Jet Pilot (1957)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

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

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:

The US Air Force, still taking advantage of Chuck Yeager's 1947 supersonic flight for publicity, offered his services as a stunt pilot. During a stunt involving the inverted dive of an F-86, Yeager misjudged the dive and overstressed the plane's tail, causing the horizontal stabilizer to come apart while he was too low to eject. He barely managed to pull out.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Anna climbs in the two seat jet, there is a canopy support visible. When she taxis away and lowers the canopy the support is missing. The support is used to prevent the canopy from accidentally closing when ground crew are working on the plane.

Quotes:

Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon: Have you had many of them?
Col. Jim Shannon: Many what?
Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon: Women.

Movie Connections:

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

John Wayne and Janet Leigh at their best

"Jet Pilot" is one of John Wayne's best and most unusual efforts. In it he is very natural and convincing, quite unlike his typically more stylized and sometimes wooden approach to roles. And his interesting interpretation of an Air Force colonel tempted by a seductive Russian spy is a real departure from his usual gung-ho offering. When US authorities are going to deport the defecting Russian pilot for espionage, he risks losing his military career by marrying her, and when it appears that she will get a long prison sentence, he not only helps her escape to the USSR, but by all appearances, must defect, himself. Say what? John Wayne selling out his country for the love of a woman? Needless to say, this is not his usual on screen behavior. The result is a compelling story and a very romantic movie, with Wayne and Janet Leigh rocketing through the skies in their twin jets or discussing sex and politics. These two make a very convincing young couple and the sexual chemistry and tension run high. Not only is Wayne at the top of his game, but Janet Leigh is particularly appealing as the shapely Russian pilot. I particularly enjoyed the scene in which he must search her. It is sad that Janet Leigh is remembered only for the shower scene in "Psycho." She ought to be remembered, instead, for the strip search in "Jet Pilot."