SYNOPSIS | PRODUCTION NOTES | TRIVIA | PRESS | QUOTES | KIM NEWMAN ARCHIVE | MEDIA

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1977
Running Times: 135m (USA)
Length:
Format: filmed in Panavision/35mm/70mm (blow-up)
Format: Metrocolor
Ratio: 2.35:1
Sound: Dolby System

DIRECTION

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

PRODUCTION
Copyright: © 1977 Columbia Pictures Industries Inc.
Production Company: A Columbia presentation in association with EMI  a Julia Phillips & Michael Phillips production
Executive in Charge of Production: John Veitch (uncredited)
Produced by: Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips
Associate Producer/Unit Production Manager: Clark Paylow

SCRIPT
Written by: Steven Spielberg, Paul Schrader (uncredited)

DIRECTION
Assistant Director: Chuck Myers
2nd Assistant Director: Jim Bloom
Script Supervision: Charlsie Bryant

PHOTOGRAPHY
Directors of Photography: Vilmos Zsigmond
Director of Photography of Additional American Scenes: William A. Fraker
Director of Photography of India Sequence: Douglas Slocombe
Additional Directors of Photography: John Alonzo, Laszlo Kovacs; Frank Stanley (uncredited)
2nd Unit Director of Photography: Steve Poster
Camera Operator: Nick McLean
Gaffer: Earl Gilbert
Video Technician: "Fast" Eddie Mahler
Still Photographers: Peter Sorel, Jim Coe, Pete Turner
Color Consultant: Bob McMillian

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Film Editors: Michael Kahn, Steven Spielberg (uncredited)
Assistant Film Editors: Geoffrey Rowland, Charles Bornstein

MUSIC
Music by: John Williams
Music Editor: Kenneth Wannberg
Music Scoring Mixer: John Neal

SONGS AND ADDITIONAL MUSIC (credited as Special Thanks to)
"Chances Are"
Words & Music by Al Stillman and Robert Allen
Published by International Korwin Corp.
From the Columbia Records album Johnny Mathis' All-time Greatest Hits

"When You Wish Upon a Star"
Words by Ned Washington
Music by Leigh Harline
© 1940 Bourne Co.

"TheSquare Song"
Words & Music by Joseph Raposo
Published by Jonica Music, Inc.
Courtesy of Pickwick International, Inc.

"Love Song of the Waterfall"
Words & Music by Bob Nolan, Bernard Barnes and Carl Winge
Published by Unichappell Music, Inc./Elvis Presley Music
From the United Artists Records album "Love Song of the Waterfall"
Sung by Slim Whitman

SOUND
Production Sound Mixer: Gene Cantamesa
Re-recording Mixers: Buzz Knudson, Don MacDougall, Robert Glass
Dialogue Editorial Staff: Dick Friedman
Assistant Dialogue Staff: Robert A. Reich, Bill Jackson
Technical Dialogue: Colin Cantwell
Supervising Sound Effects Editor: Frank Warner
Sound Effects Editorial Staff: Richard Oswald, David Horton, Sam Gemette, Gary S. Gerlich, Chet Slomka, Neil Burrow
Dolby Sound Supervisor: Jack Schrader

COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP
Wardrobe Supervisor: Jim Linn
Make-up Supervisor: Bob Westmoreland
Hairdresser: Edie Panda

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Realization of 'Extraterrestrial' by: Carlo Rambaldi
Special Mechanical Effects: Roy Arbogast
Mechanical Special Effects: George Polkinghorne

VISUAL EFFECTS
Special Photographic Effects by: Douglas Trumbull
Visual Effects Concepts by: Steven Spielberg
Special Photographic Effects Supervised by: Douglas Trumbull
Director of Photography - Photographic Effects: Richard Yuricich
Matte Artist: Matthew Yuricich
Effects Unit Project Manager: Robert Shepherd
Special Visual Effects Co-ordinator: Larry Robinson
UFO Photography: Dave Stewart
Chief Model Maker: Gregory Jein
Animation Supervisor: Robert Swarthe
Matte Photography: Don Jarel
Mothership Photography: Dennis Muren
Project Coordinator: Mona Thal Benefiel
Camera Operators: Dave Berry, Eugene Eyerly, Maxwell Morgan, Ron Peterson, Eldon Rickman
Technician: Robert Hollister
Assistant Cameramen: David Hardberger, Alan Harding, Bruce Nicholson, Richard Ripple, Scott Squires
Still Photography: Marcia Reid
Model Shop Coordinator: J. Richard Dow
Model Makers: Jor Van Kline, Michael McMillen, Kenneth Swenson, Robert Worthington
Camera and Mechanical Design: Don Trumbull (B.G. Engineering), John Russell, Fries Engineering
Electronics Design: Jerry L. Jeffress, Alvah J. Miller, Peter Regla, Dan Slater
Assistant Matte Artist: Rocco Gioffre
Effects Electrician: David Gold
Key Grip: Ray Rich
Laboratory Expediter: Charles Hinkle
Animator: Harry Moreau
Animation Staff: Carol Boardman, Eleanor Dahlen, Cy Didjurgis, Tom Koester, Bill Millar, Connie Morgan
Production Secretary: Joyce Goldberg
Project Assistants: Glenn Erickson, Hoyt Yeatman
Editorial Assistant: Joseph Ippolito
Transportation: Bill Bethea
Laboratory Technicians: Don Dow, Tom Hollister
Effects Negative Cutter: Barbara Morrison
Special Consultants: Peter Anderson, Larry Albright, Richard Bennett, Ken Ebert, Paul Huston, David M. Jones, Kevin Kelly, Kim Lutes, George Randle, Jeff Shapiro, Rourke Engineering

TITLES AND OPTICALS
Title Design: Dan Perri
Optical Photography: Robert Hall

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Joe Alves
Art Director: Dan Lomino
Set Decoration: Phil Abramson
Property Master: Sam Gordon
Production Illustrator: George Jensen
Construction Manager: Bill Parks

OTHER CREW
Technical Advisor: Dr. J. Allen Hynek
Location Auditor: Steve Warner
Assistant to the Producers: Kendall Cooper
2nd Assistant to the Producers: Judy Bornstein
Assistant to Mr Spielberg: Rick Fields
Production Secretary: Gail Siemers
Production Staff: Janet Healy, Pat Burns
A.F.I. Intern: Seth Winston
Publicity: Al Ebner, Murray Weissman, Pickwick Public Relations

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Producers wish to thank the following for their valuable help and cooperation...: The Governors and People of Alabama and Wyoming; the Government of India; Kodaly Musical Training Institute Inc.
Excerpt from "The Ten Commandments" furnished courtesy of Paramount Pictures Corporation copyright © 1956 by Paramount Pictures Corporation all rights reserved
During the filming of all animal sequences, H.L. Edwards, veterinarian of Gillette, Wyoming was in attendance at all times to aid the filmmakers and the anesthetist in proper treatment of the animals used, and at no time were the animals harmed or mistreated in any way.

LOCATIONS
Locations: Bay Minette, Alabama, USA; Bernal, Querétaro, Mexico; Bombay, Maharashtra, India; Devil's Tower, Wyoming, USA; Mobile, Alabama, USA; Mojave Desert, California, USA; Palmdale Air Traffic Control Center, California, USA; Tequisquiapan, Mexico
Location Manager: Joe O'Har

STUNTS
Stunt Co-ordinator: Buddy Joe Hooker

CASTING
Casting: Shari Rhodes, Juliette Taylor
Additional Casting: Sally Dennison

CAST

starring
Richard Dreyfuss (Roy Neary)

with
François Truffaut as [Claude] Lacombe

also starring
Teri Garr (Ronnie Neary)
Melinda Dillon (Jillian Guiler)

and
Cary Guffey as Barry Guiler

co-starring
Bob Balaban (David Laughlin)
Roberts Blossom (farmer)
Merrill Connally (team leader)
George DiCenzo (Major Benchley)
Lance Henriksen (Robert)
Warren Kemmerling (Wild Bill)
J. Patrick McNamara (project leader)

Philip Dodds (Jean Claude) (1)
Shawn Bishop (Brad Neary)
Adrienne Campbell (Sylvia Neary)
Justin Dreyfuss (Toby Neary)
Amy Douglass, Alexander Lockwood (implantees)
Gene Dynarski (Ike)
Mary Gafrey (Mrs Harris)
Norman Bartold (Ohio tolls)
Josef Sommer (Larry Butler)
Rev. Michael J. Dyer (self)
Roger Ernest (Highway Patrolman)
Carl Weathers (military policeman)
F.J. O'Neil (ARP project member)
Phil Dodds (ARP musician) (1)
Randy Hermann (returnee #1 Flt. 19)
Hal Barwood (returnee #2 Flt. 19)
Matthew Robbins (returnee #3 Flt. 19)
David Anderson, Richard L. Hawkins (air traffic controllers)
Craig Shreeve, Bill Thurman (air traffic)
Roy E. Richards (Air East pilot [voice])
Gene Rader (hawker)
Eumenio Blanco, Daniel Nunez, Chuy Franco, Luis Contreras (federales)
James Keane, Dennis McMullen, Cy Young, Tom Howard (radio telescope team)
Richard Stuart (truck dispatcher)
Bob Westmoreland (load dispatcher)
Matt Emery (support leader)
Galen Thompson, John Dennis Johnston (Special Forces troopers)
John Ewing (Dirty Tricks #1)
Keith Atkinson (Dirty Tricks #2)
Robert Broyles (Dirty Tricks #3)
Kirk Raymond (Dirty Tricks #4)

UNCREDITED CAST

Basil Hoffman (Longly)
J. Allen Hynek (UFO expecrt)
Monty Jordan (Special Forces commander/helicopter pilot)
Howard K. Smith
Bob Black (extra)

PLOT SUMMARY

A group of scientists and a handful of unrelated civilians are touched by a series of UFO encounters around the world. One civilian, Roy Neary, becomes obsessed with a vision of a mountain which he soon identifies as The Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Neary, the scientists and dozens of other civilians similarly haunted by the strange visions converge on the mountain to await Mankind's first face-to-face contact with an alien race.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures Releasing (1998 re-release)
Video Distributor: RCA/Columbia

Australia
Rating: PG

Finland
Rating: K-12

France
Rating: U

Germany
Rating: 12

Norway
Rating: 12

Sweden
Rating: 11

UK
Rating: PG

USA
Rating: PG
MPAA: 25062

1977
Academy Awards
Best Cinematography (Vilmos Zsigmond,  William A. Fraker,  Douglas Slocombe) - winner

1977
February
24: Sweden - theatrical release

November
16: USA - theatrical release

1978
February
28: Norway - theatrical release

March
3: Finland - theatrical release

1981
February
13: Finland - theatrical release (special edition)

March
13: Sweden - theatrical release (special edition)

November
15: USA - television broadcast (on ABC)

December
28: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1983
September
3: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1985
December
24: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1987
August
28: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1994
July
13: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1996
August
26: UK - television broadcast (on ITV)

1997
December
24: UK - television broadcast (on ITV (Carlton Television))

1998
April
5: UK - television broadcast (on Channel 5)

October
7: Finland - video release (collector's edition)

POSTER TAGS

We are not alone

Bliskie spotkania trzeciego stopnia - Polish title
Blizka setkani tretiho druhu - Czech title
Close Encounter of the Third Kind, The - working title
Contatos Imediatos do Terceiro Grau - Brazilian title
Encontres a la tercera fase - Catalan Spanish title
Encontros Imediatos do 3º Grau - Portuguese title
Encuentros cercanos del tercer tipo - Argentine title
Encuentros en la tercera fase - Spanish title
Harmadik típusú találkozások - Hungarian title
Incontri ravvicinati del terzo tipo - Italian title
Kolmannen asteen yhteys - Finnish title
Nærkontakt af tredie grad - Danish title
Närkontakt av tredje graden - Swedish/Swedish/Finnish title
Rencontres du troisième type - French/French Canadian title
Stenes epafes tritou typou - Greek title
Tehlikeli iliskiler - Turkish title
Unheimliche Begegnung der dritten Art - West German title
Watch the Skies - working title

ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Special Edition) (1980)

REMAKE OF
Firelight (1964)

SEE ALSO
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Antz (1998)
Bunk Witch Project, The (2000)
Closet Cases of the Nerd Kind (1980)
Combat Shock (1986)
Creature Wasn't Nice, The (1981)
Free Enterprise (1998)
Gojira tai Kingugidora (1991)
Gremlins (1984)
Incontro con gli umanoidi (1980)
Independence Day (1996)
Jaws (1975)
Joey (1985)
Moonraker (1979)
Morons from Outer Space (1985)
Muppets From Space (1999)
Pinocchio (1940)
Return to Oz (1985)
Roswell (1994)
Spice World (1997)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Wars (1977)
Stuff, The (1985)
Toy Story (1995)
UHF (1989)
X Files, The (1993-2002)
X Files, The: Fight the Future (1998)

INCLUDES FOOTAGE FROM
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953)
Ten Commandments, The (1956)

FOOTAGE INCLUDED IN
100 Years at the Movies (1994)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998)
American Film Institute's Tribute to Steven Spielberg, The (1995)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - A Look Back
Making Close Encounters (1990)
Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The (1998)

PERIODICALS

American Cinematographer May 1980 p.436 (USA)
illustrated article

Art in America vol.88 (July 2000) pp.103-104 (USA)
article (Gregory Crewdson at Luhring Augustine by Edward Leffingwell)

Cinefantastique vol.6 no.4/vol.7 no.1 (1978) pp.32-39 (USA)
illustrated interviews with Steven Spielberg and Douglas Trumbull (by Richard Villard)

DGA Magazine vol.23 no.5 (1999) pp96-97 (USA)
review (Directors on disk by Nick Redman)

Empire November 1997 p.144 (UK)
review

Film Score Monthly vol.3 no.4 (1998)pp. 27-32; 29-31 (USA)
article (Watch the record stores, please by Jeff Bond); article (I was abducted by an album by Jeff Bond)

Literature/Film Quarterly vol.24 no.4 (1996) pp.376-382 (USA)
article (Language and the music of the spheres: Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind by Charlene Engel)

Soundtrack!: the Collector's Quarterly no.17 (June 1998) p.29 (USA)
article (Restoring Close Encounters by Tony Buchsbaum)

Total Film no.75 (April 2003) pp.76-77 (UK)
illustrated interview with Bob Black (Extra! extra! by Kevin Murphy)

Variety no.383 (28 May - 3 June 2001) pp.23-24 (USA)
TV review (by Scott Hettrick)

BOOKS

Close Encounters of the Third Kind Diary by Bob Balaban (New York: Fromm International Publishing (1997) ISBN 0880641827)

Hoffman's Guide to SF, Horror and Fantasy Movies 1991-1992 p.75
review, credits

alien abductions, aliens, children, gas, helicopters, military, mountains, scientists, UFOs

Last Updated: 6 January, 2010