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:

Russian "Yaks" were portrayed by Lockheed T-33As. Dark paint on the lower fuselage obscured the jet intakes, and the tip of the vertical stabilizer was painted light gray to change its outline.

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: [screaming at Jim] Give me back my skirt!

Movie Connections:

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

Spies are having fun

The French title of the film was : 'les espions s'amusent' : Spies have fun.

Which is closer to the real plot.

Janet Leigh who just passed away last Sunday was a very attractive actress and was a credible young Russian pilot cum spy. John Wayne was his usual self. It's a nice and funny little love story about a period which was very dark : the constant growing threat of starting a 3rd world war while senator McCarthy was active in pursuing 'Commies'. Hence the reason why the film was released in 1957. 8 years after it was made.

The technical point of view is also interesting : F89 Scorpion, F86 Sabre, T33 Tbird, B36 huge bomber, F94c night interceptor, B29 Superfortress as the motherplane for the X1 and last but not least, the last flight of the aircraft (Bell X1) which exceeded the speed of sound in 1947 piloted by no less than Chuck Yeager himself.

Some of the aerobatics in F86 supposed to be made by the Duke were actually performed by Chuck and are worth seeing them.

But 55 years after, who cares that the film was actually seen much later than originally thought : Janet Leigh and John Wayne were eight years younger : this is the bonus of the film !