The Great Waldo Pepper
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The Great Waldo Pepper
I have a movie but I can't remember its name.
It's about two guys that were to ferry 2 planes somewhere over the Pacific.
They flew to Hawaii as a stop point.
One plane ditched on take off and the other continued on only to get lost.
He was assisted by an airliner who got him back to land.
Great aviation drama and I think it was a true story.
Anyone seen it and can recall the name?
I'm betting it was Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771, starring Scott Bakula and Robert Loggia:
http://www.allmy.nl/movieimg/12073/M...771_(1993).jpg
I can't believe that no one has mentioned the B-29 film, The Last Flight of Noah's Ark. I believe it was Kermit Weeks Fertile Myrtle used for the flying scenes.
What???? No mention of Baa Baa Blacksheep? Sky King? Poncho Barnes? Midway? Tora Tora Tora? Pearl Harbor? Flat Top? Spitfire?
I lost my recording of Tailspin (1939). Anyone got a copy?
Airport, Airport 75 (this one made me believe every 747 pilot looked like Ephram Zimbalist Jr and smoked a pipe) and Terror in the Sky...a made for TV movie with Doug McClure (he plays a passenger who has to land an airliner who's crew got sick because they had fish instead of chicken...only he "flew helicopters in the war, never anything like this!!!" Sound familiar?)
Zack, if you like "Dark Blue World" then you'll find favor in the movie "Mission of Honor."Quote:
Originally Posted by Zack Baughman
I thought the movie "The Hindenburg" was worthy of mention.
Doug Mcclure? How about "Flight of the Birdmen" a movie based around the Colditz Cock, a glider constructed by POW's and intended to be launched off of the roof of the castle. The real one never flew, but in the movie...Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobrob
Kyle, I was just about to ask about that movie but wasn't the title "Escape of the Birdmen"?
And has anyone mentioned "Flyboys"? That's a favorite of mine.
The WORST aviation movie I started to watch was "Air Strike" with Bruce Willis. It was so bad I couldn't get through the first half.
Sure was. Still a good POW flick.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronald Franck
Aww, c’mon guys it’s got to be 12 O’Clock High. Any movie that starts with the cranking of an R1820 is gotta win. Not to mention the Paul Mantz belly landing; and he wasn’t supposed to hit the tent. And who wouldn’t want the Robin Hood tankard on their man cave mantel????
Great movie. Love the segue into and out of WWII.Quote:
Originally Posted by Airmutt
The High and the Mighty is a personal favorite, given that John Wayne whistles "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech" after a climatic moment.
Since we're all 'homebuilders" here then one of our favorite fellow EAA members and action hero, Harrison Ford should rank pretty high with his movie "6 Days and 7 Nights."
I mean, come on, who else could drag a float from a derelict Japanese WWII aircraft out of the jungle, slap it onto a wrecked Beaver and fly it back to civilization?
1965 Flight of the Phoenix... the movie Paul Mantz gave his life for...
https://youtu.be/V0hIoLNecqI
1938 Test Pilot... Clark Gabel Spencer Tracy Myrna Loy
https://youtu.be/6iIQ076uiEE
1943 Air Force... The film's storyline revolves around the actual incident that occurred on December 7 so this movie will give you a feeling what America was up against...
https://youtu.be/_Xyol4b9Law
Talk about stars: Bridges of Tokyo Ri not only has William Holden as the mature lawyer from Denver who is called up from his private life and practice, to fly off a carrier to attack in Korea, but no less than Grace Kelley as the wife left at home, they don't come any more beautiful than that. William Holden also stars in one of my other most favorite movies, of the Robin Hood/King Arthur era as Ivanhoe . this time with Liz Taylor as the heroine. I had a friend who actually flew off the Bon Homne Richard to attack in Korea and got his wing man shot down and made it back to the carrier with major engine damage.
Not to mention Fredrick March, Earl Holliman, and, of course, Mickey Rooney in one of his few serious/non-satirical adult roles. Plays a pilot, even.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood
Holden has another major role as a pilot... he plays a test pilot with PTSD in "Toward the Unknown." They filmed that movie at Edwards in the early '50s, and there are a lot of interesting prototypes shown.
Ron Wanttaja
Dive Bomber is a worthwhile watch too. Beautiful pre-WWII paint schemes.
I am glad this thread came back to life. I mentioned before using certain films for leadership training. The High and Mighty, a favorite among some here, is also THE classic training film for "Crew Resource Management.":D
Obviously there are no Naval Aviators on this thread. No one has mentioned Wings of Eagles. John Wayne did a much better job in this film. The sequence where he goes over the side is pretty darn good. NO CAKE!
12 o'clock High is probably best but Thunder Birds is corny but neat scenes of dozens (hundreds?) of Stearman. Gene Tierney isn't too hard to look at either :)
Agree with most of these. An obvious omissions, First of the Few: Story of RJ Mitchell & the Spitfire.
Not an aviation movie per se, but I get a good belly laugh every time I see Truman Sparks flying scenes in the movie "Fandago."
There's been a heck of a lot of good aviation movies, a few great ones (most of which are already mentioned in this thread), and a few duds (also mentioned in this thread). But there are two that I find myself watching again and again:
The Great Waldo Pepper - already mentioned several times in this thread. There's just something about this flick that brings me back to it time and time again.
Deadly Encounter - Stars Larry Hagman, Susan Anspach, and James Gammon. There is some absolutely amazing, over-the-top helicopter flying in this one. Rotorheads need to see it!!
Speaking of eggbeater movies, I also recall "Birds of Prey", with David Janssen (1973). Traffic reporter sees bank robbers escaping by helicopter and gives chase.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joda
Ron Wanttaja
Yep, Birds of Prey isn't bad, but it's not as good as Deadly Encounter.Quote:
Originally Posted by rwanttaja
Mine is Midway.
Not to repeat what has been said....Failsafe, Dr Strangelove, Flight of the Intruder
Kinda funny...this thread is so old, I had to skim back to check if I'm repeating stuff I've already posted.
"Star of Africa" was available on Amazon Prime, not sure if it still is. It's a 1957 German film ("Der Stern von Afrika"), a biopic about one of their top WWII aces, Hans-Joachim Marseille. The aircraft effects are variable, from obvious models to ground shots featuring Spanish ME-109s (same ones eventually used in the Battle of Britain movie).
Another neat movie I found on Amazon Prime is "Resisting Enemy Interrogation." There's only a slight bit of stock flying footage in there, but it's actually a pretty good fictional story, about how German intelligence officers piece together information from shot-down American airmen.
Ron Wanttaja
I had to go back also, how time flies...surprised I remembered my login.
Tailspin was mentioned a few times, along with Tarnished Angels it gets shown on TCM now & again. Great vintage racers in both.
Here's a list of the movies I found mentioned so far in this thread. Vim (the text editor) says there are 102 lines:
12 O'Clock High
6 Days and 7 Nights
633 Squadron
A Guy Named Joe
A gathering of Eagles
Above and Beyond
Air America
Air Force
Air Strike
Airplane
Airport
Airport 75
Always
Baa Baa Blacksheep
Barnstorming
Battle of Brittain
Birds of Prey
Blackhawk Down
Blaze of Noon
Blue Max
Blue Thunder
Captains of the Clouds
Carnauba: a Son's Memoir
Catch-22
Cloud Dancer
Dark Blue World
Deadly Encounter
Death Hunt
Dive Bomber
Dr Strangelove
Escape of the Birdmen
Failsafe
Fandago
Fighter Squadron
Final Countdown
First of the Few
Flat Top
Flight of the Intruder
Flight of the Phoenix
Flyboys
Flying Route 66
For the Moment
Hell's Angels
High Road to China
Iron Eagle
Island in the Sky
Ladies Crave Excitement
Le Chavaliers du Ciel
Memphis Belle
Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771
Midway
Mission of Honor
One Six Right
Only Angels Have Wings
Pancho Barnes
Pearl Harbor
Piece of Cake
Reach for the Sky
Resisting Enemy Interrogation
Ripcords
Sky King
Skyward
Soldier of Orange
Spitfire
Star of Africa
Steve Canyon
Strategic Air Command
Tail Spin
Tarnished Angels
Task Force
Test Pilot
The Arrow
The Aviator
The Blue Max
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
The Dam Busters
The Defender
The Great Circle Air Safari
The Great Waldo Pepper
The High and the Mighty
The Hindenburg
The Hunters
The Last Flight of Noah's Ark
The McConnell Story
The Pilot
The Right Stuff
The Rocketeer
The Spirit of St. Louis
The War Lover
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Thunder Birds
Thunder Over Reno
Top Gun
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Toward the Unknown
Tuskegee Airmen
Waldo Pepper
Whirly Birds
Winged Migration
Wings
Wings of Eagles
Zero Hour
American Made with Tom Cruise
Saved... thanks for compiling the list...
American Made is a total hoot!! VERY ficntionalized version of a true story. Lots of fun, and a bit sad at the same time.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve
Favorite line:
Lucy: "There's money blowing around the back yard."
Barry: "I'll rake it up in the morning."
Hilarious!!
Just remembered another Murphy's War with Peter O'toole. The scenes of Peter O'toole taxing are real he was terrified!
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067458/
"The High and the Mighty."
Reason I became a pilot.
Song also.
Jake Speed
AIRPLANE!!! And don't call me Shirley.
Flight 174,
True story.
Lafayette Escadrille
It was the final film in the career of director William A. Wellman and is based on his original story as a 1917 fighter pilot.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...d_Nieuport.jpg
https://youtu.be/mDi-Y22c1f8
The absolute WORST aviation movie EVER:
“Flight Surgeons”, 1930’s staring Errol Flynn.
Wearing ridiculous smocks.
And they are all CONSTANTLY SMOKING CIGARETTES!! LMAO!