The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981)

Director:

Roger Spottiswoode

Writers:

J.D. Reed (book)
Jeffrey Alan Fiskin (writer)

Release Date:

13 November 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Who says you can't take it with you ?

Plot:

A speculation on the fate of the famous hijacker who parachuted with his ransom and disappeared in the mountains...

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Insurance Investigator | Jump From Airplane | Chase | Ex Pow

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Duvall	...	Gruen
Treat Williams	...	D.B. Cooper
Kathryn Harrold	...	Hannah
Ed Flanders	...	Brigadier
Paul Gleason	...	Remson
R.G. Armstrong	...	Dempsey
Dorothy Fielding	...	Denise
Nicolas Coster	...	Avery
Cooper Huckabee	...	Homer
Howard K. Smith	...	Himself
Christopher Curry	...	Hippie
Ramon Chavez	...	El Capitan
Stacy Newton	...	Cowboy
Pat Ast	...	Horse lady
Jack Dunlap	...	Drinking buddy

Also Known As:

Pursuit

Runtime:

100 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:12 (1982) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

Trivia:

Universal Pictures publicity said that if anyone can come up with any information leading to the capture of the real Cooper, could get $1 million dollar reward - no one ever got the money.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase, the left wheel is wrenched off the biplane after D.B. uses it to pierce the roof of a car. But in later scenes, the biplane appears with its right wheel missing.

Soundtrack:

Shine

Not As Well Organized As Was Its Subject.

The subject of this work is the infamous D. B. Cooper, who high jacked a jet over Washington state in 1971 by utilizing a bogus bomb, collected $200,000 from the airline company, and then parachuted toward ostensible oblivion, evading one of the most extensive collections of law enforcement personnel in United States history. The production, burdened with serious problems from its outset, with directors John Frankenheimer and Buzz Kulik being replaced in turn by Roger Spottiswoode, is marked by obvious re-shooting as continuity is at times seemingly abandoned. Nonetheless, although flaws abound and logic is sparse, the film succeeds as entertainment, and since the fate of Cooper may ever remain unknown, recounting his story from whole cloth is suitable, with this version fashioned from American poet J. D. Reed's debut novel, "Free Fall". As action opens, Cooper (Treat Williams) is preparing to leap to hoped-for safety into forested Washington (played by Oregon), and he is seen as he eludes state troopers by hiding his bagged stash of 20 dollar bills inside of a freshly slain buck (Cooper jumped with, among his supplies, a collapsible rifle within his pack, and it is deer hunting season). Apparently, the only man capable of tracking the fugitive is Bill Gruen (Robert Duvall), the victim airlines' insurance company investigator and coincidentally the former Army Ranger instructor of Cooper, whose actual name is Jim Meade, and soon Gruen has trailed Meade to his home where he has joined his wife Hannah (Kathryn Harrold). Jim and Hannah head for Mexico, with Gruen close behind, as is one Remson (Paul Gleason), another former Ranger mate of Meade, with an agenda of his own, and subsequent events are stuffed with outrageous incident including a dangerous raft pursuit through Wyoming's Snake River rapids. As is no novelty, Duvall gathers in the acting laurels here with his nuanced reading as a persistent insurance company investigator. Because of its false starts, the film has too much dross to be effectively tidied up by Spottiswoode, but scoring by James Horner is consistently interesting, a musical blend featuring battling banjos, along with jew's harps, dobros, and other instruments of folkish characteristics that highlight British grounded whirligig dances. The D. B. Cooper high jacking is an incomplete story because there is no certainty as to his fate, and a variety of tales may be invented as a result; this one, in spite of its weaknesses, may be enjoyed on its own terms as it provides solid entertainment and a correctly ambiguous ending.