Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Ken Annakin (written by)
Jack Davies (written by)

Release Date:

16 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Action

Tagline:

or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes

Plot:

Sabotage efforts damage an international air race.

Plot Keywords:

Air Race | Prize | Beautiful Woman | Heroism | Paris

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Stuart Whitman	...	Orvil Newton
Sarah Miles	...	Patricia Rawnsley
James Fox	...	Richard Mays
Alberto Sordi	...	Count Emilio Ponticelli
Robert Morley	...	Lord Rawnsley
Gert Fröbe	...	Colonel Manfred von Holstein (as Gert Frobe)
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Pierre Dubois
Irina Demick	...	Brigitte / Ingrid / Marlene / Françoise / Yvette / Betty
Eric Sykes	...	Courtney
Red Skelton	...	Neanderthal Man
Terry-Thomas	...	Sir Percy Ware-Armitage
Benny Hill	...	Fire Chief Perkins
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Yamamoto (as Yujiro Ishihara)
Flora Robson	...	Mother Superior
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Captain Rumpelstoss

Also Known As:

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | German | Italian | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Booker Airfield, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The beginning and ending sequences marked the final feature film appearences for Red Skelton.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Orvil is out on the wing of the Bristol Boxkite, fixing the broken strut, it flies along the back of the hangers, where three 1960s vehicles are parked, including a short-wheelbase Land Rover.

Quotes:

Captain Rumpelstoss: But... how will I learn to fly, Herr Colonel?
Colonel Manfred von Holstein: The way we do everything in the German army: from the book of instructions.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sixty Six (2006)

Soundtrack:

LA CALUNNIA UN VENTICELO

What I like to call just a "Fun Movie".

I think everyone has a few old movies stashed away in their brains that for some reason or another are a part of their lives. Our personal soundtrack if you will. This film is one of mine. I know I saw it at a drive-in when it came out but can't recall which one. My older brother still recalls this one fondly also. It was gut busting funny at the time but hasn't aged that well due to the general public's far more sophisticated mindset these days. But it's still funny. Anyone who is a fan of flying or the history of traditional European nationalistic rivalry will still howl at this clever and at times very sharp satire. We see some of the attitudes that would help fuel the violent world wars that would erupt soon after 1910. The vintage aircraft, some authentic, some not, are sure to excite aircraft fans. The footage of the genuine planes actually flying across the English countryside is genuinely MAGNIFICENT. Many running gags through the length of the movie. My favorite is the obvious one...the redhead. I caught this on our PBS station just last night and as always I was hooked again and had to watch till two in the morning. There's something about most English movies from the 60's that is just magical. Even the bad ones like "Casino Royale" are still fascinating to watch. Great international casts, clever scripts, funny situations, sight gags...whole packages. Fun Movies, plain and simple. "Those Magnificent Men..." isn't a great film or even a great comedy. But it's still a genuine Fun Movie and well worth at least a rental fee. Now that I've seen it again for the zillonth time my brother and I will be talking about it and laughing out butts off the next time I see him. For us it's one of those kind of movies.