The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Regista:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Lukas Heller (writer)
Trevor Dudley Smith (novel)

Data di uscita:

15 dicembre 1965 (USA)

Genere:

Adventure | Drama

Slogan:

One of the most startling twists of fate you have ever experienced in a motion picture!

Plot:

After a plane crash in the Sahara, one of the survivors says he's an airplane designer and they can make a flyable plane from the wreckage.

Plot Keywords:

Dried Date | Dying Of Thirst | Slit Wrists | Sergeant | Generator

Premi:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Jimmy Stewart as good as ever

Cast

James Stewart	...	Capt. Frank Towns
Richard Attenborough	...	Lew Moran
Peter Finch	...	Capt. Harris
Hardy Krüger	...	Heinrich Dorfmann (as Hardy Kruger)
Ernest Borgnine	...	Trucker Cobb
Ian Bannen	...	'Ratbags' Crow
Ronald Fraser	...	Sgt. Watson
Christian Marquand	...	Dr. Renaud
Dan Duryea	...	Standish
George Kennedy	...	Mike Bellamy
Gabriele Tinti	...	Gabriel
Alex Montoya	...	Carlos
Peter Bravos	...	Tasso
William Aldrich	...	Bill
Barrie Chase	...	Farida

Alias:

Volo della fenice, Il (Italy) [it]

Durata:

142 min

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Divieti:

West Germany:12 (f) | USA:Approved (certificate #21017) | Finland:K-12 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG

Luoghi delle riprese:

Buttercup Valley, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Curiosità:

The Tallmantz Phoenix P-1 was designed by Otto Timm and built by Tallmantz Aviation Inc. for the film. It had the following characteristics:

• Length: 45'
• Wingspan: 42'
• Engine: a like-new Pratt & Whitney R-1340 nine cylinder radial engine of 650 hp, taken from a T-6, as were the wheels and various other parts.
• Wings: wing panels taken from a T-11 (civilian conversion of an AT-11 which is a Beechcraft 18 type )
• The apparent wing, tail, and undercarriage wire bracing was made out of clothesline, and was intentionally made to look flimsy.
• The fuselage and empennage were all hand-built from scratch - plywood over a wood frame.
• The cockpit was shallow and makeshift. The pilot sat down. Another person stood behind the pilot and was strapped to a stringer.

Errori:

Varie: In the scene where Captain Harris is talking about the pressed dates he says, "I think that's about all" and Ratbags says, "That's enough". At this point an insect runs across the upper left of the camera lens.

Citazioni:

Lew Moran: It may not be the best possible advertisement. but Frank Towns is probably one of the few really great pilots left in thios push-button world of yours.
Heinrich Dorfmann: Oh, really?
Lew Moran: [angrily] Yes, 'Oh, really!' He was flying by the seat of his pants in planes that were nothing more than bits and pieces before you even went to school!
Heinrich Dorfmann: That's precisely what is wrong - he has remembered everything and learned nothing!

Movie Connections:

Citato in The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

Colonna sonora:

Senza Fine

Jimmy Stewart as good as ever

The pilot character "Frank Towers" played by the wonderful (life) Jimmy Stewart is typical of the era it portrayed. Many ex-service pilots found work in the civilian aviation world - their training, paid for by Governments, was a cheap way of crewing aircraft. This film portrays such a pilot - taught to fly "by the seat of his pants" demonstrates the risks of such a policy.

"Frank Towers" flies on regardless of his navigator's (Dickie Attenborough) concerns, into a cloud of locusts. The engines air-intakes clog up and the outcome is inevitable.

Hardy Kruger's performance as "Hienrich Dorfmunn" is a classic. As an model-aircraft designer, "Frank" fails to accept the parallel between models and "real" aircraft calling them "toys". His arrogance almost scuppers the plan to build a flyable contraption made from the wreckage of the crashed aircraft.

The labour for this endeavour comes from the motley group of passengers whom include Earnest Borgnine as a simpleton, Peter Finch as a British Army officer with Ronald Fraser as his reluctant sargeant. Ian Bannen as "ratbags" plays the cynical Scot. Dickie Attenborugh's "Lew Moran" becomes the arbitor in a complex chronology of events which collectively conspire to prevent success.

Stunt pilot Paul Mantz to whom the film is dedicated, died during its making. Clearly the aircraft with skis on sand was a non-starter, and "wheels" miraculously appeared during the take-off scene. This takes nothing away from the story and it is certainly gripping stuff.