The Hunters (1958)

Director:

Dick Powell

Writers:

Wendell Mayes (screenplay)
James Salter (novel)

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Mightiest thrill-shocked adventure spectacle of the super-sonic age !

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Aviation | Beautiful Woman | Based On Novel

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Major Cleve Saville
Robert Wagner	...	Lt. Ed Pell
Richard Egan	...	Colonel Dutch Imil, CO 54th Fighter Group
May Britt	...	Kristina 'Kris' Abbott
Lee Philips	...	1stLt. Carl Abbott
John Gabriel	...	1st Lt. Corona
Stacy Harris	...	Col. Monk Moncavage
Victor Sen Yung	...	Korean farmer
Candace Lee	...	Korean Child
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aki Aleong	...	MIG Pilot (uncredited)
Chiyoko Tota Baker	...	Sukiaki Girl (uncredited)
Jimmy Baya	...	Greek Sergeant (uncredited)
Slosson Bing Jong	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
John Caler	...	Officer (uncredited)
Vinnie De Carlo	...	Korean Bartender (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Chief Master Sergeant (uncredited)
Alicia M. Goodchild	...	Stand in for May Britt (uncredited)
Jay Jostyn	...	Major Dark (uncredited)
Whamok Kim	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Frank Kumagai	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Mabel Lim	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Leon Lontoc	...	Casey Jones, Chinese Ace (uncredited)
Mae Maeshire	...	Package Wrapper (uncredited)
Ralph Manza	...	Major Gifford, Club Officer at Atami Air Force Base (uncredited)
Nobu McCarthy	...	Japanese Clerk (uncredited)
Alena Murray	...	Mrs. Mason, Missing pilot's wife in Major Dark's office (uncredited)
Robert 'Bob' Olen	...	Officer (uncredited)
Robert Reed	...	Jackson (uncredited)
George Sasaki	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
Nina Shipman	...	WAF Lieutenant (uncredited)
Mary Song	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
Rachel Stephens	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Frank Tang	...	Chinese Officer (uncredited)
Larry Thor	...	Captain Owynby (uncredited)
Kam Tong	...	Red Chinese Officer (uncredited)
James Yagi	...	Doorman (uncredited)

Directed by
Dick Powell

Writing credits
Wendell Mayes		(screenplay)
James Salter		(novel)

Produced by
Dick Powell	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Charles G. Clarke		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Stuart Gilmore

Art Direction by
Maurice Ransford
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Bertram C. Granger
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Charles Le Maire		(executive wardrobe designer) (as Charles LeMaire)

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Stanley Goldsmith	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Curtis Havens	....	second unit director (as James C. Havens)
Ad Schaumer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
E. Clayton Ward	....	sound

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Tom Tutwiler	....	aerial photographer

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Other crew
Robert E. Wayne	....	technical advisor (as Major Robert E. Wayne, United States Air Force)
Vernon L. Wright	....	technical advisor (as Captain Vernon L. Wright, United States Air Force)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Department of Defense, The  Twentieth Century-Fox wishes to thank for their assistance in the production of this motion picture (as Department of Defense)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation  CinemaScope is the registered trademark of
• United States Air Force, The  Twentieth Century-Fox wishes to thank for their assistance in the production of this motion picture (as United States Air Force)

Runtime:

108 min | UK:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #19007) | Canada:G (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2005) | West Germany:12

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Lt Corona's F86 Sabre develops engine trouble on his landing approach. When the aircraft is shown stalling and crashing, the shot is of an F-100 Super Sabre, a different type of aircraft. This type of crash happened so often with the F-100 Super Sabre it was called a sabre dance.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: On the first combat mission, Lt. Abbott says, "Why don't they come down to us for a change?" You can see that his microphone plug is not plugged into the helmet jack on the left side of the helmet... no-one could possibly hear him.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What's My Line?: (1958-08-24)" (1958)

How NOT to adapt a novel to film, but still fun to watch

If you've never read the book, watch the movie first - then go find the novel for the real story. It could be categorized as "autobiographical fiction" as the author, James Salter (nom de plum) flew as a pilot with the 335th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th FIW at Suwon, Korea during the war. Robert Wagner's character is a thinly veiled caricature of ace Jim Low. Mitchum is typically laconic (and I do enjoy him in this role, in spite of, or including, the schlocky love story) and the F-86s are fun to watch. Richard Egan plays well as the retread group commander who pairs Mitchum and Wagner, much to Mitchum's initial distaste. The DVD in widescreen is the best way to go, and while a far cry from "The Bridges at Toko-Ri," it's still a keeper in my book.