Star Trek Magazine – July 2019

JerryGoldsmithandhiswife.Howcould

I havea betterseatthanJerryGoldsmith?!

The ironywasthathiswifecoughedall

thewaythroughthepicture.

Asthefilmspooledout,I could

feelmanyintheaudienceimpatiently

stirring.It wasprobablyaboutas farfrom

a genrecrowdas youcouldget.I love

The MotionPictureformanyreasons,

butI knewthatit wasplodding.On

thewayoutI hearda womanremark,

“Well,thatwasdreadful!”I couldn’thave

feltmoreupsetthanif I hadbeenGene

Roddenberryhimself.WhenI didsee

Geneat thereceptionlater,hewassitting

withHaroldLivingston,theco-writer,

andtheywerebothsweatingand

lookinguncomfortable.

AfterTrek

The after-partywasoutofthisworld.

It filledtheentiregroundfloorofthe

stillbrand-newNationalAirandSpace

Museum.A fullorchestraperformed

JerryGoldsmith’snow-classicscorefor

thepicture.Openbarslinedthelength

ofthemuseum,whileoverheadfloated

theSpiritof St.Louis, theWrightFlyer,

andChuckYeager’sBellrocketplane.The

castlookedpositivelysmashing,andI

rememberthinkingthatStephenCollins

waspainfullyhandsome.Meanwhile,

GeneRoddenberrylookedanythingbut

exuberant.Infact,helookeddejected.

Webuggedoutearly,as it wasa three

anda halfhourdrivetogetbacktoNew

YorkCityfortheManhattanpremiere.

This timetheaudiencewasallin,andthere

waslotsof excitementfromthecrowd.The

reintroductionof thecharactersforthe

firsttimesince 1968 wasgreetedbyhuge

roundsof applauseandcheers.

A totallydifferentreactionthanthe

DCexperience,butit wasnotenough

tosavethefilmfromreviewers’barbs,

whichwereeverywherethenextday.Rex

Reedsaid,“StoptheStarship,I wantto

getoff,” andonereviewer,toocleverfor

hisowngoodsaid,“StarTrek:The Motion

Picture...thereis preciouslittlemotion

init.”ButtheonereviewI willnever

forgetwasABC’sJoelSiegel,whowas,

infact,aStarTrekfan.Headmittedthe

filmhadpacingandscriptingissues,“But

LOOKat theEnterprise,” heenthused.

“ItwasMADEforthebigscreen!”That

commentalonemademyday,as truer

wordshadneverbeenspoken.

Don’tDreamIt’sOver

I fearedthatStarTrekhadhadits

moment,thatthiswouldbetheendofit.

It wasthemostexpensivemotionpicture

evermade(upuntilthattime),buta lot

ofthatwasduetomismanagementand

falsestarts.JeffreyKatzenberg,studioexec

at Paramount(andStarTrekfan)calledits

productiona runawaystagecoach,butThe

MotionPictureseemedtobecritic-proof,

andit brokeattendancerecords.

RatherthantheendofStarTrek, it

wouldjustbethebeginning,andtherestis

history.Gene’ssometimesmalignedlyrics

tothethemeofStarTrekwereringing

inmyears:“...hisStarTrekwillgoon

forever.”And,apparently,soit shall.

[14] Walter

Koenig chatting

with local news

reporters.

[15] Shatner and

Kelley chat under

the Enterprise

fi lming miniature.

Note the plaque

in the background.

[16] Nichelle and

early fan pioneer,

Jacqueline

Lichtenberg.

[17] Left to

right: Nichelle

Nichols, Marcy

Lafferty, William

Shatner, Grace

Lee Whitney, and

Stephen Collins.

Now I was privy to secrets,

mysteries, and clues to

an unseen universe that

existed right alongside

the crew of the

Starship Enterprise.

DOUG DREXLER

17

THE MOTION PICTURE WORLD PREMIERE