	Original Actor (USA)	Voice actor (Hispanoamérica)	Voice actor (Spain)
Chuck Yeager	Sam Shepard	Jesse Conde	Ricardo Solans
Alan Shepard	Scott Glenn	Victor Mares	Ernesto Aura
John Glenn	Ed Harris	Agustín López Zavala	Antonio García Moral
Virgil "Gus" Grissom	Fred Ward	Eduardo Liñán	Pepe Mediavilla
Gordon Cooper	Dennis Quaid	Paco Mauri	Antonio Lara
Recruiter #1	Jeff Goldblum	Humberto Vélez	Joan Pera
#2	Harry Shearer	José Luis Castañeda
Scott Carpenter	Charles Frank	Carlos Becerril	Eduardo Muntada
Senator Lyndon B. Johnson	Donald Moffat	Antonio Raxel	José María Alarcón
Ed Sullivan (Archivo)		Álvaro Tarcicio	Fernando Ulloa
Narrator and Inserts	N/D	Raúl de la Fuente	Dionisio Macías

Reception

Because it was a film about astronauts, a subject that in the 1980s did not interest audiences much, the film was therefore not successful at the box office.

Awards

• Award 1984: for the best effects, for the best assembly, for the best music and for the best sound.
• KCFCC Award 1984: the best director.
• Motion Picture Sound Editors 1984 Award: to the best ADR sound edition.
• Blue Ribbon Award 1985: to the best film in foreign language.
• Bodil Prize 1985: the best non-European film (Philip Kaufman).
• London Critics Circle Film Prize 1985: the writer of the year (Philip Kaufman).