The Gypsy Moths (1969)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writers:

William Hanley (screenplay)
James Drought (novel)

Release Date:

28 August 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Action

Tagline:

When you turn on by falling free... when jumping is not only w way to live, but a way to die, too... you're a Gypsy Moth.

Plot:

Three skydivers and their travelling thrill show barnstorm through a small midwestern town one Fourth of July weekend.

Plot Keywords:

Skydiving | Adultery | Suicide | Female Nudity | Based On Novel

Cast

Burt Lancaster	...	Mike Rettig
Deborah Kerr	...	Elizabeth Brandon
Gene Hackman	...	Joe Browdy
Scott Wilson	...	Malcolm Webson
William Windom	...	V. John Brandon
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Annie Burke
Sheree North	...	Waitress
Carl Reindel	...	Pilot
Ford Rainey	...	Stand Owner
John Napier	...	Dick Donford

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:18 (f) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Abilene, Kansas, USA

Company:

John Frankenheimer Productions Inc.

Trivia:

This film is one of John Frankenheimer's favorites of the films he has directed.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the parachute jump that opens the film, the Gypsy Moths jump from the exact same plane flown by the same pilot they meet and hire -- supposedly for the first time -- in another town several days later.

Quotes:

[Last lines]
Elizabeth Brandon: He wanted me to go with him.
Allen Brandon: Did he?
Elizabeth Brandon: [long pause] The thought terrified me.
Allen Brandon: And me...

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Sky Divers (1969)

Wonderful vintage skydiving sequences, interesting tale.

Burt Lancaster, Gene Hackman, and Scott Wilson portray a team of professional sport parachutists barnstorming their way through small-town America.

The movie features some fine performances, particularly Lancaster's. I enjoyed the way the small town was depicted; it felt curiously familiar and yet distant at the same time. The movie holds its own, even 30 years after its initial release.

The jumping sequences are fantastic...truly the finest jump sequences ever captured on film at that time (1969). Pay particular attention to the 'cape' jumps, particularly the last one (Scott Wilson's) which gets me bug-eyed every time I see it (yes, I'm a jumper too).

Longish and slow-moving at times but well worth it.