fbpx
Wikipedia

The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film)

January 06, 2023

The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1965 American survival drama film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, based on the 1964 novel of the same name by English author Elleston Trevor.[3] The story follows a small group of men struggling to survive their aircraft's emergency landing in the Sahara. It stars an ensemble cast, with James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Kruger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea and George Kennedy.

The Flight of the Phoenix
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Aldrich
Screenplay byLukas Heller
Based onFrom the novel by Elleston Trevor
Produced byRobert Aldrich
StarringJames Stewart
Richard Attenborough
Peter Finch
Hardy Kruger
Ernest Borgnine
Ian Bannen
Ronald Fraser
Christian Marquand
Dan Duryea
George Kennedy
Alex Montoya
Barrie Chase
CinematographyJoseph Biroc, A.S.C.
Edited byMichael Luciano, A.C.E.
Music byDeVol
Production
companies
An Associates and Aldrich Company Production
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
December 15, 1965 (1965-12-15)
Running time
142 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3–5 million[1]: 254 [2]
Box office$3 million (US/Canada rentals)[1]: 230 

Though the film was not a financial success, it was well-received by critics, who praised Aldrich’s direction and the performances of its cast. It was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Bannen and Best Editing for Michael Luciano. Hardy Krüger was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor,[a] and Aldrich was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

The Flight of the Phoenix was remade in 2004, titled as Flight of the Phoenix.

Plot

Frank Towns is the pilot of a twin-engine Fairchild C-82 Packet cargo plane flying from Jaghbub to Benghazi in Libya; Lew Moran is the navigator. Passengers include Capt. Harris and Sgt. Watson of the British Army; Dr. Renaud, a French physician; Heinrich Dorfmann, a German aeronautical engineer; and an oil company accountant named Standish. There are also several oil workers, including Trucker Cobb, a foreman suffering from mental fatigue; Ratbags Crow, a cocky Scot; Carlos and his pet monkey; and Gabriele.

A sudden sandstorm disables the engines, forcing Towns to crash-land in the Sahara desert. As the aircraft comes to a stop, two workers are killed and Gabriele's leg is severely injured.

The radio is unusable, and the survivors are too far off course to be found by searchers. Aboard the plane is a large quantity of pitted dates but only enough water for ten to fifteen days if rationed. Captain Harris sets out to try and find an oasis. When Sgt. Watson feigns an injury to stay behind, Carlos volunteers, leaving his pet monkey with Bellamy. Harris and Towns refuse to allow the mentally-unstable Cobb to go along, but Cobb defiantly follows anyway and later dies of exposure in the desert. Days later, Harris returns to the crash site alone and barely alive. Sgt. Watson discovers and then ignores him, though others later find him.

Meanwhile, Dorfmann proposes a radical idea: building a new aircraft from the wreckage. The C-82 has twin booms extending rearwards from each engine and connected by the horizontal stabilizer. Dorfmann wants to attach the outer sections of both wings to the left engine and left boom, discarding the center fuselage and both inner wing sections of the aircraft. The men will ride atop the wings. Towns and Moran believe he is either joking or delusional. The argument is complicated by a personality clash between Towns, a proud traditionalist aviator who flew for the Allied Forces during the Second World War, and Dorfmann, a young, arrogant German engineer. Moran struggles to maintain the peace.

Towns initially resists Dorfmann's plan, though Renaud sways his opinion, saying activity and hope will help sustain the men's morale. Dorfmann supervises the reconstruction, while Towns remains skeptical. During the work, the fatally-injured Gabriele commits suicide, depressing the men to where they consider abandoning the new plane's construction. Dorfmann, caught exceeding his water ration, justifies it, saying he has been the only one working continuously. He promises to not do it again but demands everyone work equally hard from then on.

Standish christens the nearly completed aircraft, "Phoenix", after the mythical bird that is reborn from its own ashes. When a band of Arabs camp nearby, Harris and Renaud leave to make contact while the others (and the aircraft) remain hidden. The two men are found murdered the next day. Additionally, Towns and Moran are stunned to learn that Dorfmann designs model airplanes rather than full-sized aircraft. Dorfmann defends himself, claiming the aerodynamic principles are the same, and many model planes require more exacting designs than full-size aircraft. With no other choice, Towns and Moran forge ahead with the plan without telling the others about Dorfmann.

The Phoenix is completed but untested. Only seven starter cartridges are available to ignite the engine. The first four startup attempts are unsuccessful. Over Dorfmann's vehement objections, Towns fires the fifth cartridge with the ignition off to clear the engine's cylinders. The next startup is successful. The men pull the Phoenix to a nearby hilltop, then climb onto the wings. When Towns guns the engine, the Phoenix slides down the hill and over a lake bed before taking off. After a successful landing at an oasis with a manned oil rig, the men celebrate and Towns and Dorfmann are reconciled.

Cast

Song

Production

Locations

Principal photography started April 26, 1965, at the 20th Century-Fox Studios and 20th Century-Fox Ranch, California. Other filming locations, simulating the desert, were Buttercup Valley in the Algodones Dunes, California and Pilot Knob Mesa, California. The flying sequences were all filmed at Pilot Knob Mesa near Winterhaven, located in California's Imperial Valley, on the western fringes of Yuma, Arizona.

Aircraft used

 
Fairchild C-82A N53228 painted in the markings of the fictional Arabco Oil Company for the film

In 2005, Hollywood aviation historian Simon Beck identified the aircraft used in the film:

  • Fairchild C-82A Packet, N6887C – flying shots.
  • Fairchild C-82A Packet, N4833V – outdoor location wreck.
  • Fairchild C-82A Packet, N53228 – indoor studio wreck.
  • Fairchild R4Q-1 Flying Boxcar (the USMC C-119C variant), BuNo. 126580 – non-flying Phoenix prop.
  • Tallmantz Phoenix P-1, N93082 – flying Phoenix aircraft.
  • North American O-47A, N4725V – second flying Phoenix.

The C-82As were from Steward-Davies Inc. at Long Beach, California, while the O-47A came from the Planes of Fame air museum in California. The R4Q-1 was purchased from Allied Aircraft of Phoenix, Arizona. The aerial camera platform was a B-25J Mitchell, N1042B, which was also used in the 1970 film Catch-22.

Although principal photography was completed on August 13, 1965, in order to complete filming, a North American O-47A (N4725V) from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California was modified and used as a flying Phoenix stand-in. With the canopy removed, a set of skids attached to the main landing gear as well as ventral fin added to the tail, it sufficed as more-or-less a visual lookalike. Filming using the O-47A was completed in October/November 1965. It appears in the last flying scenes, painted to look like the earlier Phoenix P-1.

The final production used a mix of footage that included the O-47A, the "cobbled-together" Phoenix and Phoenix P-1.

Death of stunt flyer Paul Mantz

The flying sequences were flown by famous racing/stunt/movie pilot and collector of warplanes Paul Mantz, co-owner of Tallmantz Aviation, filling in for his partner Frank Tallman, who had injured his leg.

On the morning of July 8, 1965, Mantz was flying the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1, the machine that was "made of the wreckage", performing touch-and-go landings for the cameras, when the fuselage buckled during a touchdown. The movie model broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Mantz and seriously injuring stuntman Bobby Rose.[4]

The final credit on the screen was, "It should be remembered... that Paul Mantz, a fine man and a brilliant flyer gave his life in the making of this film..."

Reception

The film opened in selected theaters on December 15, 1965, with a full release in 1966. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times dismissed it as "grim and implausible",[5] while Variety praised the film as an "often-fascinating and superlative piece of filmmaking highlighted by standout performances and touches that show producer-director at his best."[6]

Box office

Aldrich says the film previewed well and everyone thought it was going to be a big hit but "it never took off" commercially.[7] According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $10,800,000 in rentals to break even, but suffered a loss after only making $4,855,000.[8]

Awards

The Flight of the Phoenix was nominated for two Academy Awards: Ian Bannen for Supporting Actor and Michael Luciano for Film Editing.[9] Hardy Krüger was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and Robert Aldrich was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Krüger later rejected the nomination.

References

  1. ^ a b Solomon, Aubrey (2002). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (1st ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow. ISBN 0-8108-4244-0.
  2. ^ Silver, Alain; Ursini, James (1995). Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich?: His Life and Films (1st ed.). New York: Limelight Ed. p. 267. ISBN 9780879101855.
  3. ^ "The Flight of the Phoenix". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  4. ^ "Final Flight - 'Phoenix'". Check-six.com. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  5. ^ Crowther, Bosley (February 1, 1966). "Movie Review—Screen: From the Ashes: 'Flight of the Phoenix' on View at 2 Theaters". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Variety staff (1964). Flight of the Phoenix, film review, Variety, December 31, 1964. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  7. ^ Champlin, Charles (August 25, 1974). "Aldrich's Safari in Mogul Country: Safari in Mogul Country Aldrich's Safari in Mogul Country". Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
  8. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (1988). The Fox That Got Away : The Last Days of the Zanuck Dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. Secaucus: L. Stuart. p. 325. ISBN 0-8184-0485-X.
  9. ^ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. "The 38th Academy Awards, 1966", honoring the films of 1965; awards presented at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California, April 18, 1966. Retrieved 2018-01-19.

Further reading

  • Cox, Stephen. It's a Wonderful Life: A Memory Book. Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 2003. ISBN 1-58182-337-1.
  • Eliot, Mark. Jimmy Stewart: A Biography. New York: Random House, 2006. ISBN 1-4000-5221-1.
  • Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". The Making of the Great Aviation Films. General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
  • Jones, Ken D., Arthur F. McClure and Alfred E. Twomey. The Films of James Stewart. New York: Castle Books, 1970.
  • Munn, Michael. Jimmy Stewart: The Truth Behind the Legend. Fort Lee, New Jersey: Barricade Books Inc., 2006. ISBN 1-56980-310-2.
  • Pickard, Roy. Jimmy Stewart: A Life in Film. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. ISBN 0-312-08828-0.
  • Robbins, Jhan. Everybody's Man: A Biography of Jimmy Stewart. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1985. ISBN 0-399-12973-1.
  • Thomas, Tony. A Wonderful Life: The Films and Career of James Stewart. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1988. ISBN 0-8065-1081-1.

External links

January 06, 2023
flight, phoenix, 1965, film, flight, phoenix, 1965, american, survival, drama, film, produced, directed, robert, aldrich, based, 1964, novel, same, name, english, author, elleston, trevor, story, follows, small, group, struggling, survive, their, aircraft, eme. The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1965 American survival drama film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich based on the 1964 novel of the same name by English author Elleston Trevor 3 The story follows a small group of men struggling to survive their aircraft s emergency landing in the Sahara It stars an ensemble cast with James Stewart Richard Attenborough Peter Finch Hardy Kruger Ernest Borgnine Ian Bannen Ronald Fraser Christian Marquand Dan Duryea and George Kennedy The Flight of the PhoenixTheatrical release posterDirected byRobert AldrichScreenplay byLukas HellerBased onFrom the novel by Elleston TrevorProduced byRobert AldrichStarringJames StewartRichard AttenboroughPeter FinchHardy KrugerErnest BorgnineIan BannenRonald FraserChristian MarquandDan DuryeaGeorge KennedyAlex MontoyaBarrie ChaseCinematographyJoseph Biroc A S C Edited byMichael Luciano A C E Music byDeVolProductioncompaniesAn Associates and Aldrich Company ProductionDistributed by20th Century FoxRelease dateDecember 15 1965 1965 12 15 Running time142 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 3 5 million 1 254 2 Box office 3 million US Canada rentals 1 230 Though the film was not a financial success it was well received by critics who praised Aldrich s direction and the performances of its cast It was nominated for two Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor for Bannen and Best Editing for Michael Luciano Hardy Kruger was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor a and Aldrich was nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama The Flight of the Phoenix was remade in 2004 titled as Flight of the Phoenix Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Song 4 Production 4 1 Locations 4 2 Aircraft used 4 3 Death of stunt flyer Paul Mantz 5 Reception 5 1 Box office 6 Awards 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External linksPlot EditFrank Towns is the pilot of a twin engine Fairchild C 82 Packet cargo plane flying from Jaghbub to Benghazi in Libya Lew Moran is the navigator Passengers include Capt Harris and Sgt Watson of the British Army Dr Renaud a French physician Heinrich Dorfmann a German aeronautical engineer and an oil company accountant named Standish There are also several oil workers including Trucker Cobb a foreman suffering from mental fatigue Ratbags Crow a cocky Scot Carlos and his pet monkey and Gabriele A sudden sandstorm disables the engines forcing Towns to crash land in the Sahara desert As the aircraft comes to a stop two workers are killed and Gabriele s leg is severely injured The radio is unusable and the survivors are too far off course to be found by searchers Aboard the plane is a large quantity of pitted dates but only enough water for ten to fifteen days if rationed Captain Harris sets out to try and find an oasis When Sgt Watson feigns an injury to stay behind Carlos volunteers leaving his pet monkey with Bellamy Harris and Towns refuse to allow the mentally unstable Cobb to go along but Cobb defiantly follows anyway and later dies of exposure in the desert Days later Harris returns to the crash site alone and barely alive Sgt Watson discovers and then ignores him though others later find him Meanwhile Dorfmann proposes a radical idea building a new aircraft from the wreckage The C 82 has twin booms extending rearwards from each engine and connected by the horizontal stabilizer Dorfmann wants to attach the outer sections of both wings to the left engine and left boom discarding the center fuselage and both inner wing sections of the aircraft The men will ride atop the wings Towns and Moran believe he is either joking or delusional The argument is complicated by a personality clash between Towns a proud traditionalist aviator who flew for the Allied Forces during the Second World War and Dorfmann a young arrogant German engineer Moran struggles to maintain the peace Towns initially resists Dorfmann s plan though Renaud sways his opinion saying activity and hope will help sustain the men s morale Dorfmann supervises the reconstruction while Towns remains skeptical During the work the fatally injured Gabriele commits suicide depressing the men to where they consider abandoning the new plane s construction Dorfmann caught exceeding his water ration justifies it saying he has been the only one working continuously He promises to not do it again but demands everyone work equally hard from then on Standish christens the nearly completed aircraft Phoenix after the mythical bird that is reborn from its own ashes When a band of Arabs camp nearby Harris and Renaud leave to make contact while the others and the aircraft remain hidden The two men are found murdered the next day Additionally Towns and Moran are stunned to learn that Dorfmann designs model airplanes rather than full sized aircraft Dorfmann defends himself claiming the aerodynamic principles are the same and many model planes require more exacting designs than full size aircraft With no other choice Towns and Moran forge ahead with the plan without telling the others about Dorfmann The Phoenix is completed but untested Only seven starter cartridges are available to ignite the engine The first four startup attempts are unsuccessful Over Dorfmann s vehement objections Towns fires the fifth cartridge with the ignition off to clear the engine s cylinders The next startup is successful The men pull the Phoenix to a nearby hilltop then climb onto the wings When Towns guns the engine the Phoenix slides down the hill and over a lake bed before taking off After a successful landing at an oasis with a manned oil rig the men celebrate and Towns and Dorfmann are reconciled Cast EditJames Stewart as Frank Towns Richard Attenborough as Lew Moran Peter Finch as Captain Harris Hardy Kruger as Heinrich Dorfmann Ernest Borgnine as Trucker Cobb Ian Bannen as Crow Ronald Fraser as Sergeant Watson Christian Marquand as Dr Renaud Dan Duryea as Standish George Kennedy as Bellamy Gabriele Tinti as Gabriele Alex Montoya as Carlos Peter Bravos as Tasso William Aldrich as Bill Barrie Chase as FaridaSong EditThe Phoenix Love Theme Senza Fine sung by Connie Francis Music amp Italian lyrics by Gino Paoli English lyrics by Alec WilderProduction EditLocations Edit Principal photography started April 26 1965 at the 20th Century Fox Studios and 20th Century Fox Ranch California Other filming locations simulating the desert were Buttercup Valley in the Algodones Dunes California and Pilot Knob Mesa California The flying sequences were all filmed at Pilot Knob Mesa near Winterhaven located in California s Imperial Valley on the western fringes of Yuma Arizona Aircraft used Edit Fairchild C 82A N53228 painted in the markings of the fictional Arabco Oil Company for the film In 2005 Hollywood aviation historian Simon Beck identified the aircraft used in the film Fairchild C 82A Packet N6887C flying shots Fairchild C 82A Packet N4833V outdoor location wreck Fairchild C 82A Packet N53228 indoor studio wreck Fairchild R4Q 1 Flying Boxcar the USMC C 119C variant BuNo 126580 non flying Phoenix prop Tallmantz Phoenix P 1 N93082 flying Phoenix aircraft North American O 47A N4725V second flying Phoenix The C 82As were from Steward Davies Inc at Long Beach California while the O 47A came from the Planes of Fame air museum in California The R4Q 1 was purchased from Allied Aircraft of Phoenix Arizona The aerial camera platform was a B 25J Mitchell N1042B which was also used in the 1970 film Catch 22 Although principal photography was completed on August 13 1965 in order to complete filming a North American O 47A N4725V from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino California was modified and used as a flying Phoenix stand in With the canopy removed a set of skids attached to the main landing gear as well as ventral fin added to the tail it sufficed as more or less a visual lookalike Filming using the O 47A was completed in October November 1965 It appears in the last flying scenes painted to look like the earlier Phoenix P 1 The final production used a mix of footage that included the O 47A the cobbled together Phoenix and Phoenix P 1 Death of stunt flyer Paul Mantz Edit The flying sequences were flown by famous racing stunt movie pilot and collector of warplanes Paul Mantz co owner of Tallmantz Aviation filling in for his partner Frank Tallman who had injured his leg On the morning of July 8 1965 Mantz was flying the Tallmantz Phoenix P 1 the machine that was made of the wreckage performing touch and go landings for the cameras when the fuselage buckled during a touchdown The movie model broke apart and cartwheeled killing Mantz and seriously injuring stuntman Bobby Rose 4 The final credit on the screen was It should be remembered that Paul Mantz a fine man and a brilliant flyer gave his life in the making of this film Reception EditThe film opened in selected theaters on December 15 1965 with a full release in 1966 Bosley Crowther of The New York Times dismissed it as grim and implausible 5 while Variety praised the film as an often fascinating and superlative piece of filmmaking highlighted by standout performances and touches that show producer director at his best 6 Box office Edit Aldrich says the film previewed well and everyone thought it was going to be a big hit but it never took off commercially 7 According to Fox records the film needed to earn 10 800 000 in rentals to break even but suffered a loss after only making 4 855 000 8 Awards EditThe Flight of the Phoenix was nominated for two Academy Awards Ian Bannen for Supporting Actor and Michael Luciano for Film Editing 9 Hardy Kruger was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and Robert Aldrich was nominated for Best Motion Picture Drama See also EditFlight of the Phoenix 2004 film a re make of this film List of film accidents Lady Be Good aircraft and Tragedy at Kufra real life early air crashes in Africa Notes Edit Kruger later rejected the nomination References Edit a b Solomon Aubrey 2002 Twentieth Century Fox A Corporate and Financial History 1st ed Lanham Maryland Scarecrow ISBN 0 8108 4244 0 Silver Alain Ursini James 1995 Whatever Happened to Robert Aldrich His Life and Films 1st ed New York Limelight Ed p 267 ISBN 9780879101855 The Flight of the Phoenix Turner Classic Movies Retrieved February 29 2016 Final Flight Phoenix Check six com Retrieved January 18 2017 Crowther Bosley February 1 1966 Movie Review Screen From the Ashes Flight of the Phoenix on View at 2 Theaters The New York Times Retrieved January 19 2018 Variety staff 1964 Flight of the Phoenix film review Variety December 31 1964 Retrieved 2018 01 19 Champlin Charles August 25 1974 Aldrich s Safari in Mogul Country Safari in Mogul Country Aldrich s Safari in Mogul Country Los Angeles Times p 1 Silverman Stephen M 1988 The Fox That Got Away The Last Days of the Zanuck Dynasty at Twentieth Century Fox Secaucus L Stuart p 325 ISBN 0 8184 0485 X The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The 38th Academy Awards 1966 honoring the films of 1965 awards presented at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium Santa Monica California April 18 1966 Retrieved 2018 01 19 Further reading EditCox Stephen It s a Wonderful Life A Memory Book Nashville Tennessee Cumberland House 2003 ISBN 1 58182 337 1 Eliot Mark Jimmy Stewart A Biography New York Random House 2006 ISBN 1 4000 5221 1 Hardwick Jack and Ed Schnepf A Viewer s Guide to Aviation Movies The Making of the Great Aviation Films General Aviation Series Volume 2 1989 Jones Ken D Arthur F McClure and Alfred E Twomey The Films of James Stewart New York Castle Books 1970 Munn Michael Jimmy Stewart The Truth Behind the Legend Fort Lee New Jersey Barricade Books Inc 2006 ISBN 1 56980 310 2 Pickard Roy Jimmy Stewart A Life in Film New York St Martin s Press 1992 ISBN 0 312 08828 0 Robbins Jhan Everybody s Man A Biography of Jimmy Stewart New York G P Putnam s Sons 1985 ISBN 0 399 12973 1 Thomas Tony A Wonderful Life The Films and Career of James Stewart Secaucus New Jersey Citadel Press 1988 ISBN 0 8065 1081 1 External links EditThe Flight of the Phoenix 1965 at IMDb The Flight of the Phoenix at Rotten Tomatoes The Flight of the Phoenix at AllMovie The Jimmy Stewart Museum Home Page The Flight of the Phoenix at the TCM Movie Database The Flight of the Phoenix at the American Film Institute Catalog Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Flight of the Phoenix 1965 film amp oldid 1126105942, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.