Jet Pilot (1957)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg
(more)

Writer:

Jules Furthman (written by)

Release Date:

October 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Greatest Air Spectacle of the Jet Age! Earth-shaking, sky-shattering ... SO BIG it took years to make!

Plot:

Air Force Colonel Shannon is assigned to escort defecting Soviet pilot Anna. He falls in love with her...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Beautiful Woman

Cast

John Wayne	...	Col. Jim Shannon
Janet Leigh	...	Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief
Jay C. Flippen	...	Maj. Gen. Black
Paul Fix	...	Maj. Rexford
Richard Rober	...	FBI Agent George Rivers
Roland Winters	...	Col. Sokolov
Hans Conried	...	Col. Matoff
Ivan Triesault	...	Gen. Langrad
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Dorothy Abbott	...	Girl (uncredited)
Phil Arnold	...	Bellboy (uncredited)
Lois Austin	...	Saleswoman at Palm Springs dress shop (uncredited)
Paul Bakanas	...	Russian security man (uncredited)
Hall Bartlett	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Gregg Barton	...	Military Policeman (uncredited)
John Bishop	...	Major Sinclair (uncredited)
James Brown	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
William Bryant	...	Radar Monitor (uncredited)
Bruce Cameron	...	Batman (uncredited)
Perdita Chandler	...	Georgia Rexford (uncredited)
Joyce Compton	...	Mrs. Simpson (uncredited)
Tom Daly	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
James Dime	...	Russian security man (uncredited)
Alan Dinehart III	...	Fresh kid at Palm Springs dress shop (uncredited)
Art Dupuis	...	Russian (uncredited)
Jane Easton	...	Girl (uncredited)
Bill Erwin	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Gene Evans	...	Airfield sergeant (uncredited)
Elizabeth Flournoy	...	WAF captain (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Lt. Tiompkin (uncredited)
Barbara Freking	...	WAAF private (uncredited)
Vincent Gironda	...	Muscleman (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Don Haggerty	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Janice Hood	...	Girl (uncredited)
Darrell Huntley	...	Officer (uncredited)
Lamont Johnson	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Joan Jordan	...	WAC sergeant (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Harry Lauter	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Ruth Lee	...	Mother (uncredited)
Nelson Leigh	...	FBI agent (uncredited)
Sylvia Lewis	...	WAC corporal (uncredited)
Herbert Lytton	...	FBI agent (uncredited)
Mike Mahoney	...	Corporal (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Russian general (uncredited)
Gene Marshall	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Allen Mathews	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Keith McConnell	...	Bartender (uncredited)
John Morgan	...	Lieutenant (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	Russian Guard (uncredited)
Al Murphy	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Wendell Niles	...	Major (uncredited)
Richard Norris	...	Russian interrogator (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
David Ormont	...	Russian interrogator (uncredited)
Jack Overman	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
James Parnell	...	Control Officer (uncredited)
Denver Pyle	...	Mr. Simpson (uncredited)
Theodore Rand	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Joey Ray	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Al Rhein	...	Bartender (uncredited)
Ric Roman	...	Guard (uncredited)
Gene Roth	...	Sokolov's Batman (uncredited)
James H. Russell	...	Corporal (uncredited)
Sammy Shack	...	Driver (uncredited)
Jack Shea	...	Military Policeman (uncredited)
Carl Sklover	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Jim B. Smith	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ruthelma Stevens	...	Saleswoman (uncredited)
Armand Tanny	...	Muscleman (uncredited)
Kenneth Tobey	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Rick Vallin	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Mamie Van Doren	...	WAF (uncredited)
Billy Vernon	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Ralph Volkie	...	Driver (uncredited)
Smoki Whitfield	...	Henry (uncredited)
Joan Whitney	...	WAC sergeant (uncredited)
Biff Yeager	...	Captain (uncredited)
Buck Young	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Carleton Young	...	Technical Sergeant in Palmer Field control tower (uncredited)

Directed by
Josef von Sternberg
Jules Furthman		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Jules Furthman		(written by)

Produced by
Jules Furthman	....	producer
Howard Hughes	....	producer

Original Music by
Bronislau Kaper

Cinematography by
Winton C. Hoch

Film Editing by
Harry Marker
Michael R. McAdam
William M. Moore
James Wilkinson

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
Feild M. Gray		(as Feild Gray)

Set Decoration by
Harley Miller
Darrell Silvera

Costume Design by
Michael Woulfe

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fred Fleck	....	assistant director (as Fred A. Fleck)

Stunts
Chuck Yeager	....	aerial stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
William H. Clothier	....	aerial photographer
Paul Mantz	....	aerial director of photography
Cliff Shirpser	....	aerial camera operator: Technicolor

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	conductor

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• GoodTimes Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1958) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (UK) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1981) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1974) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

Filmed between December 8, 1949 and February 8, 1950, this long held-back movie finally debuted on September 25, 1957 in Los Angeles, followed by its Manhattan opening at the Palace Theatre on October 4, 1957.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the fighter breaks off after the radar intercept, the markings on the plane are backwards (flipped film).

Quotes:

Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon: [to Jim] One minute I want to kill you and the next minute I want to kiss you and... kiss you and... kiss you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies (2000) (TV)

Woooosh! Ninotchka meets Dr. Strangelove

I waited a long time to see this movie, now I have and I must say I found it better than I had reason to expect. It is a fast moving comedy with many really funny scenes. Could it be this was the first movie that made fun of the Cold War? Could it be it was shelved for years for that reason (maybe the war in Corea made it inopportune to laugh about such matters)? Josef von Sternberg, steeped in German Expressionism, would be the last director you'd expect to helm a movie that at first sight seems to be an older version of Top Gun. But things are set straight very soon as it becomes evident that this is supposed to be a comedy in the vein of something by Ernst Lubitsch or Billy Wilder. Ninotchka comes to mind, and in a way - a hilarious way - Janet Leigh as the (intentionally?) grounded Russian jet pilot is in the footsteps of Greta Garbo here. So John Wayne as American jet pilot is a reticent, rather shy Melvyn Douglas. In his part you'd rather expect Cary Grant, and Wayne does seem to be slightly embarrassed throughout the movie.

Vivacious Janet Leigh's physical assets are highlighted as much as possible and with great success. There is a nice striptease scene in which she gets out of her cute white overalls, and each time she starts peeling off a new layer of clothing - woooosh - a jet plane is heard diving down. It's really a hoot. Soon she reappears in the American's war room in a neatly pressed Red Army uniform, full of medals and fruit salad (she must have stashed it somewhere in that jet plane of hers). Soon she and Wayne are off to Palm Springs, so that she can see what the Commies are missing. Wayne, in turn, gets a whiff of Socialist reality later on, as he accompanies the Russien pilot he sort of married back home. It's grim and Stalag-like, of course.

There is a lot of aerial footage in Jet Pilot and it is high quality material that still fascinates. A lot of elegant acrobatics is performed and filmed from different angles. But even the jets are well embedded in the comedy this movie ultimately is. One of the scene I liked best: Janet Leigh escapes. She runs to a jet with its – er – engine already running, pushes away the ladder and dashes of as if it were a little sports car or some getaway after a heist in a gangster movie. It's unparalleled and one of many laughs Jet Pilot offers.