The High and the Mighty

[Captain Nomad]

Maybe this thread could be called 'good aviation movies.' Had a lazy Sunday afternoon to myself for a change and pulled out this old classic John Wayne film based on an Earnest K. Gann novel. Got the remastered DVD on my last trip down South (home entertainment takes on new meaning when living in a place with no other options!).

Really enjoyed the movie anyway and thought I would fish for more suggestions on good aviation movies to add to one's collection. Some of the others in my collection include:
- The Right Stuff
- Apollo 13
- Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines
- Flight of the Intruder

The High and the Mighty had some good special features including a little section on flying in the 50's which makes for interesting comparison to the industry now... What it must have been like to live through the golden years of aviation....!

[Soulman]

There's that one with Tom Cruise in it I think...

[Crosshair]

"The High and the Mighty" was all right, but it spent too much time on educating viewers who had never been on an airliner on what the experience was like. I also found the Christian cross imagery of the approach lighting at SFO extremely clumsy.

"Island in the Sky" is another Gann/Wayne effort that's worthwhile.

[Richo]

This was another technicaly very good movie from the early 70's.
Can't remeber the actors name now (may have been Cliff Robertson), but it was about a DC8 skipper who had a drinking problem.

The ILS scene was really accurate with all the appropriate lights and callouts, obviously filmed in a real simulator.


richo

[corowacomet]

Sorry a bit off track but I for one have watched all the Wayne/Gann films and really think they don't even come close to matching the imagery and emotion of Gann's books. Fate is the Hunter really is a true classic, not just in the aviation genre and his earlier work on the other aspects of his life; A Hostage to Fortune is well worth the read.
As for other aviation films, The Great Waldo Pepper isn't too bad.
The Comet.

[The Bunglerat]

Have to say that "The Right Stuff" immediately comes to mind as one of the best movies ever to portray the lives of the test pilots and early astronauts - and ranks as my personal favourite. A brilliant film that sadly never found a mainstream audience upon its release, in spite of having been nominated for numerous Oscars at the time.

Whilst the movie does lean more towards spaceflight than atmospheric flight, at the core they were all aviators - whatever kind of vehicle they "flew." And I particularly like how Yeager's character seems to be like the glue that holds the story together, interweaving through all the other daring exploits of the original seven Mercury guys. The astronauts may have received all the public attention, but they knew it was those unsung heroes out in the Mojave Desert that truly had the "right stuff."

Just brilliant!

[Tmbstory]

corowacomet


I agree with your comments about the books & the films, the books are far better.

Whenever I had a student undertaking an instrument rating course, the E.K. Gann book "Fate is the Hunter" was mandatory reading.

Tmb

[Wanderin_dave]

Battle of Britain, absolute clasic. Some of the best beatups you'll ever see in the first 5 mins.

[Capt Wally]

..........battle of britain, yes a top show, saw it about 5 times when it came out at the pics...........obviously hooked well & truely by then !
Another couple of great pics where the "flight of the Pheonix" with Jimmy stuart in it. The original one that is not the crap more modern one staring Denis Quade I think he is. I believe the original plane in the original movie they made from the wreck did fly & the pilot was killed upon landing it, the scene at the end of that movie shows the 'contraption' actually flying over a dam & dissapearing out of sight, I assume this is where the pilot perhaps met his fate!
Also the old classic (probably not a classic to most) & that was another staring Jimmy Stuart called "no hwy in the sky"............B&W & to some degree corny I guess but was loosely based around the British Comet era, metal fatigue.

Capt wally............ahhh the good 'ole days !:-)

[missingblade]

The original Flight of the Phoenix plane was crashed on the very last take as they wrapped up filming. The take was already completed but the director asked for another just 'in case'. Paul Mantz was the pilot. Mantz at the time was the most famous ( and richest ) stunt pilot in Hollywood. His company pretty much did the majority of stunt flying for movies from the thirties ( Howard Hughes 's time ) onwards. He was practically a star himself. Mantz was well into ( I think ) his fifties at the time and a life of surviving some incredible flying mishaps/risks as well as serious partying with the 'ratpack' of Hollywood finally caught up with him....the fact that the plane - which was cobbled together from various pieces - was fairly unbalanced and tricky to fly did not help.


I.T.O movies vs books - You really have to read Gann - his books are incredible. He wasnt always happy with the movies made from them - he went as far as to remove his name from the credits of one - and never received royalties. He was also an accomplished sailor and his sailing books are equally good.

[notmyC150v2]

It's not fighter jock stuff but Memphis Belle is a pretty good movie showing what it was like on the receiving end of AA

[KaptinZZ]

I read Fate is the Hunter when I was a brand new commerical pilot; it killed hours lying on an airbed under the wing of a C310 in the bush waiting for the clients to return.

I dug it out again recently and managed to get about half a dozen pages into it before tossing it in the trash can. 20+ years flying jets in various locations around the world changed the perspective enormously.

It is a junk book aimed at learners; they're the only ones who would be impressed by it. My comment would be "He can't be serious!!"

It reminded me of a few crusty old QF captains I came across over the years.

[Capt Wally]

..........tnxs 'missingblade' for the further info on the fate of the Pheonix mythical plane & it's hapless pilot.

Capt Wally:-)

p.s............does anybody passing by here remember that old movie I mentioned "no hwy in the sky"?

[missingblade]

Kaptinzz - Sorry to hear you've become jaded - haven't we all...

However -
Gann is an extraordinarily skilled wordsmith - he puts sentences together like few can, his character descriptions especially are very good. He does sometimes dramatize a bit - I 'll give you that - put the fact is people like him did some of the most risky civil flying of all time.
They opened up the mail routes, the transpacific, transatlantic, himalayas and others. His generation created the airlines. Without radar, navigation facilities, de icing or backup. They were the first and many many of them died. I don't think your average crusty Qantas Captain qualifies when it comes to that kind of thing....civil commercial flying was created by Gann's generation and handed to us all under control and safe and boring.

[Captain Nomad]

Have to concurr with the admiration for Gann's writings. I only have 'Fate is the Hunter' but that book is mighty good reading. Sorry to hear CapZZ that you have changed your mind. Maybe you are forgetting some of the roots to our now very safe and sophisticated industry? Most of our laws were written in blood and Gann knew a lot of people that paid the ultimate price to make the industry better for all of us.

I don't know why he wrote novels as well, he has enough true stories to captivate better than any novel! He is a great writer although some may find his vocabulary and style somewhat old fashioned but that also makes it authentic in my view.

Thanks for the hints on some other good movies - I'll put them on my list of titles to look up next time I'm in the land of milk and honey...! ;)

I do actually have Memphis Belle and Battle of Britain - prefer the latter personally. As for 'The Right Stuff' - yes, one of my all time favourites. Some may not have noticed but the old guy in Pancho's bar is actually Chuck Yeager himself. That is another good book too - 'Yeager' the autobiography. Yet another book to make one marvel at the golden years...(Sigh)! Compadre Bob Hoover's book 'Forever Flying' is also on my bookshelf and is equally captivating. :ok:

[nomorecatering]

How about,

Airport 75 and 77 .........oh dont forget the original one from the 60's.

There was one i saw years ago about a B-47 squadron but cant remember its name. One of those movies they used to show on a sunday avo on tv.

if you really want trash, you could get the BIG Sky series. man i wanna be Jimbo :8

[The Bunglerat]

If memory serves, I think the one with the B-47's was "SAC - Strategic Air Command," with Jimmy Stewart. Also some great footage of those huge Convair B-36's too.

[remoak]

Air America - great scene where they land a single (Pilatus Porter...??) on a very steep strip.

Pearl Harbour - although it was probably mostly cgi.

You Only Live Twice (I think) - BD5J flying through a hangar.

Mosquito Squadron

Battle of Britain gets the prize for me, though.

[scran]

633 Squadron - the Mossie's attacking the factory under an overhang in a fjiord............

[Bobster]

The Final countdown was a terrific movie. Loved the F-14 gun kill or the look on the Japanese pilots faces when the 2 ship F-14's give 'em a rev.

[OhForSure]

Don't know if any of you caught it, but about a year ago there was a show called 'Fighter Pilot' (or words to that effect) at IMax. Whilst the story wasn't particularly moving, the aerial photography was stellar... and seeing it on such a huge screen made the experience come to life, so to speak. I'd encourage anyone who has the chance here or overseas to catch it if you can.

[toolowtoofast]

Cloud Dancer. Pitts flying at its early best.

[David Eyre]

Tora! Tora! Tora! - the 1970 movie about the attack on Pearl Harbour has some excellent scenes. From Wikipedia:
"The "Japanese" aircraft carrier was the Anti-Submarine carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10). The Japanese A6M Zero fighters, and somewhat longer "Kate" torpedo bombers or "Val" dive bombers were heavily modified RCAF Harvard (T-6 Texan) and BT-13 Valiant pilot training aircraft. These aircraft still make appearances at air shows.
The footage of a B-17 Flying Fortress crash was of an actual aircraft that was used in the movie which had problems with a landing gear. Other U.S. aircraft used are the PBY Catalina and P-40 Warhawk. Fiberglass molds were made of a real P-40 used in the filming. The resulting replicas, some with working engines and props, were strafed and blown up during filming.
The flying scenes were complex to shoot, and can be compared to the 1969 film Battle of Britain. The 2001 film Pearl Harbor would contain scenes from both battles.
The carrier entering Pearl Harbor towards the end of the film was in fact the Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LPH-10), returning to port. A sailor onboard the Tripoli recounted that he saw the smoke and fire in the harbor, and the crew did not realize what was going on at first."
Midway a 1976 film about the Battle of Midway was also good.
From Wikipedia:
"The film was shot at the Terminal Island Naval Base, Los Angeles, California, the U.S. Naval Station, Long Beach, California and Pensacola, Florida. The on-board scenes were filmed on the USS Lexington. The Lexington, decommissioned in 1991, was the longest serving carrier in history. It is now a museum ship at Corpus Christi, Texas.
Many of the action sequences used footage from earlier films: most sequences of the Japanese air raids on Midway are stock shots from 20th Century Fox's Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Some scenes are from the Japanese Toho movie "Hawai Middouei daikaikusen: Taiheiyo no arashi" (1960). Several action scenes, including the one where an A6M Zero slams into the Yorktown's bridge, were taken from Away All Boats (1956); scenes of Dolittle's Tokyo raid at the beginning of the film are from Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). In addition, most dogfight sequences come from 1942 newsreels."
The Hunters - a 1958 film about the Korean War jet combat has some fantastic footage of F-86 Sabres and F-84F Thunderstreaks (painted to represent MiG-15s)
The Bridges of Toko-Ri - another great film about US Navy jets in the Korean War was filmed aboard the USS Oriskany (recently sunk as an artificial reef off Florida). It features F9F Panthers, and some great carrier footage.
There are so many other great films...it might help you is you have a look through this list of links to aviation films on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aviation_films
Regards,
David

[Cap'n Arrr]

Flying High. What more needs to be said?:E

Saw a midday movie the other day about some american businessman (can't remember his name, but I'd heard it before) who crashed a B200 into the side of a mountain with most of the family on board. Based on true story. The film is substantially less believable. **** me off after 3 ad breaks, watched the cricket instead!

[HireTheBetter]

Finally... i thought no-one was going to mention this movie.

One of my favourites of all time.

"i picked the wrong week to give up sniffing glue", and

"Johnny, what can you make of this?" "I can make a brooch, a hat, a terridactyl."

Classic slapstick at its best.

HTB :}

[Capn Bloggs]

The first Star Wars: (the good) fighter pilots do it best!

[fulmar]

My personal favourite, and one with the longest title:
“Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (Or: How I flew from London to Paris on 25 hours 11 minutes..)”
Made in 1965 the majority of early aircraft in the movie were flyable. I particularly liked the Avro Triplane of the dastardly Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry Thomas). I can’t recall who made the aircraft- it may have been Personal Plane Services who made the aircraft used in “The Blue Max” – another aviation movie favourite.
Two bits of movie trivia: not a lot of people know this:
Eric Sykes, who played Courtney the servant, is still alive and well today and most recently starred in a Harry Potter movie. And Gert Frobe who played the German Colonel, could barely speak English. So in this movie and also “Goldfinger” his voice was dubbed.
Speaking of “The Battle of Britain” I was actually there when they blew up the hangars during the air raid sequence. As a young ATC cadet we were roped in to give background colour and were able to watch, at a safe distance, the mayhem that ensued. But my main memory of the day was the gravy buns and chips that they served from the catering bus!

[Knackers]

"The Blue Max", with George Peppard and Ursurla Andress was a pretty good film.

[fixa24]

C'mon. Can't believe no-one's mentioned Air America yet... classic..
Iron Eagle for a laugh...:ouch:
Bat 21's not too bad either.. :cool:

But Flying High 1 @ 2 are the best ever.:ok:

[flyboy_33]

I would have to put this film into one of my all time classics.
"Tuskegee Airmen"
Is about Black fliers from America during WWII and what they went through from getting into the flight program to being shafted along the way. I know there is historical content in the film along with the typical hollywood crap but is a true eye opener of how racist our forefathers could be. Glad things are changing for the better. They had some great pilots and the interesting fact that they lost no bomber crew while flying bomber escort (according to thefilm) is proof that they can certainly hold their own.

Just my two cents

Cheers
Flyboy33

[Animalclub]

I digress a little.

In the 70's E.K. Gann's brother was the historian for the Douglas Aircraft Co based at Long Beach California... yet he couldn't guide me to any book written about the DC3!

No Highway in the Sky was written by Neville Shute Norway before the Comet troubles. Neville has written other books that more or less predict the future (e.g. What Happened to the Corbetts; Pied Piper). I only hope that "On the Beach" doesn't come to pass!

[gaunty]

If my memory serves me correctly the movie The High and the Mighty is based on real experience that Gann had with the aircraft at the end of his airline career, it's in Fate is the Hunter It was a "new" type of plug problem.

[Crosshair]

The other problem with "The High and the Mighty" (the film) is the depiction of the Chinese passenger.

If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

Jesus H. Christ.

[Pinky the pilot]

Cannot remember the name of the movie, a drama not a documentary, but saw it many years ago at the local 'passion pit.' (Drive In, now long closed)

Concerned an aircraft which crashed and accident investigation eventually discovered that a spilled cup of coffee caused erroneous indications of engine failure!!:eek::uhoh:

[BPH63]

I think it was Fate is the Hunter : (see plot summary) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_Is_the_Hunter_(film (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_Is_the_Hunter_%28film))

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Capricorn 1-good scenes with the two hughes 500s and the Stearman.
Flight of the Intruder
Always-The start always gets me. Two guys in a boat:}
The Rocketeer

[KRUSTY 34]

Pinky,

That was actually the movie "version" of Fate is the Hunter! released in around 1964 with Rod Taylor and Glenn Ford. The aircraft in question was I think the prototype Caravelle, complete with test data nose probe.

Very little like the book I'm afraid, but maybe the book was unfilmable anyway.

The Captain, Jack Savage played by Rod Taylor, natural aviator, supremely confident, capable and unflappable. Has an engine failure after ingesting birds on takeoff, shuts her down and heads back to the departure airfield. Then an engine "fire" in the remaining live engine. Uh oh! Sees a long beach in the darkness, and attempts to put her down! mmm.. Anyway, didn't realise there was a pier halfway along, and BAM. Blue ribbon crash was the term used!

During the investigation, no fault could be found in the engine that Captain Savage shut down. The rest of the movie centres around Glenn Ford's character Sam Mcbane the airline executive, old Airforce buddy of Jack and completely opposite personality, trying to find the cause and clear his dead friends name.

After numerous dead ends, Sam is left with the conclusion that a combination of random events "Fate" was the only possible reason for the crash. In a last ditch effort to solve the mystery, they decide to repeat the flight in every possible detail. The one sole survivor of the crash, a flight attendant was convinced to come along. She placed a cup of coffee on the centre console just as she did for Jack prior to the birdstrike.

[hoggsnortrupert]

I am fond of the BLUE MAX, & THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES::D:D:D
These ones caught my imagination as a kid:
Together with:ChittiChittiBangBang: a car that was Earth/Water And Sky mobile!:cool::cool::cool:
Grandad so English in his Phone Booth/Shed.:):)
And "Truely Scrumptous"! Would love to give her a jolly good !!!!!!! "time".:E:E :E
Chr's
H/Snort
PS: Books: The Big Show does it for me!:ok:

[Pinky the pilot]

Krusty; Thanks for that.:ok: I agree it's nothing like the book, which I have in a shelf not 6' away. I'd actually hate to see Hollywood try to do a version of it as they'd probably turn it into crap!
And BPH63, Clicked on that link and what came up stated that there was nothing listed with that title!!:confused:

[KRUSTY 34]

No worries pinky.

do a search for the "Internet movie database". Type in Fate is the Hunter and it will give you the details of the 1964 movie.

[THE ORACLE]

Hi Krusty ol mate......
The thing I find interesting about the movie 'Fate is the Hunter' is that Ernie Gann was hired as the screen writer for the script (as he was for a number of successful films), however, in this case as he said in his autobiography 'Hostage to Fortune' the film was hijacked by Hollywood and the final product was less than successful.

For those of us that like aeroplanes with round engines, I think 'The Crowded Sky' is a hoot. It was made in 1960 and the acting is as wooden as a forest of trees, but is does have some good footage of DC7 airliner operations immediately before the Jet age. Now that I think of it the same could be said in every respect about the original 'Airport' movie (1970) showing B707 and DC8 airline action.

'Animalclub', if you do a bit of research I think you'll find the Mr. Gann who chronicled the Douglas Aircraft history was not related to Ernie Gann!!

[KRUSTY 34]

Gidday ORACLE,

The scene from the High and Mighty where John Wayne "Comunicates" with Robert Stack has been incorporated into our company CRM course!

Absolute crack up. People skills at it's best.

[THE ORACLE]

Krusty....check your PMs.

[MCKES]

I was walking past Big W on Thursday night and saw Flying high and the Blue Max for sale for $8 each. I had seen the Blue Max before,a great movie except amazingly those germans can all speak fluent english? But as for Flying High :} it was gold an absolute crack up. The part where the FA is "blowing up" the autopilot and he starts smiling and his head starts moving was hilarious.
:)

[ScottyDoo]

I dug it out again recently and managed to get about half a dozen pages into it before tossing it in the trash can. 20+ years flying jets in various locations around the world changed the perspective enormously.


I totally agree. That book was amazing the first time I read it. Not so good the second time and sugary dross on the third attempt.

BAT21 had some great and realistic flying scenes. Why? No CGI and there was a real pilot flying out of sight in RHS while Danny Glover "flew" from LHS. The SPAD scenes had some of the best aerial cinematography every filmed.

Flight of the Intruder is also pretty good and he book is even better. A true pilot's tale.

[Roost]

I seen an air race movie years ago, and it had some great footage of the air race purpose built machines. I think on was called a comet, can anyone come up with the movie name, would like to see it again.

[Capt Wally]

.............seeing as some are asking about movies from times gone by.

Does anyone in here remember the name of the movie portraying the Wright Bros first trial flights at Kittyhawk Kill Devils ( I think it was) sand dunes? Gives a good (hollywood version) insight of their trials & tribulations to getting the Wright Flyer airborne.

Capt Wally :-)

[apache]

BOOKS ?
The Dam Busters
Reach for the Sky(bio on Douglas Bader)
fighter general (bio on Adolf Galland)
Night fighters (i think this is the title)
Pierre Clostermanns bio(dunno the title!)

Movies ?
SPITFIRE (starring David Niven) - excellent
Dam Busters (codeword N_ _ _ _ R)
633 Squadron
Austin Powers (gotta LOVE that 747!!!)
Air Force One
Flying Leathernecks - John Wayne at his truly worst:sad:
Space Cowboys also gets a laugh from me

[gassed budgie]

Pierre Clostermanns bio(dunno the title!)
The Big Show.....excellent read.

[Pinky the pilot]

Another book; 'Fly for your Life.' Biography of R R Stanford Tuck. (Bob Tuck)

[corowacomet]

Fairly lighthearted book but a great read; Flight of Passage by Rinker Buck. Quite a remarkable story really of two young brothers, circa 16 crossing America east to west in a Cub they rebuilt.
Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine De Saint-Exupery has to be up there as one of the classics as well.
The Comet.

[Stationair8]

I Flew For MMA by Reg Adkins
A very good perspective of doing the hard yards in WA