Sole Survivor (1970 film)
Encyclopedia
Sole Survivor is a TV movie written by Guerdon Trueblood and directed by Paul Stanley. It starred Richard Basehart
, William Shatner
, and Vince Edwards
. The film is loosely based on the discovery, in 1959, of the remains of a B-24 Liberator
bomber, "Lady Be Good
" in the Libya
n desert, which crashed following a bombing raid on Naples
in 1943.
The Twilight Zone
TV series episode entitled "King Nine Will Not Return
" had a similar storyline, and was also based the discovery of the "Lady Be Good".
While returning from a World War II bombing mission, a US Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell
bomber sustains damage from action with German fighters. Without any order to abandon the aircraft, the navigator, Hamner (Basehart), panics and bails out. The aircraft, now lost due to having no navigator, and the remaining crew overfly their base and continue on for another 700 miles before eventually crash landing in the Libyan desert.
The five remaining crewman survive the landing and, convinced they are close to their base, strike out across the desert only to die of exposure after several days beneath the relentless African sun.
Main plot
The ghosts have made their way back to the wreckage of the aircraft where they have spent the next seventeen years in a type of limbo state, playing baseball and longing for repatriation back to their home country, which can only occur if their bodies are recovered.
The plane is finally spotted by an oil surveying aircraft, which reports the discovery back to the US Air Force. Seeing the survey plane and realizing that they are soon about to 'have visitors', the five remaining crew members' ghosts begin returning the plane to its state at the time of the crash, putting objects and artifacts in their original positions in hopes of convincing their visitors they had stayed with the plane and hopefully inducing them to search for their bodies.
Having survived the crash, Hamner, who had remained in the military after the war and is now an Air Force brigadier general, accompanies the team sent to investigate the remains of the B-25. Fearing disciplinary action and the end of his military career should the truth of his cowardice be found out, he tries to convince his fellow investigators that the entire crew bailed out over the Mediterranean with him and that the pilotless plane somehow flew on by itself. Although the discovery of Gant's harmonica indicates that the crew did not bail out over the sea, the bodies are nowhere to be seen.
Unable to find evidence to the contrary, the team has no choice but to accept Hamner's explanation and is about to leave when the ghosts of the crew make their appearance to an inebriated Hamner, leading him to flee in panic across the desert in a jeep. Followed by his colleagues (among them William Shatner), who are intent on preventing the man from injuring himself, the chase ends with them arriving at the scene of an abandoned liferaft (the crew having abandoned the plane in the darkness and convinced they were still over open water) and the bodies of most of the dead crew, making it clear the truth behind Hamner's bailout of the aircraft and his apparent cowardice obvious.
In the end, the ghost of each crewman suddenly vanishes as their bodies are recovered, their spirit apparently forced to accompany their remains back to the United States. The exception being Tony, who had returned to the plane only to die when the tail section dropped on him. Hamner is the sole survivor from the crew and Tony is the sole survivor of the ghosts. The film ends with a solitary Tony at the plane, but also a glimmer of hope as the pilot's log is found, mentioning Tony's return to the plane. One final visit to the crash site is decided upon.
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
, William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, and Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards
Vince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
. The film is loosely based on the discovery, in 1959, of the remains of a B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
bomber, "Lady Be Good
Lady be Good (aircraft)
Lady Be Good was an American B-24D Liberator, AAF serial number 41-24301, which flew for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Based at Soluch Field in Soluch as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, it failed to return from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples,...
" in the Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n desert, which crashed following a bombing raid on Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in 1943.
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
TV series episode entitled "King Nine Will Not Return
King Nine Will Not Return
"King Nine Will Not Return" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:The World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber King Nine has crashed in the desert. Captain James Embry finds himself stranded, alone except for the wreckage and the mystery of what happened to...
" had a similar storyline, and was also based the discovery of the "Lady Be Good".
Plot
Back storyWhile returning from a World War II bombing mission, a US Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
bomber sustains damage from action with German fighters. Without any order to abandon the aircraft, the navigator, Hamner (Basehart), panics and bails out. The aircraft, now lost due to having no navigator, and the remaining crew overfly their base and continue on for another 700 miles before eventually crash landing in the Libyan desert.
The five remaining crewman survive the landing and, convinced they are close to their base, strike out across the desert only to die of exposure after several days beneath the relentless African sun.
Main plot
The ghosts have made their way back to the wreckage of the aircraft where they have spent the next seventeen years in a type of limbo state, playing baseball and longing for repatriation back to their home country, which can only occur if their bodies are recovered.
The plane is finally spotted by an oil surveying aircraft, which reports the discovery back to the US Air Force. Seeing the survey plane and realizing that they are soon about to 'have visitors', the five remaining crew members' ghosts begin returning the plane to its state at the time of the crash, putting objects and artifacts in their original positions in hopes of convincing their visitors they had stayed with the plane and hopefully inducing them to search for their bodies.
Having survived the crash, Hamner, who had remained in the military after the war and is now an Air Force brigadier general, accompanies the team sent to investigate the remains of the B-25. Fearing disciplinary action and the end of his military career should the truth of his cowardice be found out, he tries to convince his fellow investigators that the entire crew bailed out over the Mediterranean with him and that the pilotless plane somehow flew on by itself. Although the discovery of Gant's harmonica indicates that the crew did not bail out over the sea, the bodies are nowhere to be seen.
Unable to find evidence to the contrary, the team has no choice but to accept Hamner's explanation and is about to leave when the ghosts of the crew make their appearance to an inebriated Hamner, leading him to flee in panic across the desert in a jeep. Followed by his colleagues (among them William Shatner), who are intent on preventing the man from injuring himself, the chase ends with them arriving at the scene of an abandoned liferaft (the crew having abandoned the plane in the darkness and convinced they were still over open water) and the bodies of most of the dead crew, making it clear the truth behind Hamner's bailout of the aircraft and his apparent cowardice obvious.
In the end, the ghost of each crewman suddenly vanishes as their bodies are recovered, their spirit apparently forced to accompany their remains back to the United States. The exception being Tony, who had returned to the plane only to die when the tail section dropped on him. Hamner is the sole survivor from the crew and Tony is the sole survivor of the ghosts. The film ends with a solitary Tony at the plane, but also a glimmer of hope as the pilot's log is found, mentioning Tony's return to the plane. One final visit to the crash site is decided upon.
Cast
- Vince EdwardsVince EdwardsVince Edwards was an American actor, director, and singer, best known for the roles of TV doctor "Ben Casey", and Maj. Cliff Bricker in the 1968 war film The Devil's Brigade.-Early life:...
as Maj Michael Devlin - Richard BasehartRichard BasehartJohn Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
as Brig Gen Russell Hamner - William ShatnerWilliam ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
as Lt Col Josef Gronke - Lou AntonioLou AntonioLou Antonio is an American actor and TV director best known for performing in the films Cool Hand Luke and America, America...
as Tony - Lawrence P. Casey as Gant
- Dennis Cooney as Brandy
- Brad David as Elmo
- Patrick WaynePatrick WaynePatrick John Morrison, better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne , is an American actor, the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films in his career, including nine with his father...
as Mac - Alan CaillouAlan CaillouAlan Caillou was the nom de plume of Alan Samuel Lyle-Smythe M.B.E., M.C. , an author, actor, screenwriter, soldier, policeman and professional hunter.-Biography:...
as Corey - Timur Bashtu as Beddo
- Noah KeenNoah KeenNoah Keen is an American film and television actor.He has made many guest appearances television series such as The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason, The Eleventh Hour, Judd for the Defense, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, The Mod Squad, and The Rockford Files...
as MG Schurm - Ian AbercrombieIan AbercrombieIan Abercrombie is an English actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes' boss Justin Pitt during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and as a fastidious butler on Desperate Housewives.-Biography:He is the cousin of John Abercrombie, a jazz guitarist of...
as British co-pilot - David Cannon as Capt Patrick
- John WinstonJohn Winston (actor)John Winston is an English actor best known for his appearances as Lieutenant Kyle, the Transporter Chief on Star Trek: The Original Series. Currently, he resides in North Hollywood.- Filmography :...
as British pilot - Julie Bennett as Amanda
- Bart Burns as Older Senator
- Vin ScullyVin ScullyVincent Edward Scully is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team on Prime Ticket, KCAL-TV and KABC radio...
as himself (voice of a Los Angeles DodgersLos Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
baseball game heard on radio)
Distribution
The film premiered on television on 9 January 1970. It has never been released on VHS or DVD, though some low quality copies do exist and appear from time to time on online auction sites. As of the year 2010, a downloadable version could be found on Google Video (see external link below).External links
- Sole Survivor on Google Video
- Sole Survivor on DVD