The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

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 | Cargo Plane | Sandstorm | Dehydration

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 5 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:

Director 'Robert Aldrich (I)''s son (William Aldrich) and son-in-law (Peter Bravos) are the first two casualties in the film, killed by falling cargo during the opening credits as the disabled plane is descending for its crash-landing.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Just as the phoenix takes off, the undercarriage is visible with wheels mounted on the skis.

Quotes:

Heinrich Dorfmann: Gentlemen, I have been examining this aeroplane.
Frank Towns: Yeah?
Heinrich Dorfmann: Yes. We've everything we need here to build a new one and fly it out. Now, if you'd like to have a look at my calculations, I don't know whether you can read my handwriting.
Frank Towns: Are you trying to be funny?
Heinrich Dorfmann: What did you say?
Frank Towns: I said, are you trying to be funny?
Heinrich Dorfmann: That is precisely the reaction I would have expected from a man of your obvious limitations.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968)

Soundtrack:

Senza Fine

A masterpiece from the good old days

I agree with most of the people here that this movie is an overlooked gem. It always comes to mind when I think of movie classics, but most people I've known have never seen it. If it comes on TV or you get the chance to rent it, definitely give it a look.

While the movie stands alone as a great suspense and survival movie with great dialogue and a greater cast, it also has some aspects that give it deeper significance. A couple of people have commented on the "old school seat-of-the-pants flying" vs. "mathematical engineering" conflict in the movie, and this is certainly a big part of it.

Another conflict, subtler but just as important, has gone completely unmentioned here. That's the issue of the crew's mistrust of Kruger for being German. This movie is pretty important for the way it excellently touches on the tension many people still felt by the sixties on working side by side with the former enemy in the new postwar world. It's not an accident that the three main characters that have to come together to survive are American, English and German. "Flight of the Phoenix" is one movie that is timeless in its direct appeal but should be taken in context of the time in which it was produced in order to be fully appreciated.

Taking these conflicts together, the overall message is clear. In the brave new world, unless we put aside old divisions and value input from everyone, no one gets out alive.