"Skyward" - GE Aviation Theater for TV. Starred Bette Davis & Suzy Gilstrap with Ron Howard as the director (his first), I believe).
"Skyward" - GE Aviation Theater for TV. Starred Bette Davis & Suzy Gilstrap with Ron Howard as the director (his first), I believe).
I'm lying on the couch watching Real Time with Bill Maher and it suddenly occurs to me that I've just remembered 2 great ones that somehow didn't get into the cerebellum until just now: Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" and "Catch-22"- the best satirical, anti-war movie with B-25's in it ever made.
Well, disagree with some, agree with others, still others, it's been so long since I've seen 'em, I can't vote either way.Originally Posted by Floatsflyer
Wouldn't include "Air Force" as a high-scoring film. It basically was a WWII propaganda movie... well done, but the plot pretty dated. Technical accuracy... well, eight words: "Shooting Fifty Caliber Machine Guns from the Hip".
"Hell's Angels" is another example... the plot is pretty silly, and the acting is the overacting style that was left over from silent films.. But it is rescued by the amount of aerial action, and the filming of the dogfight scenes. It's also the source of that famous photo of Rosco Turner getting "photobombed" while having his picture taken next to the "Gotha." (Another pilot giving the finger from under the fuselage. I'd post it, but Hal would probably whack me).
As mentioned earlier, "Captains of the Clouds" deserves a good spot just for including the real Billy Bishop in the cast. However, much of the plot is just the usual romantic conflict.
Ron Wanttaja
Agree with you on both. I think "The Aviator" is a very underrated flick (Scorsese's film, not the ~1980s Christopher Reeve butchering of Gann's story). Also enjoy "Catch-22".
B-25s are fairly rare in modern war movies. One to consider (though it has no flying) is "Sole Survivor," which uses the "Lady Be Good" saga as inspiration. Stars Richard Basehart and William Shatner. Interesting psychological story.
Ron Wanttaja
It'll probably never make it on to DVD, but it does show up on TV from time to time. Blaze of Noon is based the Ernie Gann book. The movie, about 4 brothers that are airmail pilots, actually follows the book pretty close.
Someday I'll come up with something profound to put here.
I remember that scene in Magnificent Men wherein the old heiress tries to get the dashing young pilot interested in her niece. First she asks him if he is available on Tuesday. To which he replies, "I have an evening of brandy and cigars at the Club." Then she asks about Thursday. "I cannot. I play golf on Thursday." Exasperated, she inquires about Sunday. "Madam", he forcibly states, "Sunday is for flying!"
Blackhawk Down, while not entirely an aviation film, is one of the most accurate portrayals there is, down to the very airframes, and in some cases the pilots themselves.
Of course, I am biased a bit towards Army Aviation!
NSDQ!
High and the Mighty, Islands in the Sky, Top Gun and Air America. It's about the flying, not the chicks and not the vintage airplanes.
Air America and Flight of the Intruder had some good Vietnam-era airplane porn. Great Skyraider scenes in Flight of the Intruder.
Ryan Winslow
EAA 525529
Stinson 108-1 "Big Red", RV-7 under construction
Both great films IMHO. The EAA AirVenture Museum has a direct connection to Catch-22: our B-25 was used in the filming! At that time it was in a camouflage paint scheme and called "Berlin Express." Here's a photo I found of it online (with credit to Richard Kamm and August Horvath):
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