The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

George Roy Hill (story)
William Goldman (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Robert Redford Takes to the Skies in This Rousing Adventure

Plot:

A biplane pilot who had missed flying in WWI takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory he had missed...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Barnstorming | Biplane | WWI | Circus

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Waldo Pepper
Bo Svenson	...	Axel Olsson
Bo Brundin	...	Ernst Kessler
Susan Sarandon	...	Mary Beth
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Newt
Edward Herrmann	...	Ezra Stiles
Philip Bruns	...	Dillhoefer
Roderick Cook	...	Werfel
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Patsy
Margot Kidder	...	Maude
Scott Newman	...	Duke
James S. Appleby	...	Ace
Patrick W. Henderson Jr.	...	Scooter
James N. Harrell	...	Farmer (as James Harrell)
Elma Aicklen	...	Farmer's Wife

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Elgin, Texas, USA

Company:

Jennings Lang

Trivia:

There are no studio takes in airplanes. All close-ups of actors being airborne were done for real, sometimes with George Roy Hill, a former Marine pilot himself, flying the airplane while directing. Scenes with Robert Redford and Bo Svenson climbing out on the wing were done without any security harness or parachutes.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: When Waldo is refueling his plane from the can delivered to him by the little boy, his hand is seen resting for some time on what would presumably be a very hot exhaust pipe.

Quotes:

Axel Olsson: Guess who's still alive...
[shouts]
Axel Olsson: Me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Operation Double 007 (#6.8)" (1993)

The air and the ground

First I must say that this beautiful movie handles the wide screen format extremely well, to watch it on TV comes near to an act of profanation. The lines, the colors , the surfaces, the sun that always seems to be low above the horizon ... The Great Waldo Pepper really is a work of cinematic art.

Secondly I would really like to know how the idea for this script developed. It looks like the aviation business is a metaphor for the movie industry. I would not be surprised had director and co-scriptwriter George Roy Hill put many personal feelings and experiences into it. Aviation stands for freedom. But even in the title scene the constant fear of being forcefully grounded becomes evident – the main character, aviator Waldo Pepper, talks an overawed boy into getting a canister of gas for him with the promise of a free tour above the landing strip. Cute, at first sight, but also curiously grim. It immediately started me wondering how the boy could manage to carry the full canister over the required long distance.

The wish to be free and be able to fly off sets ever more demanding conditions. People get bored with acrobatics, they want to see blood. The artists comply, because they are ambitious but also because they know that it is the only way that allows them to continue. Time moves on and it becomes evident that commercial air service will put an end to the adventurous phase of aviation. Hollywood seems to be the only way out. Acrobats are needed as stunt-men there. The grindhouse routine of the dream factory is not to their liking, but what else can they do? On a set Waldo Pepper meets a famous German flyer he idolizes. Much to his surprise this Erich von Stroheim character is deeply in debt. „In the air, I see heroism, chivalry and a spirit of comraderie", rasps the German, „but on the ground ..." He just limply shrugs. The final quixotic showdown between Pepper and the German is a natural and very good ending of this surprisingly „deep" and rather pessimistic movie that offers far more than nostalgia.