Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines
Encyclopedia
Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman
and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin
. Based on a screenplay titled Flying Crazy, the story is set in 1910, when Lord Rawnsley, an English press magnate, offers £10,000 to the winner of the Daily Post air race from London to Paris, to prove that Britain is "number one in the air".
had been interested in aviation from his early years when Sir Alan Cobham
gave him a flight in a biplane
. With co-writer Jack Davies, Annakin had been working on an adventure film about transatlantic flights when the producer's bankruptcy aborted the production. Fresh from his role as director of the British exterior segments in The Longest Day
(1962), Annakin suggested an event from early aviation to Darryl F. Zanuck
, his producer on The Longest Day.
Zanuck paid for an epic faithful to the era, deciding the name Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines after Elmo Williams, managing director of 20th Century Fox in Europe, told him his wife had written an opening for a song that Annakin complained would "seal the fate of the movie":
, the Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines song went on to a life of its own, released in singles and on the soundtrack record.
Annakin was born in 1914, just as the era of aviation depicted in this movie was ending, and though the movie is a farce, the behaviour of the various aviators depicts the tensions between the European countries prior to the First World War
.
and featuring American comedian Red Skelton
depicting a recurring character whose adventures span the centuries, in a series of silent blackout
vignettes that incorporate stock footage
of unsuccessful attempts at early aircraft. The French pilot Pierre Dubois, played by Jean-Pierre Cassel
is seen receiving information about an aerial race for international competitors.
Sarah Miles
plays the daughter of Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley
), a newspaper magnate whose favourite to win is his daughter's fiancé, Richard Mays (James Fox
), flying an Antoinette monoplane. Rawnsley sums up: "The trouble with these international affairs is they attract foreigners." An international cast plays the array of contestants, most of whom live up to national stereotypes, including the by-the-book, monocle-wearing Prussian officer (Gert Fröbe
) flying an Eardley-Billing biplane, impetuous Count Emilio Ponticelli (Alberto Sordi
), an amorous Frenchman (Cassel) in a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, the rugged American cowboy Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman
) flying a Bristol Boxkite
(impersonating a Curtiss
), who falls for Rawnsley's daughter Patricia, who was also Richard Mays' girlfriend, causing a love triangle
.
Terry-Thomas
plays the cheating Sir Percival Ware-Armitage, an Avro Triplane-flying rogue who "never leaves anything to chance". With his bullied servant Courtney (Eric Sykes
), he sabotages other aircraft or drugs their pilots, getting his comeuppance . The race sets out with 14 competitors but one by one they drop out until, after stops at Dover and Calais, only a few land in Paris. Orvil Newton loses his chance to win when he stops to rescue Emilio Ponticelli from his burning aircraft. Richard Mays wins for Britain, but insists on a tie with Orvill Newton and sharing the prize with the now-bankrupt Newton. The final scene shows Orvil and Patricia kissing, then being interrupted by a strange noise. Those at the flying field look up to see a fly past by six English Electric Lightning
s overhead, as the narrator notes that the jet can make the trip in minutes. But then the film shows a fogbound airport as a cancellation is announced. One frustrated passenger turns out to be Skelton, who starts wing-flapping motions with his arms, cutting back into the animation from the title sequence for the closing credits
.
, Eric Sykes
, Terry-Thomas
and Tony Hancock
provided madcap misadventures; Hancock had broken his leg prior to filming and Annakin wrote it into the story. The two lead actors, Stuart Whitman and Sarah Miles
fell out early in the production. Director Ken Annakin commented that "she hated his guts", and rarely deigned to speak to him if it wasn't part of the script. Annakin had to employ various manipulations in order to ensure the production proceeded smoothly despite his stars' animosity towards each other.
Another aspect was the fluid writing and directing with Annakin and Davies feeding off each other. They had worked together on Very Important Person
(1961), The Fast Lady
(1962), and Crooks Anonymous
(1962). Annakin and Davies continued to develop the script with zany interpretations. When the German character, Gert Fröbe
, contemplates piloting his country's entry, he climbs into the cockpit and retrieves a manual. Annakin and Davies devised a quip on the spot, having him read out: "No. 1. Sit down." .
Although a comedy, elements of Annakin's documentary background were evident with authentic sets, props and costumes. More than 2,000 extras out in authentic costumes were in the climactic race launch.
) where early aviators staged test flights. All Brookley's associated trappings of structures, aircraft and vehicles (including a rare 1908 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
estimated to be worth 50 million dollars ) were part of the Booker Airfield set, High Wycombe
, Buckinghamshire, England. The completed set featured a windmill as a lookout tower as well as serving as a restaurant (the "Old Mill Cafe"). Hangars were constructed in rows, bearing the names of real and fictional manufacturers: A.V. Roe
& Co., The Bristol
: The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Humber
, Sopwith, Vickers
, Ware-Armitage Manufacturing CoY (sic), and Works. A grandstand was added for spectators.
When the production was unable to obtain rights to film main sequences over Paris, models of the aircraft and a miniature Parisian set played a prominent role in sequences depicting Paris. A mock-up of Calais was also constructed. Interior and studio sets at Pinewood Studios were used for bluescreen and special effects while exterior and interior footage of Rawnsley's Manor House was shot at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. Other principal photography utilized location shooting at Dover Castle
along with the cliffs and beaches in the area. The location where Sir Percy's aircraft lands on a train is the now closed line from Bedford to Hitchin
. The tunnel into which they fly is the Old Warden Tunnel
near the village of the same name in Bedfordshire
; the tunnel had only recently been closed, and in the panning shot through the railway cutting, the cooling towers of the now demolished Bedford
power station can be seen. The locomotive is former Highland Railway Jones Goods Class
No 103. About 1910, French Railways built duplicates of a Highland Railway Class "The Castles" which were a passenger version of the Jones Goods.
by Christopher Challis. Royal Air Force
Air Commodore
Allen H. Wheeler was head technical consultant during planning. Wheeler had previously restored a 1900 era Bleriot
with his son, and provided invaluable assistance in the restoration and recreation of period aircraft for the film.
The camera platforms included a modified Citroen
sedan, camera trucks, helicopters and a flying rig constructed by Dick Parker. Parker had built it for model sequences in Strategic Air Command
(1955); the rig was two construction cranes and a hydraulically operated device to tilt and position a model, along with 200 ft of cables. Parker's rig allowed actors to sit inside full-scale models suspended 50 ft above the ground, yet provide safety and realism for staged flying sequences. A further hydraulic platform did away with matte shots of aircraft in flight. The platform was large enough to mount an aircraft and Parker or stunt pilots could manipulate its controls for realistic bluescreen sequences. Composite photography was used when scenes called for difficult shots; these were completed at Pinewood Studios
. Some shots were created with rudimentary cockpits and noses grafted to an Alouette helicopter. One scene over Paris was staged with small models when Paris refused an overflight. However, for the majority of flying scenes, full-scale flying movie models were assembled.
, monoplane
s, biplane
s and also Horatio Phillips's 20-winged multiplane from 1904. Air Commodore Wheeler insisted on authentic materials but allowed the use of modern engines and modifications necessary to ensure safety. Of 20 types built in 1964 at £5,000 pounds each, six could fly, flown by six stunt pilots and maintained by 14 mechanics. The race takeoff scene where seven aircraft are in the air at once included a composite addition. Flying conditions were monitored with aerial scenes filmed before 10am or in early evening when the air was least turbulent, for the replicas, true to the originals, were flimsy - and control, especially in the lateral plane, tended to be marginal. If the weather was poor, interiors or other incidental sequences were substituted. Wheeler eventually served not only as the technical adviser but also as the aerial supervisor throughout the production and later wrote a comprehensive background account of the film and the replicas that were constructed to portray period aircraft.
The following competitors were listed:
While each aircraft was an accurate reproduction, some "impersonated" other types. For instance, The Phoenix Flyer was a Bristol Boxkite
built by F.G. Miles Engineering Co.
at Ford, Sussex, representing a typical American biplane of 1910. Annakin had apparently expressed a desire to have a Wright Flyer
in the film. The Bristol (a British derivative of the French 1909 Farman
biplane) was chosen instead because it shared a common general layout with a Wright
or Curtiss pusher
biplane of the era, and had an excellent reputation for tractability. For the impersonation, the replica had "The Phoenix Flyer" painted on its outer rudder surfaces and was also called a "Gruber-Newton Flyer" adding the name of its primary backer to the nomenclature; although the American pilot character, Orvil Newton inaccurately describes his aircraft to Patricia Rawnsley as a "Curtiss
with an Anzani engine."
F G Miles
, chiefly responsible for its design and manufacture, built the replica Bristol Boxkite with the original standard twin rudder installation and powered the replica with a 65 hp Rolls-Royce A65. In the course of testing, Air Commodore Wheeler had a third rudder inserted between the other two (as did some original Boxkites) to improve directional control, and replaced the first engine with a Rolls-Royce C90
that barely delivered the power of the original 50 hp Gnome
rotary
, and provided a 45 mph top speed. The Boxkite was tractable and the scene in the story when the aircraft loses a pair of main wheels just after takeoff but lands smoothly was repeated 20 times for the cameras. In the penultimate flying scene, a stuntman was carried in the Boxkite's undercarriage and carried out a fall and roll (the stunt had to be repeated to match the principal actor's roll and revival). Slapstick stunts on the ground and in the air were a major element and often the directors requested repeated stunts; the stuntmen were more than accommodating – it meant more pay.
The Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane replica flown by David Watson appeared in two guises, as the German pilot's aircraft, in more or less authentic form, impersonating an early German tractor biplane, as well as the Japanese pilot's mount, modified with boxkite-like side curtains over the interplane strut
s and other colourful fuselage decorations.
In addition to the flying aircraft, several unsuccessful aircraft of the period were represented by non-flying replicas - including contraptions such as an ornithopter
(the Passat Ornithopter) flown by the Italian contender, the Walton Edwards Rhomboidal, Picaut Dubrieul, Philips Multiplane and the Little Tiddler (a canard, or tail-first design). Several of the "non-flying" types "flew" with the help of "movie magic." The Lee Richards Annular Biplane with circular wings (built by Denton Partners on Woodley Aerodrome near Reading) "flew" better than its 1910 namesake, although the movie model was towed into the air.
The flying replicas were specifically chosen to be different enough that an ordinary audience could distinguish them. They were all types reputed to have flown well, in or about 1910. In most cases this worked well, but there were a few surprises, adding to an accurate historical reassessment of the aircraft concerned. For example, the replica of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
, a forerunners of today's ultralight aircraft, was in its early form unable to leave the ground except in short hops. Extending the wingspan and fitting a more powerful Ardem 50 hp engine produced only marginal improvement. When Doug Bianchi and the Personal Planes production staff who constructed the replica consulted with Alan Wheeler, he recalled that the Demoiselle's designer and first pilot, Alberto Santos-Dumont
was a very short, slightly built man. A suitably small pilot, Joan Hughes
, a wartime member of the Air Transport Auxiliary
who was the Airways Flying Club chief instructor, was hired. With the reduced payload, the diminutive Demoiselle flew very well, and Hughes proved a consummate stunt flyer.
Bianchi had in 1960 created a one-off Vickers 22 (Bleriot type) Monoplane, using Vickers company drawings intended for the Vickers Flying Club in 1910. The completed prototype was available and 20th Century Fox purchased the replica, though it required a new engine and modifications including replacing the wooden fuselage structure with welded steel tubing as well as incorporating ailerons instead of wing-warping. The Vickers 22 became the final type used by the Italian contestant. Sometime after the film, the Vickers was sold in New Zealand. It is believed to have flown once, at Wellington Airport in the hands of Keith Trillo, and is now at the SouthWard Museum.
Peter Hillwood of Hampshire Aero Club constructed an Avro Triplane Mk IV, using drawings provided by Geoffrey Verdon Roe, son of A.V. Roe
, the designer. The construction of the triplane followed A.V. Roe's specifications and was the only replica that utilised wing-warping successfully. With a more powerful 90 hp Cirrus II replacing the 35 hp Green engine that was in the original design, the Avro Triplane proved to be a lively performer even with a stuntman dangling from the fuselage.
The Antoinette IV
movie model closely replicated the slim, graceful monoplane that was very nearly the first aircraft to fly the English Channel, in the hands of Hubert Latham
, and won several prizes in early competitions. When the Hants and Sussex Aviation Company from Portsmouth Aerodrome undertook its construction, the company followed the original structural specifications carefully, although an out-of-period de Havilland Gypsy
I engine was used. The Antoinette's wing structure proved, however, to be dangerously flexible, and lateral control was very poor, even after the wing bracing was reinforced with extra wires, and the original wing-warping was replaced with "modern" ailerons (hinged on the rear spar rather than from the trailing edge, as in the "real" Antoinette). The final configuration was still considered marginal in terms of stability and lateral control.
The realism and the attention to detail in the replicas of vintage machines are a major contributor to the enjoyment of the film, and although a few of the flying stunts were achieved through the use of models and cleverly disguised wires, most aerial scenes featured actual flying aircraft. The few genuine vintage aircraft used included a Deperdussin used as set dressing, and the flyable 1912 Blackburn Monoplane "D" (the oldest genuine British aircraft still flying), belonged to the Shuttleworth Trust
based at Old Warden, Bedfordshire. When the filming was completed, the "1910 Bristol Boxkite" and the "1911 Roe IV Triplane" were retained in the Shuttleworth Collection, Both replicas are still in flyable condition, albeit flying with different engines. For his role in promoting the film, the non-flying "Passat Ornithopter" was given to aircraft restorer, Cole Palen
who displayed it at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
, New York
, where it still exists.
During the promotional "junkets" accompanying the film in 1965, a number of the vintage aircraft and film replicas used in the production were flown in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The pilots who had been part of the aerial team readily agreed to accompany the promotional tour in order to have a chance to fly these aircraft again.
had a similar reaction: "As fanciful and nostalgic a piece of clever picture-making as has hit the screen in recent years, this backward look into the pioneer days of aviation, when most planes were built with spit and bailing wire, is a warming entertainment experience." When the film turned up on television for the first time in 1969, TV Guide
summed up most critical reviews: "Good, clean fun, with fast and furious action, good cinematography, crisp dialogue, wonderful planes, and a host of some of the funniest people in movies in the cast."
Running at over two hours' length, Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines... (most theatre marquees abbreviated the full title and it was eventually re-released with the shorter title) was treated as a major production, one of only three full-length 70 mm Todd-AO
Fox releases in 1965 with an intermission and musical interlude spliced into the original screenings. Due to the Todd-AO process, Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines was considered an exclusive feature shown in deluxe Cinerama venues where customers needed reserved seats purchased ahead of time to see it. Considered one of the most popular exemplars of the '60s "epic comedy" genre, it was an immediate box-office success, far outgrossing the similar car-race comedy The Great Race
and even eclipsing the perennial favorite It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
. Audience reaction both in first release and even today is nearly universal in assessing the film as one of the "classic" aviation films.
for Best Writing Directly for the Screen (1966). The film was also nominated in the category of Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written. At the 1966 Golden Globes, the film won Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for Alberto Sordi, as well as being nominated in Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy and Most Promising Newcomer - Male for James Fox. Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines went on to win 1966 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Awards (BAFTA) for Best British Costume (Colour), winners: Osbert Lancaster and Dinah Greet, Best British Art Direction (Colour), winner: Thomas N. Morahan and Best British Cinematography (Colour), winner: Christopher Challis. The film also was nominated for Best Comedy in the 1966 Laurel Awards
where it was awarded a fourth place finish.
The success of the film prompted Annakin to write (again with Jack Davies) and direct another race movie, Monte Carlo or Bust
(aka Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies), released in 1969
, this time involving vintage cars with the story set around the Monte Carlo Rally
. Ron Goodwin
composed the music for both films.
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin
Ken Annakin
Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.- Biography :Annakin grew up in Beverley, Yorkshire where he attended the local school. He began his career in feature films following an early experience making documentaries. His first filmwork was in 1947 with the Rank Organisation...
. Based on a screenplay titled Flying Crazy, the story is set in 1910, when Lord Rawnsley, an English press magnate, offers £10,000 to the winner of the Daily Post air race from London to Paris, to prove that Britain is "number one in the air".
Origins
Director Ken AnnakinKen Annakin
Kenneth Cooper Annakin, OBE was an English film director.- Biography :Annakin grew up in Beverley, Yorkshire where he attended the local school. He began his career in feature films following an early experience making documentaries. His first filmwork was in 1947 with the Rank Organisation...
had been interested in aviation from his early years when Sir Alan Cobham
Alan Cobham
Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC was an English aviation pioneer.A member of the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, Alan Cobham became famous as a pioneer of long distance aviation. After the war he became a test pilot for the de Havilland aircraft company, and was the first pilot for the newly...
gave him a flight in a biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
. With co-writer Jack Davies, Annakin had been working on an adventure film about transatlantic flights when the producer's bankruptcy aborted the production. Fresh from his role as director of the British exterior segments in The Longest Day
The Longest Day (film)
The Longest Day is a 1962 war film based on the 1959 history book The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan, about "D-Day", the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
(1962), Annakin suggested an event from early aviation to Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck was an American producer, writer, actor, director and studio executive who played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of its longest survivors...
, his producer on The Longest Day.
Zanuck paid for an epic faithful to the era, deciding the name Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines after Elmo Williams, managing director of 20th Century Fox in Europe, told him his wife had written an opening for a song that Annakin complained would "seal the fate of the movie":
Those magnificent men in their flying machines,However, after being put to music by Ron Goodwin
They go up diddley up-up, they go down diddley down-down!
Ron Goodwin
Ronald Alfred Goodwin was a British composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years....
, the Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines song went on to a life of its own, released in singles and on the soundtrack record.
Annakin was born in 1914, just as the era of aviation depicted in this movie was ending, and though the movie is a farce, the behaviour of the various aviators depicts the tensions between the European countries prior to the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Plot
The film opens with a brief, comic segment on the history of flight, narrated by James Robertson JusticeJames Robertson Justice
James Robertson Justice was a popular British character actor in British films of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.-Biography:...
and featuring American comedian Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
depicting a recurring character whose adventures span the centuries, in a series of silent blackout
Blackout gag
A blackout gag is a term mainly used in broad, rapid-fire, slapstick comedy to describe a manner in which a gag or joke is executed. The term is derived from burlesque and vaudeville, when the lights were quickly turned off after the punchline of a joke to accentuate it and/or allow for audience...
vignettes that incorporate stock footage
Stock footage
Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that may or may not be custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is sometimes less expensive than shooting new...
of unsuccessful attempts at early aircraft. The French pilot Pierre Dubois, played by Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
is seen receiving information about an aerial race for international competitors.
Sarah Miles
Sarah Miles
-Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
plays the daughter of Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley
Robert Morley
Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment...
), a newspaper magnate whose favourite to win is his daughter's fiancé, Richard Mays (James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
), flying an Antoinette monoplane. Rawnsley sums up: "The trouble with these international affairs is they attract foreigners." An international cast plays the array of contestants, most of whom live up to national stereotypes, including the by-the-book, monocle-wearing Prussian officer (Gert Fröbe
Gert Fröbe
Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
) flying an Eardley-Billing biplane, impetuous Count Emilio Ponticelli (Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films....
), an amorous Frenchman (Cassel) in a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, the rugged American cowboy Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
) flying a Bristol Boxkite
Bristol Boxkite
-Military operators:* Australian Flying Corps** Central Flying School AFC at Point Cook, Victoria.* Union Defence Forces - South African Air Force Kingdom of Spain* Royal Flying Corps* Royal Naval Air Service** No. 3 Squadron RFC-References:...
(impersonating a Curtiss
Curtiss Model D
|-See also:-External links:...
), who falls for Rawnsley's daughter Patricia, who was also Richard Mays' girlfriend, causing a love triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
.
Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
plays the cheating Sir Percival Ware-Armitage, an Avro Triplane-flying rogue who "never leaves anything to chance". With his bullied servant Courtney (Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
), he sabotages other aircraft or drugs their pilots, getting his comeuppance . The race sets out with 14 competitors but one by one they drop out until, after stops at Dover and Calais, only a few land in Paris. Orvil Newton loses his chance to win when he stops to rescue Emilio Ponticelli from his burning aircraft. Richard Mays wins for Britain, but insists on a tie with Orvill Newton and sharing the prize with the now-bankrupt Newton. The final scene shows Orvil and Patricia kissing, then being interrupted by a strange noise. Those at the flying field look up to see a fly past by six English Electric Lightning
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, noted for its great speed and unpainted natural metal exterior finish. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. The aircraft was renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor; Royal Air Force ...
s overhead, as the narrator notes that the jet can make the trip in minutes. But then the film shows a fogbound airport as a cancellation is announced. One frustrated passenger turns out to be Skelton, who starts wing-flapping motions with his arms, cutting back into the animation from the title sequence for the closing credits
Closing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
.
Cast
Cast credits in order of screen credits include onscreen and uncredited roles:| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Stuart Whitman Stuart Whitman Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967... |
Orvil Newton |
| Sarah Miles Sarah Miles -Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art... |
Patricia Rawnsley |
| James Fox James Fox James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His... |
Richard Mays |
| Tony Hancock Tony Hancock Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in... |
Harry Popperwell (Aircraft Designer) |
| Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films.... |
Count Emilio Ponticelli |
| Robert Morley Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE was an English actor who, often in supporting roles, was usually cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment... |
Lord Rawnsley |
| Gert Fröbe Gert Fröbe Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in... |
Colonel Manfred von Holstein |
| Jean-Pierre Cassel Jean-Pierre Cassel Jean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road... |
Pierre Dubois |
| Irina Demick Irina Demick Irina Demick , sometimes credited as Irina Demich was a French actress with a brief career in American films.... |
Brigitte/Marlene/Ingrid/Françoise/Yvette/Betty |
| Eric Sykes Eric Sykes Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter... |
Courtney |
| Red Skelton Red Skelton Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing... |
Neanderthal Man, Greek birdman, Middle Ages inventor, Victorian-era pilot, Modern airline passenger |
| Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as... |
Sir Percy Ware-Armitage, Bt |
| Benny Hill Benny Hill Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:... |
Fire Chief Perkins |
| Yujiro Ishihara Yujiro Ishihara was a Japanese actor and singer born in Kobe. His elder brother, Shintaro Ishihara, is an author, politician, and the current Governor of Tokyo. Yujiro debuted in 1956 in "Season of the Sun," based on a novel written by his brother... |
Yamamoto (voice dubbed by James Villiers James Villiers James Michael Hyde Villiers was a British character actor and a familiar face on British television... ) |
| Dame Dame A Dame may be:* Dame , a female title of rank, equivalent to 'Sir' used as the title of a knight* A title of respect for certain Benedictine nuns equivalent to the male "Dom"* A pantomime dame... Flora Robson Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:... |
Mother Superior |
| Karl Michael Vogler Karl Michael Vogler Karl Michael Vogler was a German actor probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English-language films of the 1960s and 1970s, including The Blue Max where he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress followed a few years later by Patton, in which he portrayed Erwin... |
Captain Rumpelstoss |
| Sam Wanamaker Sam Wanamaker Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London... |
George Gruber |
| Eric Barker Eric Barker Eric Leslie Barker born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British Carry On films.-Career:... |
French postman |
| Maurice Denham Maurice Denham Maurice Denham OBE was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 television programmes and films throughout his long career.-Life and career:... |
Trawler skipper |
| Fred Emney Fred Emney Frederick Arthur Round "Fred" Emney was an English character actor and comedian.Emney was born in Lancashire, the son of Blanche and Fred Emney , a music hall entertainer. His uncle was the actor Arthur Williams. Emney junior grew up in London.He made his film debut in 1935, having previously... |
Colonel |
| Gordon Jackson Gordon Jackson (actor) Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals.... |
MacDougal |
| Davy Kaye Davy Kaye Davy Kaye MBE , born as David Kodeish, was a British comedy actor and entertainer.-Early life:... |
Jean, Pierre Dubois' Chief Mechanic |
| John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier was a BAFTA Award-winning English actor. He is most famous for his role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the popular 1970s BBC comedy Dad's Army.-Career:... |
French painter |
| Jeremy Lloyd Jeremy Lloyd Jeremy Lloyd is an English writer, screenwriter, author and actor, best known as co-author and writer of several successful British sitcoms.-Career:... |
Lieutenant Parsons |
| Zena Marshall Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall was a British actress of film and television.She attended St Mary's, Ascot and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art... |
Countess Sophia Ponticelli |
| Millicent Martin Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954... |
Hostess |
| Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann Eric Pohlmann was an Austrian theatre, film and television character actor.Born Erich Pollak in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he was a classically trained actor who studied under the renowned director Max Reinhardt... |
Italian mayor |
Production
One of the strengths of the film was British and international character actors who enlivened each contestant's nationality's foibles. The entertainment comes from the dialogue and characterizations and the aerial stunts, with heroism and gentlemanly conduct. Benny HillBenny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
, Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes
Eric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
, Terry-Thomas
Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads and toffs, with the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and catch-phrases such as...
and Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
provided madcap misadventures; Hancock had broken his leg prior to filming and Annakin wrote it into the story. The two lead actors, Stuart Whitman and Sarah Miles
Sarah Miles
-Early life and career:Sarah Miles was born in the small town of Ingatestone, Essex, in South East England.She first attended Roedean but at the age of 15 she enrolled at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
fell out early in the production. Director Ken Annakin commented that "she hated his guts", and rarely deigned to speak to him if it wasn't part of the script. Annakin had to employ various manipulations in order to ensure the production proceeded smoothly despite his stars' animosity towards each other.
Another aspect was the fluid writing and directing with Annakin and Davies feeding off each other. They had worked together on Very Important Person
Very Important Person (film)
Very Important Person is a 1961 British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin, and written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies. In the United States, the film was re-titled A Coming Out Party....
(1961), The Fast Lady
The Fast Lady
The Fast Lady is a 1962 British comedy film, directed by Ken Annakin. The screenplay was written by Henry Blyth and Jack Davies, based on a story by Keble Howard.It marked the film debut of Julie Christie.-Plot:...
(1962), and Crooks Anonymous
Crooks Anonymous
Crooks Anonymous is a British comedy film from 1962. Directed by Ken Annakin, it starred Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter and was notable for one of the earliest appearances of Julie Christie.-Plot:...
(1962). Annakin and Davies continued to develop the script with zany interpretations. When the German character, Gert Fröbe
Gert Fröbe
Karl Gerhart Fröbe, better known as Gert Fröbe was a German actor who starred in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger as Auric Goldfinger, The Threepenny Opera as Peachum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as Baron Bomburst, and in Der Räuber Hotzenplotz as Hotzenplotz.-Life:Born in...
, contemplates piloting his country's entry, he climbs into the cockpit and retrieves a manual. Annakin and Davies devised a quip on the spot, having him read out: "No. 1. Sit down." .
Although a comedy, elements of Annakin's documentary background were evident with authentic sets, props and costumes. More than 2,000 extras out in authentic costumes were in the climactic race launch.
Location sets
The film used life-size working aeroplane models and replicas to create an early 20th Century airfield, the Brookley Motor Racing Track (fashioned after BrooklandsBrooklands
Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England. It opened in 1907, and was the world's first purpose-built motorsport venue, as well as one of Britain's first airfields...
) where early aviators staged test flights. All Brookley's associated trappings of structures, aircraft and vehicles (including a rare 1908 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost
The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost refers both to a car model and to one specific car from that series.Originally named the "40/50 h.p." the chassis was originally produced at Royce's Manchester works, before moving to Derby in July 1908 and also, between 1921 and 1926, in Springfield, Massachusetts....
estimated to be worth 50 million dollars ) were part of the Booker Airfield set, High Wycombe
High Wycombe
High Wycombe , commonly known as Wycombe and formally called Chepping Wycombe or Chipping Wycombe until 1946,is a large town in Buckinghamshire, England. It is west-north-west of Charing Cross in London; this figure is engraved on the Corn Market building in the centre of the town...
, Buckinghamshire, England. The completed set featured a windmill as a lookout tower as well as serving as a restaurant (the "Old Mill Cafe"). Hangars were constructed in rows, bearing the names of real and fictional manufacturers: A.V. Roe
A.V. Roe
A.V. Roe may refer to:*Alliott Verdon Roe, British aircraft pioneer and manufacturer*A.V. Roe and Company - generally known as Avro - British aircraft manufacturer founded by Alliott Verdon Roe...
& Co., The Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
: The British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
, Sopwith, Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
, Ware-Armitage Manufacturing CoY (sic), and Works. A grandstand was added for spectators.
When the production was unable to obtain rights to film main sequences over Paris, models of the aircraft and a miniature Parisian set played a prominent role in sequences depicting Paris. A mock-up of Calais was also constructed. Interior and studio sets at Pinewood Studios were used for bluescreen and special effects while exterior and interior footage of Rawnsley's Manor House was shot at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. Other principal photography utilized location shooting at Dover Castle
Dover Castle
Dover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history...
along with the cliffs and beaches in the area. The location where Sir Percy's aircraft lands on a train is the now closed line from Bedford to Hitchin
Bedford to Hitchin Line
The Bedford to Hitchin Line was a branch of the Midland Railway which served stations at Cardington, Southill, Shefford and Henlow in Bedfordshire, England. It opened in 1857, but was largely made redundant as a through-route to London by the extension of the Midland Main Line to St Pancras...
. The tunnel into which they fly is the Old Warden Tunnel
Old Warden Tunnel
The Old Warden Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel near the village of Old Warden in Bedfordshire.-History:The Tunnel was built as part of the Midland Railway connecting Bedford and Hitchin, and from there to London between 1853 and 1857. Contrary to popular belief the line lost its passenger services...
near the village of the same name in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
; the tunnel had only recently been closed, and in the panning shot through the railway cutting, the cooling towers of the now demolished Bedford
Bedford
Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...
power station can be seen. The locomotive is former Highland Railway Jones Goods Class
Highland Railway Jones Goods Class
The Highland Railway Jones Goods class was a class of steam locomotive, and was notable as the first class with a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement in the British Isles...
No 103. About 1910, French Railways built duplicates of a Highland Railway Class "The Castles" which were a passenger version of the Jones Goods.
Principal photography
The film was photographed in 70 mm Todd-AOTodd-AO
Todd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
by Christopher Challis. Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Allen H. Wheeler was head technical consultant during planning. Wheeler had previously restored a 1900 era Bleriot
Blériot
Blériot may refer to:* Louis Blériot, a French aviation pioneer* Blériot Aéronautique, an aircraft manufacturer founded by Louis Blériot...
with his son, and provided invaluable assistance in the restoration and recreation of period aircraft for the film.
The camera platforms included a modified Citroen
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
sedan, camera trucks, helicopters and a flying rig constructed by Dick Parker. Parker had built it for model sequences in Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (film)
Strategic Air Command is a 1955 American film starring James Stewart and June Allyson, and directed by Anthony Mann. Released by Paramount Pictures, it was the first of four films that depicted the role of the Strategic Air Command in the Cold War era....
(1955); the rig was two construction cranes and a hydraulically operated device to tilt and position a model, along with 200 ft of cables. Parker's rig allowed actors to sit inside full-scale models suspended 50 ft above the ground, yet provide safety and realism for staged flying sequences. A further hydraulic platform did away with matte shots of aircraft in flight. The platform was large enough to mount an aircraft and Parker or stunt pilots could manipulate its controls for realistic bluescreen sequences. Composite photography was used when scenes called for difficult shots; these were completed at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
. Some shots were created with rudimentary cockpits and noses grafted to an Alouette helicopter. One scene over Paris was staged with small models when Paris refused an overflight. However, for the majority of flying scenes, full-scale flying movie models were assembled.
Aircraft
The film is notable for reproductions of 1910-era aircraft, including a triplaneTriplane
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically-stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they may occasionally be.-Design principles:...
, monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
s, biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
s and also Horatio Phillips's 20-winged multiplane from 1904. Air Commodore Wheeler insisted on authentic materials but allowed the use of modern engines and modifications necessary to ensure safety. Of 20 types built in 1964 at £5,000 pounds each, six could fly, flown by six stunt pilots and maintained by 14 mechanics. The race takeoff scene where seven aircraft are in the air at once included a composite addition. Flying conditions were monitored with aerial scenes filmed before 10am or in early evening when the air was least turbulent, for the replicas, true to the originals, were flimsy - and control, especially in the lateral plane, tended to be marginal. If the weather was poor, interiors or other incidental sequences were substituted. Wheeler eventually served not only as the technical adviser but also as the aerial supervisor throughout the production and later wrote a comprehensive background account of the film and the replicas that were constructed to portray period aircraft.
The following competitors were listed:
- Number 1: Richard Mays, "Antoinette IV" (Aircraft number 8: flying replica)
- Number 2: Sir Percy Ware-Armitage, "Avro Triplane" (Aircraft number 12: flying replica)
- Number 3: Orvil Newton, "Bristol Boxkite", nicknamed "The Phoenix Flyer" (Aircraft number 7: flying replica)
- Number 4: Lieutenant Parsons, "Picaut Dubrieul" nicknamed "HMS Victory" (Aircraft number 4)
- Number 5: Harry Popperwell, "Little Tiddler" (Aircraft number 5)
- Number 6: Colonel Manfred von Holstein and Captain Rumpelstoss, "Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane" (Aircraft number 11: flying replica)
- Number 7: Mr Wallace. (Aircraft number 14)
- Number 8: Charles Wade. (Aircraft number unknown)
- Number 9: Mr Yamamoto, "Japanese Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane" (Aircraft number 1: duplicate flying replica)
- Number 10: Count Emilio Ponticelli, "Philips Multiplane", "Passat Ornithopter", "Lee Richards Annular Biplane" and "Vickers 22 Monoplane" (Aircraft number 2: flying replica)
- Number 11: Henri Monteux. (Aircraft number unknown)
- Number 12: Pierre Dubois, "Santos-Dumont Demoiselle" (Aircraft number 9: flying replica)
- Number 13: Mr Mac Dougall, "Blackburn Monoplane" nicknamed "Wake up Scotland" (Aircraft number 6: original vintage aircraft)
- Number 14: Harry Walton (no number assigned).
Bristol Boxkite
-Military operators:* Australian Flying Corps** Central Flying School AFC at Point Cook, Victoria.* Union Defence Forces - South African Air Force Kingdom of Spain* Royal Flying Corps* Royal Naval Air Service** No. 3 Squadron RFC-References:...
built by F.G. Miles Engineering Co.
Miles Aircraft
Miles was the name used to market the aircraft of British engineer Frederick George Miles, who designed numerous light civil and military aircraft and a range of curious prototypes...
at Ford, Sussex, representing a typical American biplane of 1910. Annakin had apparently expressed a desire to have a Wright Flyer
Wright Flyer
The Wright Flyer was the first powered aircraft, designed and built by the Wright brothers. They flew it four times on December 17, 1903 near the Kill Devil Hills, about four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, U.S.The U.S...
in the film. The Bristol (a British derivative of the French 1909 Farman
Farman
Farman Aviation Works was an aeronautic enterprise founded and run by the brothers; Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationalization and rationalization of its aerospace industry, Farman's assets were...
biplane) was chosen instead because it shared a common general layout with a Wright
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
or Curtiss pusher
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
biplane of the era, and had an excellent reputation for tractability. For the impersonation, the replica had "The Phoenix Flyer" painted on its outer rudder surfaces and was also called a "Gruber-Newton Flyer" adding the name of its primary backer to the nomenclature; although the American pilot character, Orvil Newton inaccurately describes his aircraft to Patricia Rawnsley as a "Curtiss
Curtiss Model D
|-See also:-External links:...
with an Anzani engine."
F G Miles
Frederick George Miles
Frederick George Miles was an English aircraft designer and manufacturer.-Early life:Miles was born on 22 March 1903 in Worthing Sussex the oldest of four sons of Frederick, a laundry proprietor, and his wife Esther. He left school...
, chiefly responsible for its design and manufacture, built the replica Bristol Boxkite with the original standard twin rudder installation and powered the replica with a 65 hp Rolls-Royce A65. In the course of testing, Air Commodore Wheeler had a third rudder inserted between the other two (as did some original Boxkites) to improve directional control, and replaced the first engine with a Rolls-Royce C90
Continental O-200
The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower ....
that barely delivered the power of the original 50 hp Gnome
Gnome et Rhône
Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licensees, powering the majority of aircraft in the first half of the war on...
rotary
Rotary engine
The rotary engine was an early type of internal-combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration, in which the crankshaft remained stationary and the entire cylinder block rotated around it...
, and provided a 45 mph top speed. The Boxkite was tractable and the scene in the story when the aircraft loses a pair of main wheels just after takeoff but lands smoothly was repeated 20 times for the cameras. In the penultimate flying scene, a stuntman was carried in the Boxkite's undercarriage and carried out a fall and roll (the stunt had to be repeated to match the principal actor's roll and revival). Slapstick stunts on the ground and in the air were a major element and often the directors requested repeated stunts; the stuntmen were more than accommodating – it meant more pay.
The Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane replica flown by David Watson appeared in two guises, as the German pilot's aircraft, in more or less authentic form, impersonating an early German tractor biplane, as well as the Japanese pilot's mount, modified with boxkite-like side curtains over the interplane strut
Interplane strut
An interplane strut is an aircraft airframe component designed to transmit lift and landing loads between wing panels on biplanes and other aircraft with multi-wing designs. They also maintain the correct angle of incidence for the connected wing panels and are often braced with wires...
s and other colourful fuselage decorations.
In addition to the flying aircraft, several unsuccessful aircraft of the period were represented by non-flying replicas - including contraptions such as an ornithopter
Ornithopter
An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. Designers seek to imitate the flapping-wing flight of birds, bats, and insects. Though machines may differ in form, they are usually built on the same scale as these flying creatures. Manned ornithopters have also been built, and some...
(the Passat Ornithopter) flown by the Italian contender, the Walton Edwards Rhomboidal, Picaut Dubrieul, Philips Multiplane and the Little Tiddler (a canard, or tail-first design). Several of the "non-flying" types "flew" with the help of "movie magic." The Lee Richards Annular Biplane with circular wings (built by Denton Partners on Woodley Aerodrome near Reading) "flew" better than its 1910 namesake, although the movie model was towed into the air.
The flying replicas were specifically chosen to be different enough that an ordinary audience could distinguish them. They were all types reputed to have flown well, in or about 1910. In most cases this worked well, but there were a few surprises, adding to an accurate historical reassessment of the aircraft concerned. For example, the replica of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
-External links:...
, a forerunners of today's ultralight aircraft, was in its early form unable to leave the ground except in short hops. Extending the wingspan and fitting a more powerful Ardem 50 hp engine produced only marginal improvement. When Doug Bianchi and the Personal Planes production staff who constructed the replica consulted with Alan Wheeler, he recalled that the Demoiselle's designer and first pilot, Alberto Santos-Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont
Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life....
was a very short, slightly built man. A suitably small pilot, Joan Hughes
Joan Hughes
Joan Lily Amelia Hughes, MBE was a World War II ferry pilot and one of Britain's first female test pilots.Hughes was born in the West Ham district of London in 1918...
, a wartime member of the Air Transport Auxiliary
Air Transport Auxiliary
The Air Transport Auxiliary was a British World War II civilian organisation that ferried new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between UK factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, Maintenance Units , scrap yards, and active service squadrons and airfields—but not to...
who was the Airways Flying Club chief instructor, was hired. With the reduced payload, the diminutive Demoiselle flew very well, and Hughes proved a consummate stunt flyer.
Peter Hillwood of Hampshire Aero Club constructed an Avro Triplane Mk IV, using drawings provided by Geoffrey Verdon Roe, son of A.V. Roe
A.V. Roe
A.V. Roe may refer to:*Alliott Verdon Roe, British aircraft pioneer and manufacturer*A.V. Roe and Company - generally known as Avro - British aircraft manufacturer founded by Alliott Verdon Roe...
, the designer. The construction of the triplane followed A.V. Roe's specifications and was the only replica that utilised wing-warping successfully. With a more powerful 90 hp Cirrus II replacing the 35 hp Green engine that was in the original design, the Avro Triplane proved to be a lively performer even with a stuntman dangling from the fuselage.
Antoinette IV
|-See also:* Antoinette III* Antoinette V* Antoinette VI* Antoinette VII* Antoinette military monoplane-References:* World Aircraft Information Files. Brightstar Publishing: London. File 889 Sheet 63.* *...
movie model closely replicated the slim, graceful monoplane that was very nearly the first aircraft to fly the English Channel, in the hands of Hubert Latham
Hubert Latham
Arthur Charles Hubert Latham was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an aeroplane...
, and won several prizes in early competitions. When the Hants and Sussex Aviation Company from Portsmouth Aerodrome undertook its construction, the company followed the original structural specifications carefully, although an out-of-period de Havilland Gypsy
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
I engine was used. The Antoinette's wing structure proved, however, to be dangerously flexible, and lateral control was very poor, even after the wing bracing was reinforced with extra wires, and the original wing-warping was replaced with "modern" ailerons (hinged on the rear spar rather than from the trailing edge, as in the "real" Antoinette). The final configuration was still considered marginal in terms of stability and lateral control.
The realism and the attention to detail in the replicas of vintage machines are a major contributor to the enjoyment of the film, and although a few of the flying stunts were achieved through the use of models and cleverly disguised wires, most aerial scenes featured actual flying aircraft. The few genuine vintage aircraft used included a Deperdussin used as set dressing, and the flyable 1912 Blackburn Monoplane "D" (the oldest genuine British aircraft still flying), belonged to the Shuttleworth Trust
Shuttleworth Collection
The Shuttleworth Collection is an aeronautical and automotive museum located at the Old Warden airfield in Bedfordshire, England. It is one of the most prestigious in the world due to the variety of old and well-preserved aircraft.- History :...
based at Old Warden, Bedfordshire. When the filming was completed, the "1910 Bristol Boxkite" and the "1911 Roe IV Triplane" were retained in the Shuttleworth Collection, Both replicas are still in flyable condition, albeit flying with different engines. For his role in promoting the film, the non-flying "Passat Ornithopter" was given to aircraft restorer, Cole Palen
Cole Palen
Cole Palen was the founder of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, a "living" museum of vintage aircraft from 1900-1937 located in Rhinebeck, New York...
who displayed it at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome
The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a museum of World War I aircraft and antique automobiles that is located in Red Hook, New York, USA.-History:The aerodrome was the creation of Cole Palen, who was partially inspired by the Shuttleworth Collection in England. He regularly flew many of the aircraft...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where it still exists.
During the promotional "junkets" accompanying the film in 1965, a number of the vintage aircraft and film replicas used in the production were flown in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The pilots who had been part of the aerial team readily agreed to accompany the promotional tour in order to have a chance to fly these aircraft again.
Reception
Contemporary reviews judged the film as "good fun", and even the usually hyper-critical New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther was effusive in that the film was a good-natured "large-canvas" comedy with costumes, authentic-looking props and good character acting. VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
had a similar reaction: "As fanciful and nostalgic a piece of clever picture-making as has hit the screen in recent years, this backward look into the pioneer days of aviation, when most planes were built with spit and bailing wire, is a warming entertainment experience." When the film turned up on television for the first time in 1969, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
summed up most critical reviews: "Good, clean fun, with fast and furious action, good cinematography, crisp dialogue, wonderful planes, and a host of some of the funniest people in movies in the cast."
Running at over two hours' length, Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines... (most theatre marquees abbreviated the full title and it was eventually re-released with the shorter title) was treated as a major production, one of only three full-length 70 mm Todd-AO
Todd-AO
Todd-AO is a post-production company founded in 1953, providing sound-related services to the motion picture and television industries. The company operates three facilities in the Los Angeles area.-History:...
Fox releases in 1965 with an intermission and musical interlude spliced into the original screenings. Due to the Todd-AO process, Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines was considered an exclusive feature shown in deluxe Cinerama venues where customers needed reserved seats purchased ahead of time to see it. Considered one of the most popular exemplars of the '60s "epic comedy" genre, it was an immediate box-office success, far outgrossing the similar car-race comedy The Great Race
The Great Race
The Great Race is a 1965 slapstick comedy film starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood, directed by Blake Edwards, written by Blake Edwards and Arthur A. Ross, and with music by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Russell Harlan. The supporting cast includes Peter Falk, Keenan Wynn,...
and even eclipsing the perennial favorite It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World is a 1963 American comedy film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer about the madcap pursuit of $350,000 in stolen cash by a diverse and colorful group of strangers...
. Audience reaction both in first release and even today is nearly universal in assessing the film as one of the "classic" aviation films.
Awards and honors
Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines was nominated and received awards in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The original screenplay written by Ken Annakin and Jack Davies was nominated for an Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Writing Directly for the Screen (1966). The film was also nominated in the category of Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written. At the 1966 Golden Globes, the film won Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for Alberto Sordi, as well as being nominated in Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy and Most Promising Newcomer - Male for James Fox. Those Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines went on to win 1966 British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
Awards (BAFTA) for Best British Costume (Colour), winners: Osbert Lancaster and Dinah Greet, Best British Art Direction (Colour), winner: Thomas N. Morahan and Best British Cinematography (Colour), winner: Christopher Challis. The film also was nominated for Best Comedy in the 1966 Laurel Awards
Laurel Awards
The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971....
where it was awarded a fourth place finish.
The success of the film prompted Annakin to write (again with Jack Davies) and direct another race movie, Monte Carlo or Bust
Monte Carlo or Bust
Monte Carlo or Bust is a 1969 comedy film. The story is based on the Monte Carlo Rally - first raced in 1911 - and the film recalls this general era, set in the 1920s. The film is a British/French/Italian co-production, and was released in the United States under the title Those Daring Young Men in...
(aka Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies), released in 1969
1969 in film
The year 1969 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Last year for prize giving at the Venice Film Festival until it is revived in 1980...
, this time involving vintage cars with the story set around the Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
. Ron Goodwin
Ron Goodwin
Ronald Alfred Goodwin was a British composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years....
composed the music for both films.