Isn’t it amazing how many outstanding films are sitting out there unwatched and unknown, only to be be rediscovered by later generations like a jewel buried in the sand.
@@bunnytailsREACTS One of the good things about growing up when there was only 3 major networks and PBS is that they often would fill airtime with past movies. That's how I first saw this film. I had never even heard of it before. Your Patreon members are doing a very good job of recommending films.
@@bunnytailsREACTS If you want another stone cold classic film that no one else has reacted to consider 'The Caint Mutiny' (1954) it even inspired William Windom's performance as Comoodore Decker in Star Trek's 'The Doomsday Machine.'
There are lots of great classics out there. The 70s was a good source of gritty thrillers, suspense and action movies. One of my favorites was 'The taking of Pelham 123' staring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau.
Five Oscar winners in this one. Jimmy Stewart: Harvey, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shop Around The Corner Richard Attenborough: The Great Escape, A Bridge Too Far Peter Finch: Network, Far From The Madding Crowd, Sunday Bloody Sunday Ernest Borgnine: Marty, The Wild Bunch, The Vikings, Emperor of The North George Kennedy: Cool Hand Luke, Lonely are The Brave, The Dirty Dozen
Not an Oscar winner, but let's give a shout out to the great Dan Duryea (Standish), a highly sought-after actor in the 1940s and 50s who usually played scoundrels you loved to hate? He previously co-starred with Jimmy Stewart in the Western Winchester '73 (1950).
@@uncoolmartin460 Also had Sir John Mills. Noel Coward (who also starred) directed, along with Sir David Lean. Classic war film; British wartime morale booster.
Jimmy Stewart left acting during World War Two, entered as a private, became a real pilot , flying real combat over Germany. Eventually became a General .
While in the Army Air Corps, he appeared in the 1942 recruiting film, Earning Your Wings. He was a college graduate and a licensed commercial pilot before the war, so he could receive a pilot commission without going through cadet training. At age 33, he was past the age limit for the usual commissioning path.
@TheMoneypresident Jimmy Stewart, did in fact, enlist as a private. Many did in the days just after Pearl Harbor, but during the classification process, found that he was too old to enter into the aviation cadet program. After entering the Army as a private, he applied for a direct commission, a track that led to flying, and commissioning as an officer. From Google: After first being rejected for low weight in November 1940, he enlisted in February 1941.[110][a] As an experienced pilot, he reported for induction as a private in the Air Corps on March 22, 1941.[112]
I’m glad you watched this. It has been a favorite of mine for years. I hadn’t seen it in many years so it was fun to follow along. Paul Mantz the stunt flyer who died flying the plane in real life had an extraordinary career. I read his book as a youngster and was enamored with his exploits. It’s good to see folks watching stuff other than just mainstream movies. These films were MUCH harder to make and really took a toll on the performers. Jimmy Stewart flew bombers in WWII and survived many missions. He really understood the dynamics of being a pilot. He was the real deal. Thanks!
@@bunnytailsREACTS : If you like Jimmy Stewart, try watching the movie "The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957). Stewart portrays Charles Lindbergh and his solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to Paris in 1927.
Some of the finest performances by this cast! I have often shown the scene where Moran breaks down to aspiring fledgling actors and said, "If you can do THIS, you can do ANYTHING!" I saw this film when I was twelve years old and I remember standing up when the plane's engine was first firing up, then jumping up and down with excitement and cheering when the engine was fully up and running! One of my favorite films of all time - thanks for watching and reviewing it!
Excellent. I'm glad you're watching more of the classic films that have passed the test of time. Some of the best stories are of normal people fighting exceptional odds. This is definitely one such movie.
He needed to clean out the gunk in the engine in order for it to fire properly. Richard Attenborough should have won an Oscar for his performance. I love this movie.
The Flight of the Phoenix was a 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. This movie was based on the book. The aircraft used in the film is a rare Fairchild C-82 Packet, which entered service at the tailend of WW2. The soft spoken Jimmy Stewart, in spite of having a successful acting career, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force as a private when war broke out and rose through the ranks as a commissioned officer, eventually commanding a squadron of B-24 bombers, flying 20 combat missions. He was the real deal. Stewart was promoted all the way to colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. He returned to acting after the war but remained active as a reservist with the newly formed U.S. Air Force. He would also promoted to brigadier general. Stewart also starred in the film, Strategic Air Command (1955), showcasing an important arm of the USAF, whose motto became, “Peace Is Our Profession.”
Completely forgot about that movie. Used to be regularly on TV during my childhood in the 70s and 80s, when you basically had to watch what's on TV besides the occasionally video rental movie night. Good memories, and I think it held up pretty well.
Great reaction and review of this classic hidden gem of a movie. It was very apparent how much this movie affected you, very happy you enjoyed it so much.🙂
@Bunnytails THANK YOU for showcasing and showing off the classics films and going back to the 1940's 50's and such. They can continue to live on and amaze when they are rediscovered :)
SO COOL! You're actually hitting the "classical" (BRILLIANT) era of American film! STAR TREK RELATED NOTE TO THIS FILM: "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry is also a (somewhat) secret legend for having survived multiple plane crashes during his time in the military and as a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). His work on "Star Trek" is much better known, of course, but the incredible stories behind his near-death experiences as a pilot help afford fans a better understanding of the man who gave us Captain Kirk, Spock, and the whole beautiful, utopian universe of "Star Trek."
I own this movie on BluRay and watch it every 18 months or so. It was interesting that Sgt. Watson made it out alive, a predictable film would have had him get his comeuppance. Yes, Watson was a shirker, who wanted Captain Harris out of the way. He didn't want to be ordered to do anything that might call for self sacrifice. He'd do some grunt work, but he wasn't going to be ordered to do anything noble. The Captain was an admirable character. He was devoted to duty, but he realized that Watson was a small man, and making a show of military discipline in these circumstances, among civilians, was counter productive. Ernest Borgnine, who played the chap who had a nervous breakdown, was a best actor Academy Award winner. Of course Stewart, Finch, George Kennedy and Attenborough were also Oscar winners. Ratbags played by Ian Bannen was nominated for an Oscar in a supporting role for this film. Dan Duryea, who played the easy going older gent, was a terrific actor with lots of great roles in classic films from the 40s and 50s. What a cast!
@@MrAitraining Definitely. As a German myself I was at first wondering if it wasn't too much of a cliché to have the German as that perfectionist engineer with a touch of arrogance but it really gave the whole thing an interesting dynamic. I mean, just a decade or two earlier the French and British were fighting the Germans in North Africa and you definitely hear some undertones of them seeing him as a kind of "Kraut" but in the end it's his skills that save the day. Great actor, died two years ago.
@@hunting69doehle62 yeah I think for the time his german character worked. And without him, this is just a typical lost, deserted and escape movie. He gave the whole thing a unique edge of power struggle and suspense.
Peter Finch (Captain Harris) also won the Best Actor Oscar playing Howard Beale in Network (1976): "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more!" He was the first actor to win the award posthumously, as well as the first Australian actor to win a Best Actor award.
This movie was indeed a classic. It has the very thing that almost all science fiction lacks, in any time period. Instead of calling on some kind of miracle that only exists in fantasy, it relies on people using their creativity, intelligence, and other qualities, and working together to get through a situation that looks impossible.
Yes. Jimmy Stewart had said he learned to fly from the Wright brothers. He was a real war hero pilot. And trained a lot of pilots in wW2 he didn't retire from the military until the 1960s or 70s he reached tank of 3 star brigadier general.
For those interested check out the true story of the, "Lady Be Good", lost in the Libyan desert April, 1943. The inexperienced crew attempted to walk out and survived many days before expiring.
This incident not only inspired Elleston Trevor to pen his novel on which this film was based, but also inspired a Rod Serling teleplay for The Twilight Zone and a 1970 TV movie (“Sole Survivor”).
Thank you for watching this one! This is my second favorite Jimmy Stewart movie after It's A Wonderful Life. I have it on DVD but I only watch it every 3 or 4 years because it always gives me anxiety for the crew and passengers. 😅
good ol' fashioned HUMAN DRAMA storytelling, this is hollywood at its best! 😁 minimal effects leaving the actors having TO ACT! EXCELLENT CHOICE! LOVE your reaction! 👍☺
This was filmed outside my hometown of Yuma Az. One of hottest places on earth. My father was a reporter for a small news station. He was allowed on the set of movie. He actually was invited to a party of the actors and crew. He came back with a ton of photographs of the actors and sets.I was a baby at the time. Love the film!
It’s a lesser known film with James Stewart. Stewart was a pilot in both military and civilian life, so I figure any movie he was in that had to do with aviation had to be at least plausible.
Another of my all-time favorites since I first saw it many decades ago. The conflicts, the desperate attempt to cling to hope, and the initiative and ingenuity to save themselves by building a new plane are hard to beat. AM radio can travel up to 100 miles during the day and several times that at night due to better propagation.
Saw this as a kid on some late movie showing and it was one of the most impactful experiences I can remember. The engine startup is a top 10 all-time scene of desperation and the fight for survival in (most) humans.
She didn't recognize Academy award winner Earnest Bourgnine? He's been in a ton of movies. PS. I just noticed academy award winner George Kennedy also, lol
@rogershore3128 He was fairly unknown when he won best actor for a cheap little movie called Marty, a big sleeper hit. Instead of trying to make more movies, he turned his fame into a steady paycheck, a sitcom called McCales Navy. George Kennedy did the same thing, turned his Academy Award fame into a TV show, the blue knight
Watched this movie 20 years ago or so and loved it. The reveal that they were being led by a model airplane designer floored me. Felt as though I had been working hard to rebuild that airplane being directed by a real aircraft engineer, while also struggling to survive, then learned he was not a real aircraft engineer - just jaw dropping. Still feel that let down after the many years.
The man at 6:54 who you heard asking if they could set "aside some water for washing" is actor Dan Duryea, one of my favorite actors. He was famous for starring as a tough hard-nosed gangster in many film noir and gangster movies during the 1940s and 50s, as well as he starred in a lot of westerns. But in real life he was very kind and mild-mannered much like the character he plays in this movie. I've been watching a lot of his old films lately. He was an, excellent, excellent actor!!! All of these men in this movie were some of the acting greats of their day!
Thank you for this. You're right, nearly a century of great movies. Many of them have been "remade" but no remake is nearly as good as the original. As you can see in the comments, Mr. Stewart served WWII. As did many Stars and celebrities. Here are a few: Lee Marvin, James Doohan, George H.W. Bush, Charles Durning, Rod Serling, Charles Bronson, Audie Murphy, Kirk Douglas, and last in this list but still amongst many, many others John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
In real life there was a stunt pilot flying the PHOENIX. Just after it cleared the sand dune it crashed and the pilot was killed. As a youngster I saw this in one of the big 'grand' theaters in Los Angeles, I don't remember which, when this was released. It is a great movie.
I'd like to recommend two classic films, if I may. Both are romantic, "the African Queen" with Bogart and Hepburn, and "Father Goose" with Cary Grant and Leslie Caron. I'm fairly certain that you will enjoy every minute.
A great film. The 2004 remake is also pretty decent. Jimmy Steward flew bombers in WW 2 and retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Brigadier General. He made several aviation themed films, all of them good. One thing I think many people don't appreciate is just how wonderful the musical of these older films were. Nearly every film in the golden age of Hollywood had a grand, sweeping, and sometimes epic musical score.
Attenborough is pronounced Attenba-rah (best way I can explain it)😁. Not only was Richard Attenborough a great actor, he was a very accomplished director. Gandhi and A Bridge to Far are maybe his best known as a director, and both are very much worth a watch. Especially A Bridge to Far IMO.😀
Great reaction to a great movie!! I saw this film as a young teenager 35 years ago. I liked all the different characters and the film felt very serious so the twist with the "toy- model- engineer" was very surprising! My jaw dropped and I felt like the two pilots! 😃
To add a bit of context. This was filmed in 1965, most of the actors and the audience had experience from WW2 so having a German as one of the heroes was a major step. Jimmy Stewart was a pilot, he joined the USAAF and flew bombers in WW2 and remained a reserve officer, flying combat missions as an observer in Vietnam aside from his acting jobs. Richard Attenborough got his start as a film director as part of the RAF film unit, flying on bombing raids over Germany to record combat footage for news reals and bombing analysis. The cast use a load of anti-German and nazi jibes to Dorfmann, in real life Hardy Kruger had been conscripted into the SS at age 16 and had been in combat with them before being captured in 1945. So there was a real undercurrent of old enemies working together through the movie.
I've seen this amazing movie so many times I've lost count. It's funny, growing up I thought Dorfmann was the hero; but as I got older it became clear to me that Lew is the hero. You are 100% right. He's the glue that holds them together. All the characters in this are so amazing.
Watching this again, it made me think of Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat". Its another character-driven story about a group of people against the sea, and in some cases each other. I think you'd enjoy it as well.
The part of the movie that really made me emotional and thrilled was when that plane engine finally came to life after 6 sputtering tries. I was holding my breath that whole time. And then when Frank gave it full throttle and it lifted into the air. The sound of that engine and the power it had. That whole scene was filmed perfectly! Was a great great movie! And you gave a great review too.
Understand that when they finally left the ground, they were far from "saved". Supposedly they were still a long distance from any settlement and only had a rough idea where to find one. Imagine a scene if they had continued to search for a settlement as the sun went down and they ended up flying blindly in the dark. Talk about a big mood change!
That twist though (when it's revealed he's only designed model aircraft). It hit me hard when i first saw this on TV in the 80s or late 70s and still stings. Great film and reaction
Emperor Of The North or Emperor Of The North Pole was the third collaboration between Ernie and director Robert Aldrich, the most sadistic director before Sam Peckinpah. Ernie and Rob worked on this and The Dirty Dozen.
@@Madbandit77 dang I didn’t realize the connection. It’s interesting how Ernest could seamlessly go from psychotic villain in one movie to lovable guy the next.
This is one of those "Battle of Wills" movies, and a really good one. The writing is excellent and quite memorable, "Mr Towns, you behave as if stupidity were a virtue." Other great "Battle of Wills" movies include, _From Here to Eternity_ , _The Bridge on the River Kwai_ , _Hell in the Pacific_ , _Nevada Smith_ and _The Prestige_ . All of these are waiting for your reaction! Cheers!!
With Jimmy Stewarts WWII service, the first film he did after the war was It's a Wonderful Life. The famous, impassioned scene where he has a telephone call with his friend about a job and he angrily declines the job and that he is going to take over the family business even though he had hoped to leave the town was the very first scene he shot. Apparently, Frank Capra, who had worked with Stewart before the war, knew it was his first scene, so told him he would run the camera, but just consider it a rehearsal, they could always reshoot it. The cathartic and almost shocking (especially for the usually soft-spoken Stewart) emotional outburst was apparently not exactly in the script and actually scared the crap out of Capra and his costar (can't remember her name) and they just used that take and moved on. He mostly settled down into himself after that, but I think the emotional rawness and pain that Stewart brings to the role (and would become a much more regular thing he brought to roles afterward) are why the movie is so good.
The engineer should have lied about that detail. He should have told them he built ultra-light experimental aircraft big enough to carry 1 or 2 people. That would have given them more confidence that he could build an aircraft big enough to fly out of there to get help. He also would have personally believed that he could do it.
Among the cast are more than one former and future Academy Award winner, and nominee. Peter Finch, regrettably, was awarded his Oscar posthumously, having died a couple of months short of the ceremony.
Great reaction Bunny! As others have mentioned, Jimmy Stewart was a bomber pilot in WW2 and earned an Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and four Air Medals. His family had a long history of military service, which is why he paused his acting career and joined the army to fly in combat (he was a private pilot before the war). He had quite a struggle getting accepted into the service because he was too thin, and also had to fight to be assigned to a combat unit, as he was older and the army didn't want to risk the life of a well-known actor. He flew 20 combat missions, and suffered the effects of PTSD near the end of the war ('flak happy'). He was in bad shape when he got home: he looked sickly and he "rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming." He also experienced a lot of guilt for dropping bombs which almost certainly killed civilians. If you're looking for another aviation drama with Jimmy Stewart try "No Highway in the Sky" (1951) which also features Marlene Dietrich.
German here. At the end of the war, nearly 900.000 men served in German ground defense forces. And of course, they take a heavy toll on allied air crews. A fact, which is normaly elegant overlooked is, that the allied air war over Europe, cost the live of 60.000 British and 90.000 American airmen...
James Stewart. Small-town boy, Princeton graduate, Academy-Award-winning actor, family man. And bomber pilot, with twenty combat missions to his credit. Brigadier General.
There are lots of scenes in movies like that, where a character reaches a level of hopelessness that he cannot accept reality. In real life, that's a coping mechanism.
The average daily march of a Roman Legionnaire in good shape was expected to cover 20 miles. Assuming they could survive the heat and lack of water it would take a minimum of 25 days to cover the 500 miles.
I like this movie because I was a Navy Aircrewman. Completed survival schools at an Air Force base in Florida and Antarctica as part of my training. Anything flight related, I enjoy. For something along the lines of survival, recommend you check out an interesting Science Fiction film titled Robinson Crusoe on Mars from 1964. One year before The Flight of the Phoenix came out.
Never seen this movie before. Very interesting. The basic physics of airplane flight can certainly be scaled up from model planes to full sized ones, but it isn't just multiplying by a simple weight or size factor. I am not competent myself to say what factors would be involved in such a scaling up process, but undoubtedly there are individuals who do have such expertise. In an emergency situation, a complete "vetting" process is a waste of time. Sometimes you just have to trust people.
Dorfmann never needed to take that chance. Realistically, he should have tried to assemble a much lighter aircraft that could hold 2 or 3 people, more like the "Piper Cub" size. With that plane, the pilot, co-pilot and Dorfmann could have flown a longer distance and had a greater chance to find a settlement where they could get help to retrieve the others (who would have more WATER available while they waited). The plane could have been constructed much faster with much less physical effort and it''s more plausible that Dorfmann could have upscaled to that size.
This was popular during the early days of Cable TV 1974 - 1978. I lived in Louisiana and we had 6 channels that just played older movies 24 * 7, The Flight Of the Phoenix was in the rotation along with a bunch of other 60's and early 70's Color Movies. TRIVIA: The actor who played Standish (Dan Duryea) is the father of the actor (Peter Duryea) who played Lt Jose Tyler in the Star Trek Episode "The Cage".
As others have mentioned, this film has a spectacular cast. 4 of the actors I believe won Oscars over the course of their careers. And further down the list are two excellent British character actors Ian Bannen and Ronald Fraser who were ubiquitous in the 60s and 70s.
great that this popped up... when I was a kid this flick was on TV a few times , I loved it. (of course the airplane part is a sideshow ,but. ) became interested in EAA ( homebuilt airplanes ) and took some flying lessons. way too expensive but even recently I've watched U t. videos of homebuilts. none of em WW2 bombers. biplanes thou....
I love this movie. Glad to see you reacting to it. Other good Jimmy Stuart movies, "Harvey" 1950, "The Spirit of St. Louis" 1957. "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" 1962. Cobb is played by Ernest Borgnine, a multi award winning actor best known for the "McHale's Navy" TV series. "Emperor of the North" 1973, "The Wild Bunch" 1969 Richard Attenborough played in "The Great Escape" 1963. "The Sand Pebbles" 1966 Bellamy was played by George Kennedy who played in "Cool Hand Luke" 1967, "The Eiger Sanction" 1975 , "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" 1974 and "The Naked Gun" 1988 I also recommend "Sahara" 1943 with Humphrey Bogart.
Other good movies with Hardy Kruger (the model plane designer): Hatari! (with John Wayne) and The Wild Geese (with Sir Richard Burton, Sir Richard Harris (Dumbledore, to you), Sir Roger Moore (Bond, James Bond), Stewart Granger (North to Alaska, The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche), John Kani (Black Panther, The Ghost and the Darkness)..
(58:57) I absolutely agree! I watched this original probably two dozen times over the years, before I watched the remake from 2004, and let me tell you: the remake has nothing on the original. Some movies don't need a remake - they stand the test of time.
What is this, my birthday?!? One of my FAVORITE classic movies! When you see Jimmy Stewart "acting" like he's flying a plane, it looks good because when he wasn't making movies, he was Brigadier GENERAL James Stewart, United States Air Force (active duty during WWII, and in the Reserves later). He flew combat bomber missions in WWII, taught bomber pilots in Korea, and flew his last mission as an observer in a spare seat in a B-52 bomber over North Vietnam. He held the Distinguished Service Medal, awarded on his retirement in 1966. He was the real deal....
I saw this movie decades ago on TV as a kid. It doesn't get any notoriety like other films, but has always been one of my favorites. These characters could have just given up and died, or plodded through the desert and died. Instead, they pooled together their skills, and came up with a way to survive.
It's so lovely to see an older film being reacted to, and really nice to see someone take some time to discuss their thoughts afterwards as well. The 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's are the era's that I tend to watch, so looking forward to you discovering plenty more great films. Xx
Richard Attenborough's character is also my favorite in this movie, and in his first movie when he was 18 in "In Which We Serve" (1942), in Jurassic Park when he was 70, and in The Great Escape (1963), and he tied for my favorite in The Sand Pebbles (1966).
Omigosh, I think you're the first reactor to review this film! Very underrated in my opinion, but one of my favorite movies. Just a great script, good cast & the set design was superb. The remake was fair but just lacked the quality of this one. So glad to see another classic film, hope you do more. (Oh, might as well throw one out there, I must suggest "Metropolis" which is a fantastic sci-fi/dystopian themed film. )
Yes, Heinrich Dorfman is a German name, And the great actor playing the part is Hardy Krüger who was German. In fact, in real life when he was a 16 year old boy in Germany during Hitler's reign in WWII, he was assigned to an SS Grenadier Division and was sent into heavy combat. When he was ordered to shoot at an American squad, he refused. As a result he was labeled a coward and sentenced to death but one of the superior SS officers cancelled that order and spared him from being put to death. He was reassigned as a messenger but instead went into hiding until the end of the war. He was captured and taken prisoner by U.S. forces but escaped after 3 attempts.
Part of the prejudice against Dorfmann was that he was German. Remember, this was only twenty years after WWII, and most of these men would have seen service in the war. Even when I was growing up in the 1970s in the UK, there were still plenty of people who didn't like Germans on principle. It's entirely reasonable that a model aircraft designer could design a full-sized aircraft in an emergency: the basic principles of aerodynamics do scale up. After all, 'real' aircraft designers use sub-scale models in wind-tunnels to research and check their designs. What he would be less familiar with would be the details of the systems on full-sized aircraft. That's how Frank got a bit of his pride back: his experience with full-sized aircraft engines meant he knew to use one starter cartridge with the ignition off to clean the cylinders: a situation that Dorfmann would never have encountered in a lifetime building model aircraft.
While I agree that Dorfmann plausibly had the knowledge to build a plane big enough to carry them all out, I don't think he should have tried. He should have sized up the situation quickly and convinced Stewart's character that it was possible to build a much smaller aircraft quickly that could carry 3 people out to find help while preserving the water supply for the people left behind.
@@davestang5454 How would building that smaller aircraft be easier though? Remember The Phoernix wasn't designed from scratch: it used the existing (quite large) engine, outer wings and tail boom from the C-82. Building a smaller aircraft from the pre-made parts they had wasn't really possible, and building it from scratch would be MUCH more difficult.
Isn’t it amazing how many outstanding films are sitting out there unwatched and unknown, only to be be rediscovered by later generations like a jewel buried in the sand.
I wonder what other treasures I will dig up in the future!
@@bunnytailsREACTS One of the good things about growing up when there was only 3 major networks and PBS is that they often would fill airtime with past movies. That's how I first saw this film. I had never even heard of it before. Your Patreon members are doing a very good job of recommending films.
@@bunnytailsREACTS The man who would be king, fantastic film
@@bunnytailsREACTS If you want another stone cold classic film that no one else has reacted to consider 'The Caint Mutiny' (1954) it even inspired William Windom's performance as Comoodore Decker in Star Trek's 'The Doomsday Machine.'
There are lots of great classics out there.
The 70s was a good source of gritty thrillers, suspense and action movies.
One of my favorites was 'The taking of Pelham 123' staring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau.
Five Oscar winners in this one.
Jimmy Stewart: Harvey, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Shop Around The Corner
Richard Attenborough: The Great Escape, A Bridge Too Far
Peter Finch: Network, Far From The Madding Crowd, Sunday Bloody Sunday
Ernest Borgnine: Marty, The Wild Bunch, The Vikings, Emperor of The North
George Kennedy: Cool Hand Luke, Lonely are The Brave, The Dirty Dozen
George Kennedy was also in the three Naked Gun movies. He played Frank Drebbin’s partner.
@@THOMMGB He was also in all of the Airport movies.
Not an Oscar winner, but let's give a shout out to the great Dan Duryea (Standish), a highly sought-after actor in the 1940s and 50s who usually played scoundrels you loved to hate? He previously co-starred with Jimmy Stewart in the Western Winchester '73 (1950).
@@THOMMGBAirplane ( or Airport) The Eiger Sanction.
Also see Richard Attenborough in The Great Escape (1963).
Big X!!
Also "In Which We Serve", I believe it was his first role.
@@uncoolmartin460 Also had Sir John Mills. Noel Coward (who also starred) directed, along with Sir David Lean. Classic war film; British wartime morale booster.
@@steelers6titles 💯It's a fantastic film. Love watching it to this day.
Also "The Sand Pebbles". He was great in that one, and it was probably Steve McQueen's best performance.
Jimmy Stewart left acting during World War Two, entered as a private, became a real pilot , flying real combat over Germany. Eventually became a General .
He was in the reserves until the mid 60's, and rose to the rank of Brigadier General.
While in the Army Air Corps, he appeared in the 1942 recruiting film, Earning Your Wings. He was a college graduate and a licensed commercial pilot before the war, so he could receive a pilot commission without going through cadet training. At age 33, he was past the age limit for the usual commissioning path.
He went in as an officer. Not as a private. He had a private pilots license. Private in the military never became pilots quickly.
@TheMoneypresident Jimmy Stewart, did in fact, enlist as a private. Many did in the days just after Pearl Harbor, but during the classification process, found that he was too old to enter into the aviation cadet program. After entering the Army as a private, he applied for a direct commission, a track that led to flying, and commissioning as an officer. From Google:
After first being rejected for low weight in November 1940, he enlisted in February 1941.[110][a] As an experienced pilot, he reported for induction as a private in the Air Corps on March 22, 1941.[112]
He flew B52's as well in Vietnam I think?
You cracked me up when one of the oil workers on the men’s arrival, shouted “What the hell is *that* ?” you replied “It’s a toy plane!”. Brilliant 👏🏻🤣
I am glad you got to see this overlooked and great movie Bunny. Thanks for giving it a look.
I am glad to have checked this one out!
@@bunnytailsREACTS react rio bravo :)
Not only is good old Jimmy a pilot in this, he was a pilot in WW2.
Not just a pilot, but a B-24 bomber pilot, commander and eventually brigadier general, not to mention one of the greatest actors of any age. :)
Another great film is Strategic Air Command. Afterwards he appeared in a promotional film, Champion of Champions where he flies the B-58 Hustler
He also played Charles Lindbergh in the movie adaptation of Lindbergh's 1953 memoir The Spirit of St. Louis (1957).
I’m glad you watched this. It has been a favorite of mine for years. I hadn’t seen it in many years so it was fun to follow along. Paul Mantz the stunt flyer who died flying the plane in real life had an extraordinary career. I read his book as a youngster and was enamored with his exploits. It’s good to see folks watching stuff other than just mainstream movies. These films were MUCH harder to make and really took a toll on the performers. Jimmy Stewart flew bombers in WWII and survived many missions. He really understood the dynamics of being a pilot. He was the real deal.
Thanks!
You're welcome! I hope to do some more "firsts" on YT as far as reactions go.
@@bunnytailsREACTS : If you like Jimmy Stewart, try watching the movie "The Spirit of St. Louis" (1957). Stewart portrays Charles Lindbergh and his solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to Paris in 1927.
Some of the finest performances by this cast! I have often shown the scene where Moran breaks down to aspiring fledgling actors and said, "If you can do THIS, you can do ANYTHING!" I saw this film when I was twelve years old and I remember standing up when the plane's engine was first firing up, then jumping up and down with excitement and cheering when the engine was fully up and running! One of my favorite films of all time - thanks for watching and reviewing it!
My pleasure, thank you!
Great movie and a great cast. Fond memories of my father showing me this when I was little.
Excellent. I'm glad you're watching more of the classic films that have passed the test of time. Some of the best stories are of normal people fighting exceptional odds. This is definitely one such movie.
He needed to clean out the gunk in the engine in order for it to fire properly. Richard Attenborough should have won an Oscar for his performance. I love this movie.
I know you would absolutely LOVE the movie "Romancing the Stone."
The Flight of the Phoenix was a 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. This movie was based on the book. The aircraft used in the film is a rare Fairchild C-82 Packet, which entered service at the tailend of WW2.
The soft spoken Jimmy Stewart, in spite of having a successful acting career, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force as a private when war broke out and rose through the ranks as a commissioned officer, eventually commanding a squadron of B-24 bombers, flying 20 combat missions. He was the real deal. Stewart was promoted all the way to colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. He returned to acting after the war but remained active as a reservist with the newly formed U.S. Air Force. He would also promoted to brigadier general. Stewart also starred in the film, Strategic Air Command (1955), showcasing an important arm of the USAF, whose motto became, “Peace Is Our Profession.”
Completely forgot about that movie. Used to be regularly on TV during my childhood in the 70s and 80s, when you basically had to watch what's on TV besides the occasionally video rental movie night.
Good memories, and I think it held up pretty well.
Ernest Borgnine is also another great actor.
The Poseidon Adventure. McCales Navy
Ernest Borgnine won an Oscar for Best Actor for the movie "Marty" (1955).
Great reaction and review of this classic hidden gem of a movie. It was very apparent how much this movie affected you, very happy you enjoyed it so much.🙂
Thank you very much! Yes, it was excellent!
Amazing movie, great when an engineer is the hero.
How absolutely awesome that you've watched this.. massive props.
@Bunnytails THANK YOU for showcasing and showing off the classics films and going back to the 1940's 50's and such. They can continue to live on and amaze when they are rediscovered :)
SO COOL! You're actually hitting the "classical" (BRILLIANT) era of American film!
STAR TREK RELATED NOTE TO THIS FILM:
"Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry is also a (somewhat) secret legend for having survived multiple plane crashes during his time in the military and as a commercial pilot for Pan American World Airways (Pan Am). His work on "Star Trek" is much better known, of course, but the incredible stories behind his near-death experiences as a pilot help afford fans a better understanding of the man who gave us Captain Kirk, Spock, and the whole beautiful, utopian universe of "Star Trek."
I love these classic movies.
Same here!!!
Movie time with Bunny lets go😁❤
Oh yes. Been waiting for a reaction to this. Hardy kruger as dorfman was amazing.
Watched it as a kid half a century ago... god I'm old
Rt there w/ u dude.
Me too😅
Go to see it as a 15 year old in the theater
Awesome old classic movie, it captivated me in my youth. Thank you for watching this classic old film, hope you watch more.
I plan to!
I own this movie on BluRay and watch it every 18 months or so. It was interesting that Sgt. Watson made it out alive, a predictable film would have had him get his comeuppance.
Yes, Watson was a shirker, who wanted Captain Harris out of the way. He didn't want to be ordered to do anything that might call for self sacrifice. He'd do some grunt work, but he wasn't going to be ordered to do anything noble. The Captain was an admirable character. He was devoted to duty, but he realized that Watson was a small man, and making a show of military discipline in these circumstances, among civilians, was counter productive.
Ernest Borgnine, who played the chap who had a nervous breakdown, was a best actor Academy Award winner. Of course Stewart, Finch, George Kennedy and Attenborough were also Oscar winners. Ratbags played by Ian Bannen was nominated for an Oscar in a supporting role for this film. Dan Duryea, who played the easy going older gent, was a terrific actor with lots of great roles in classic films from the 40s and 50s. What a cast!
I was only familiar with two of them going in but yes... What. A. Cast!!
@@michaelbrennick need to mention Hardy Kruger as Dorfman. The movie wouldn't be nearly as interesting or as suspenseful without him. He was great
@@MrAitraining Definitely. As a German myself I was at first wondering if it wasn't too much of a cliché to have the German as that perfectionist engineer with a touch of arrogance but it really gave the whole thing an interesting dynamic. I mean, just a decade or two earlier the French and British were fighting the Germans in North Africa and you definitely hear some undertones of them seeing him as a kind of "Kraut" but in the end it's his skills that save the day. Great actor, died two years ago.
@@hunting69doehle62 yeah I think for the time his german character worked. And without him, this is just a typical lost, deserted and escape movie. He gave the whole thing a unique edge of power struggle and suspense.
Peter Finch (Captain Harris) also won the Best Actor Oscar playing Howard Beale in Network (1976): "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this any more!" He was the first actor to win the award posthumously, as well as the first Australian actor to win a Best Actor award.
I read the book, which went into a lot more detail. This was remade with Dennis Quaid playing Frank Towns. The original is still the best version.
This movie was indeed a classic. It has the very thing that almost all science fiction lacks, in any time period. Instead of calling on some kind of miracle that only exists in fantasy, it relies on people using their creativity, intelligence, and other qualities, and working together to get through a situation that looks impossible.
Yes. Jimmy Stewart had said he learned to fly from the Wright brothers. He was a real war hero pilot. And trained a lot of pilots in wW2 he didn't retire from the military until the 1960s or 70s he reached tank of 3 star brigadier general.
A three star general is a lieutenant general , not brigadier, that's a one star general.
For those interested check out the true story of the, "Lady Be Good", lost in the Libyan desert April, 1943. The inexperienced crew attempted to walk out and survived many days before expiring.
This incident not only inspired Elleston Trevor to pen his novel on which this film was based, but also inspired a Rod Serling teleplay for The Twilight Zone and a 1970 TV movie (“Sole Survivor”).
@@michaelschramm1064 Saw the TZ episode - starring Bob Cummings I think.
@@DavidBush-wm1fe Correct. Bob Cummings in “King Nine Will Not Return”. He had his own TV show which ran for four years just prior to this S2 opener.
Thank you for watching this one! This is my second favorite Jimmy Stewart movie after It's A Wonderful Life. I have it on DVD but I only watch it every 3 or 4 years because it always gives me anxiety for the crew and passengers. 😅
You're welcome!
good ol' fashioned HUMAN DRAMA storytelling, this is hollywood at its best! 😁 minimal effects leaving the actors having TO ACT! EXCELLENT CHOICE! LOVE your reaction! 👍☺
Thanks very much! And I agree with you 100%!
This was filmed outside my hometown of Yuma Az. One of hottest places on earth. My father was a reporter for a small news station. He was allowed on the set of movie. He actually was invited to a party of the actors and crew. He came back with a ton of photographs of the actors and sets.I was a baby at the time. Love the film!
It’s a lesser known film with James Stewart. Stewart was a pilot in both military and civilian life, so I figure any movie he was in that had to do with aviation had to be at least plausible.
Another of my all-time favorites since I first saw it many decades ago. The conflicts, the desperate attempt to cling to hope, and the initiative and ingenuity to save themselves by building a new plane are hard to beat.
AM radio can travel up to 100 miles during the day and several times that at night due to better propagation.
That's true. When I lived in Germany I could pick up AM radio coming from multiple countries at night.
Saw this as a kid on some late movie showing and it was one of the most impactful experiences I can remember. The engine startup is a top 10 all-time scene of desperation and the fight for survival in (most) humans.
She didn't recognize Academy award winner Earnest Bourgnine? He's been in a ton of movies.
PS. I just noticed academy award winner George Kennedy also, lol
And starred in Airwolf
@rogershore3128 He was fairly unknown when he won best actor for a cheap little movie called Marty, a big sleeper hit.
Instead of trying to make more movies, he turned his fame into a steady paycheck, a sitcom called McCales Navy.
George Kennedy did the same thing, turned his Academy Award fame into a TV show, the blue knight
@@FloridaMugwump I think
Red was his last film before he passed away
@@rogershore3128 He was one of those actors who got a lot of roles because the Hollywood community really liked him. Same as Ed Begley Jr
I believe this is the first film I've seen him in.
Nice to see - this is a terrific film that rarely gets reactions.
I couldn't find any reactions to it!
I saw this in the theaters when it first came out. A gripping film.
Watched this movie 20 years ago or so and loved it. The reveal that they were being led by a model airplane designer floored me. Felt as though I had been working hard to rebuild that airplane being directed by a real aircraft engineer, while also struggling to survive, then learned he was not a real aircraft engineer - just jaw dropping. Still feel that let down after the many years.
The man at 6:54 who you heard asking if they could set "aside some water for washing" is actor Dan Duryea, one of my favorite actors. He was famous for starring as a tough hard-nosed gangster in many film noir and gangster movies during the 1940s and 50s, as well as he starred in a lot of westerns. But in real life he was very kind and mild-mannered much like the character he plays in this movie. I've been watching a lot of his old films lately. He was an, excellent, excellent actor!!! All of these men in this movie were some of the acting greats of their day!
Dan Druyea was perfectly cast in “The Burglar”, a favorite David Goodis Noir novel of mine. Filmed in 1957 and starring Jayne Mansfield.
Thanks for reacting to this fine film. Such great acting from all of the cast.
My pleasure!
Thank you for this. You're right, nearly a century of great movies. Many of them have been "remade" but no remake is nearly as good as the original. As you can see in the comments, Mr. Stewart served WWII. As did many Stars and celebrities. Here are a few: Lee Marvin, James Doohan, George H.W. Bush, Charles Durning, Rod Serling, Charles Bronson, Audie Murphy, Kirk Douglas, and last in this list but still amongst many, many others John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
"Ya mean you make toy airplanes?" Love this movie, saw it as a kid with my mother and older brother at a drive-in movie theater.
In real life there was a stunt pilot flying the PHOENIX. Just after it cleared the sand dune it crashed and the pilot was killed. As a youngster I saw this in one of the big 'grand' theaters in Los Angeles, I don't remember which, when this was released. It is a great movie.
Legendary pilot, Paul Mantz. There is film of the crash on YT.
I'd like to recommend two classic films, if I may. Both are romantic, "the African Queen" with Bogart and Hepburn, and "Father Goose" with Cary Grant and Leslie Caron. I'm fairly certain that you will enjoy every minute.
Forgot to mention Jimmy Stewart in one of the most classic aviation films, "the Spirit of St. Louis", and Robert Redford in "The Great Waldo Pepper".
A great film. The 2004 remake is also pretty decent. Jimmy Steward flew bombers in WW 2 and retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Brigadier General. He made several aviation themed films, all of them good. One thing I think many people don't appreciate is just how wonderful the musical of these older films were. Nearly every film in the golden age of Hollywood had a grand, sweeping, and sometimes epic musical score.
As a pilot myself, I have an appreciation for this flick.
Attenborough is pronounced Attenba-rah (best way I can explain it)😁. Not only was Richard Attenborough a great actor, he was a very accomplished director. Gandhi and A Bridge to Far are maybe his best known as a director, and both are very much worth a watch. Especially A Bridge to Far IMO.😀
I agree although I think I liked "Ghandi" better than "A Bridge too Far."
@@MrGadfly772 Ghandi is definitely more acclaimed and in all honesty is a better film, but of the two I prefer ABTF😁.
@@MrGadfly772 I’ve only ever seen clips of it but ‘Magic’ from 1978 starring Anthony Hopkins is supposed to be very good.
My favourite Attenborough-directed film is “Shadowlands” another film starring Anthony Hopkins.
@@cliftonwebb3295 Will check it out 😀
Great reaction to a great movie!! I saw this film as a young teenager 35 years ago. I liked all the different characters and the film felt very serious so the twist with the "toy- model- engineer" was very surprising! My jaw dropped and I felt like the two pilots! 😃
YES!! That part was so effective! I loved it :D
To add a bit of context.
This was filmed in 1965, most of the actors and the audience had experience from WW2 so having a German as one of the heroes was a major step.
Jimmy Stewart was a pilot, he joined the USAAF and flew bombers in WW2 and remained a reserve officer, flying combat missions as an observer in Vietnam aside from his acting jobs.
Richard Attenborough got his start as a film director as part of the RAF film unit, flying on bombing raids over Germany to record combat footage for news reals and bombing analysis.
The cast use a load of anti-German and nazi jibes to Dorfmann, in real life Hardy Kruger had been conscripted into the SS at age 16 and had been in combat with them before being captured in 1945.
So there was a real undercurrent of old enemies working together through the movie.
I've seen this amazing movie so many times I've lost count. It's funny, growing up I thought Dorfmann was the hero; but as I got older it became clear to me that Lew is the hero. You are 100% right. He's the glue that holds them together. All the characters in this are so amazing.
Glad you reacted to this movie. Good for you. You might like the movie LIFEBOAT.
Watching this again, it made me think of Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat". Its another character-driven story about a group of people against the sea, and in some cases each other. I think you'd enjoy it as well.
The part of the movie that really made me emotional and thrilled was when that plane engine finally came to life after 6 sputtering tries. I was holding my breath that whole time. And then when Frank gave it full throttle and it lifted into the air. The sound of that engine and the power it had. That whole scene was filmed perfectly! Was a great great movie! And you gave a great review too.
Understand that when they finally left the ground, they were far from "saved". Supposedly they were still a long distance from any settlement and only had a rough idea where to find one. Imagine a scene if they had continued to search for a settlement as the sun went down and they ended up flying blindly in the dark. Talk about a big mood change!
Thank you for a great reaction to one of my favourite movies, you are the first reactor I have seen to react to this.
Yes, I searched for reactions and there aren't any others! After I watched the movie I wanted to see someone else's reaction :(
I have always loved this film. What a cast. And so much better than the re-make.
That twist though (when it's revealed he's only designed model aircraft). It hit me hard when i first saw this on TV in the 80s or late 70s and still stings. Great film and reaction
Thanks!
The remake was ok, but the original was so well done, and lacks the current Hollyweird flash.
Oh man some Ernest Borgnine!! Emperor of the North Pole was a classic but loved him in Marty…. That movie gets me everytime.
Edit: fixed spelling
Emperor Of The North or Emperor Of The North Pole was the third collaboration between Ernie and director Robert Aldrich, the most sadistic director before Sam Peckinpah. Ernie and Rob worked on this and The Dirty Dozen.
@@Madbandit77 dang I didn’t realize the connection. It’s interesting how Ernest could seamlessly go from psychotic villain in one movie to lovable guy the next.
This is one of those "Battle of Wills" movies, and a really good one. The writing is excellent and quite memorable, "Mr Towns, you behave as if stupidity were a virtue." Other great "Battle of Wills" movies include, _From Here to Eternity_ , _The Bridge on the River Kwai_ , _Hell in the Pacific_ , _Nevada Smith_ and _The Prestige_ . All of these are waiting for your reaction! Cheers!!
With Jimmy Stewarts WWII service, the first film he did after the war was It's a Wonderful Life. The famous, impassioned scene where he has a telephone call with his friend about a job and he angrily declines the job and that he is going to take over the family business even though he had hoped to leave the town was the very first scene he shot. Apparently, Frank Capra, who had worked with Stewart before the war, knew it was his first scene, so told him he would run the camera, but just consider it a rehearsal, they could always reshoot it. The cathartic and almost shocking (especially for the usually soft-spoken Stewart) emotional outburst was apparently not exactly in the script and actually scared the crap out of Capra and his costar (can't remember her name) and they just used that take and moved on. He mostly settled down into himself after that, but I think the emotional rawness and pain that Stewart brings to the role (and would become a much more regular thing he brought to roles afterward) are why the movie is so good.
Everyone is gangster until the engineer admits he builds models for a living.
Talk about your plot twists! Lol
The engineer should have lied about that detail. He should have told them he built ultra-light experimental aircraft big enough to carry 1 or 2 people. That would have given them more confidence that he could build an aircraft big enough to fly out of there to get help. He also would have personally believed that he could do it.
Among the cast are more than one former and future Academy Award winner, and nominee. Peter Finch, regrettably, was awarded his Oscar posthumously, having died a couple of months short of the ceremony.
I used to watch these kinds of movies with my grandma, I’ll check this out next. Great reaction🎉
Stewart was an Air Force combat flyer in WWII. The real deal.
After he was a movie star.
This film was important to me when it was new. I was a child who had already begun a serious focus on model aviation.
That is Sir! Richard Attenborough to you 😂🤣✌️❤️
Great reaction Bunny! As others have mentioned, Jimmy Stewart was a bomber pilot in WW2 and earned an Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and four Air Medals. His family had a long history of military service, which is why he paused his acting career and joined the army to fly in combat (he was a private pilot before the war). He had quite a struggle getting accepted into the service because he was too thin, and also had to fight to be assigned to a combat unit, as he was older and the army didn't want to risk the life of a well-known actor. He flew 20 combat missions, and suffered the effects of PTSD near the end of the war ('flak happy'). He was in bad shape when he got home: he looked sickly and he "rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming." He also experienced a lot of guilt for dropping bombs which almost certainly killed civilians. If you're looking for another aviation drama with Jimmy Stewart try "No Highway in the Sky" (1951) which also features Marlene Dietrich.
German here. At the end of the war, nearly 900.000 men served in German ground defense forces. And of course, they take a heavy toll on allied air crews. A fact, which is normaly elegant overlooked is, that the allied air war over Europe, cost the live of 60.000 British and 90.000 American airmen...
Excellent reaction! Try also Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The Oxbow Incident, and It Happened One Night.
Classic! Seen so many times, and the cast of brilliant award winning actors!
James Stewart. Small-town boy, Princeton graduate, Academy-Award-winning actor, family man. And bomber pilot, with twenty combat missions to his credit. Brigadier General.
Richard Attenborough's breakdown laugh/cry in this is peak acting skill. I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like it.
It was chilling!
There are lots of scenes in movies like that, where a character reaches a level of hopelessness that he cannot accept reality. In real life, that's a coping mechanism.
@@davestang5454 definitely. But this particular scene has always stood out for me, personally.
The average daily march of a Roman Legionnaire in good shape was expected to cover 20 miles. Assuming they could survive the heat and lack of water it would take a minimum of 25 days to cover the 500 miles.
I like this movie because I was a Navy Aircrewman. Completed survival schools at an Air Force base in Florida and Antarctica as part of my training. Anything flight related, I enjoy. For something along the lines of survival, recommend you check out an interesting Science Fiction film titled Robinson Crusoe on Mars from 1964. One year before The Flight of the Phoenix came out.
Never seen this movie before. Very interesting. The basic physics of airplane flight can certainly be scaled up from model planes to full sized ones, but it isn't just multiplying by a simple weight or size factor. I am not competent myself to say what factors would be involved in such a scaling up process, but undoubtedly there are individuals who do have such expertise. In an emergency situation, a complete "vetting" process is a waste of time. Sometimes you just have to trust people.
I hope you liked it!!
Dorfmann never needed to take that chance. Realistically, he should have tried to assemble a much lighter aircraft that could hold 2 or 3 people, more like the "Piper Cub" size. With that plane, the pilot, co-pilot and Dorfmann could have flown a longer distance and had a greater chance to find a settlement where they could get help to retrieve the others (who would have more WATER available while they waited). The plane could have been constructed much faster with much less physical effort and it''s more plausible that Dorfmann could have upscaled to that size.
Radio signals can bounce off of the ionosphere. Thus,reaching from Australia to Canada.
Especially in the movie "Frequency". Boy do they bounce, then...
ah this brings back memories. I have not watched this in decades. Good reaction and commentary.
Thanks!
This was popular during the early days of Cable TV 1974 - 1978. I lived in Louisiana and we had 6 channels that just played older movies 24 * 7, The Flight Of the Phoenix was in the rotation along with a bunch of other 60's and early 70's Color Movies. TRIVIA: The actor who played Standish (Dan Duryea) is the father of the actor (Peter Duryea) who played Lt Jose Tyler in the Star Trek Episode "The Cage".
As others have mentioned, this film has a spectacular cast. 4 of the actors I believe won Oscars over the course of their careers. And further down the list are two excellent British character actors Ian Bannen and Ronald Fraser who were ubiquitous in the 60s and 70s.
great that this popped up... when I was a kid this flick was on TV a few times , I loved it. (of course the airplane part is a sideshow ,but. ) became interested in EAA ( homebuilt airplanes ) and took some flying lessons. way too expensive but even recently I've watched U t. videos of homebuilts. none of em WW2 bombers. biplanes thou....
A good old fashioned Hollywood movie.
How great!
❤ your reactions.
Thank you 😊 👍🏼👍🏼
My pleasure!
I love this movie. Glad to see you reacting to it.
Other good Jimmy Stuart movies, "Harvey" 1950, "The Spirit of St. Louis" 1957. "Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation" 1962.
Cobb is played by Ernest Borgnine, a multi award winning actor best known for the "McHale's Navy" TV series. "Emperor of the North" 1973, "The Wild Bunch" 1969
Richard Attenborough played in "The Great Escape" 1963. "The Sand Pebbles" 1966
Bellamy was played by George Kennedy who played in "Cool Hand Luke" 1967, "The Eiger Sanction" 1975 , "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" 1974 and "The Naked Gun" 1988
I also recommend "Sahara" 1943 with Humphrey Bogart.
Other good movies with Hardy Kruger (the model plane designer):
Hatari! (with John Wayne)
and
The Wild Geese (with Sir Richard Burton, Sir Richard Harris (Dumbledore, to you), Sir Roger Moore (Bond, James Bond), Stewart Granger (North to Alaska, The Prisoner of Zenda, Scaramouche), John Kani (Black Panther, The Ghost and the Darkness)..
(58:57) I absolutely agree!
I watched this original probably two dozen times over the years, before I watched the remake from 2004, and let me tell you: the remake has nothing on the original.
Some movies don't need a remake - they stand the test of time.
What is this, my birthday?!? One of my FAVORITE classic movies!
When you see Jimmy Stewart "acting" like he's flying a plane, it looks good because when he wasn't making movies, he was Brigadier GENERAL James Stewart, United States Air Force (active duty during WWII, and in the Reserves later). He flew combat bomber missions in WWII, taught bomber pilots in Korea, and flew his last mission as an observer in a spare seat in a B-52 bomber over North Vietnam. He held the Distinguished Service Medal, awarded on his retirement in 1966.
He was the real deal....
Yes, actually, I heard it was your birthday!!
I am happy to share this one with everyone :)
As lead pilot of a B-24 Liberator in real life, Jimmy Stewart flew 20 combat missions over Europe during WW2.
Dangerous beyond imagination. I did not know that about him. Amazing.
Sir Richard Attenborough went behind the camera after success as an actor.
A Bridge Too Far
Gandhi (AA, Best Director, AA, Best Picture)
I saw this movie decades ago on TV as a kid. It doesn't get any notoriety like other films, but has always been one of my favorites. These characters could have just given up and died, or plodded through the desert and died. Instead, they pooled together their skills, and came up with a way to survive.
It's so lovely to see an older film being reacted to, and really nice to see someone take some time to discuss their thoughts afterwards as well. The 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's are the era's that I tend to watch, so looking forward to you discovering plenty more great films. Xx
After Stewart won his Oscar for The Philadelphia Story, his dad displayed it in the hardware store back in Indiana, Pa.
Richard Attenborough's character is also my favorite in this movie, and in his first movie when he was 18 in "In Which We Serve" (1942), in Jurassic Park when he was 70, and in The Great Escape (1963), and he tied for my favorite in The Sand Pebbles (1966).
Omigosh, I think you're the first reactor to review this film! Very underrated in my opinion, but one of my favorite movies. Just a great script, good cast & the set design was superb. The remake was fair but just lacked the quality of this one. So glad to see another classic film, hope you do more. (Oh, might as well throw one out there, I must suggest "Metropolis" which is a fantastic sci-fi/dystopian themed film. )
Yes, Heinrich Dorfman is a German name, And the great actor playing the part is Hardy Krüger who was German. In fact, in real life when he was a 16 year old boy in Germany during Hitler's reign in WWII, he was assigned to an SS Grenadier Division and was sent into heavy combat. When he was ordered to shoot at an American squad, he refused. As a result he was labeled a coward and sentenced to death but one of the superior SS officers cancelled that order and spared him from being put to death. He was reassigned as a messenger but instead went into hiding until the end of the war. He was captured and taken prisoner by U.S. forces but escaped after 3 attempts.
The glare of the sun off mirrors is the best visual signal.
Part of the prejudice against Dorfmann was that he was German. Remember, this was only twenty years after WWII, and most of these men would have seen service in the war. Even when I was growing up in the 1970s in the UK, there were still plenty of people who didn't like Germans on principle.
It's entirely reasonable that a model aircraft designer could design a full-sized aircraft in an emergency: the basic principles of aerodynamics do scale up. After all, 'real' aircraft designers use sub-scale models in wind-tunnels to research and check their designs. What he would be less familiar with would be the details of the systems on full-sized aircraft. That's how Frank got a bit of his pride back: his experience with full-sized aircraft engines meant he knew to use one starter cartridge with the ignition off to clean the cylinders: a situation that Dorfmann would never have encountered in a lifetime building model aircraft.
While I agree that Dorfmann plausibly had the knowledge to build a plane big enough to carry them all out, I don't think he should have tried. He should have sized up the situation quickly and convinced Stewart's character that it was possible to build a much smaller aircraft quickly that could carry 3 people out to find help while preserving the water supply for the people left behind.
@@davestang5454 How would building that smaller aircraft be easier though? Remember The Phoernix wasn't designed from scratch: it used the existing (quite large) engine, outer wings and tail boom from the C-82. Building a smaller aircraft from the pre-made parts they had wasn't really possible, and building it from scratch would be MUCH more difficult.
I'm gonna have to write down " the monkey doesn't want us to go " that really gave me a giggle 😄
In my opinion this is one of the greatest movies ever made. Thank you for your reaction. ❤.
I am happy to put this movie on the "YT reaction" map!
I never saw the original before watching this reaction. I only saw the remake. It is good, but I think the original may be better.