The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Lukas Heller (screenplay)
Trevor Dudley Smith (novel)

Release Date:

15 December 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | Sahara | Sandstorm | Cargo Plane | Manic Laughter

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 nominations

Cast

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

Runtime:

142 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Buttercup Valley, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

The plane they leave on at the end of the film was to be a C-82 Boom. The stunt of taking off was too dangerous, so legendary stunt pilot Paul Mantz was asked to merely come in low, run his landing gear along the ground, then take off again, simulating a take-off. On the second take the plane crashed and was destroyed, killing Mantz. As all main footage had already been shot, a North American O-47A observation plane from the Air Museum was substituted for the remaining close-ups.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Early in the movie, while Cobb is taking a walk in the dunes around the crash site, the camera looks back at the downed aircraft and shows the Port (left) tail boom broken in half. In every other part of the movie, the Starboard (right) tail boom is broken in half.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Castaways on Gilligan's Island (1979) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Senza Fine

This is not a Toy !

Flying across the deserts of North Africa, one can imagine how dangerous it would be to be stranded in the trackless ocean of sand. In 1965, a film called "The Flight of The Phoenix" appeared on movie marquee's around the country. From the first moment audiences took in this film, they recognized the distinctive traits of a true drama, which would establish for itself, the foundations of a classic. The tale is that of an outmoded airplane load of oil employees, who in conjunction with a couple of passengers, run headlong into a desert sand storm and are forced to crash into the forbidden wastelands below. Thus begins the impossible task of not only surviving in the empty miles of life-less sands, but to somehow return to civilization. James Stewart is Capt. Frank Towns, an experienced pilot, who realizes the 'push-button' age has made him obsolete. Richard Attenborough is superb as Lew Moran, the boozing asst. pilot. Peter Finch plays Capt. Harris who believes his army training and Sgt. Watson (Ron Frasser) will save the desperate group. Ernest Borgnine, plays Trucker Cobb, who's only concern is to move up to become line chief. Ian Bannen, Dan Duryea, and George Kennedy are the company crew. But it is Hardy Krüger who plays Heinrich Dorfmann, who astonishes disbelieving Capt. Towns and everyone else with his boost that with their help, the on-board tools and supplies and some undamaged parts of the crashed plane, he can design a model air-craft which will fly them to safety. Fantastic idea, but no one cares for his suicide plan. What ensues is a test of wills, against each other, the unforgiving landscape, hostile Arabs and the scant water supply and time they have left. *****