The Hunters (1958)

Director:

Dick Powell

Writers:

Wendell Mayes (screenplay)
James Salter (novel)

Release Date:

September 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Mightiest thrill-shocked adventure spectacle of the super-sonic age !

Plot:

In 1952, as the Korean War rages on, American officers land in Kyoto. Among them are Major Ceve Saville...

Plot Keywords:

Korean War | Japan | Rescue | Korea | Crash Landing

Cast

Robert Mitchum	...	Major Cleve Saville
Robert Wagner	...	Lt. Ed Pell
Richard Egan	...	Colonel Dutch Imil
May Britt	...	Kristina 'Kris' Abbott
Lee Philips	...	1st Lt. Carl Abbott
John Gabriel	...	1st Lt. Corona
Stacy Harris	...	Col. Monk Moncavage
Victor Sen Yung	...	Korean Farmer
Candace Lee	...	Korean Child
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aki Aleong	...	MIG Pilot (uncredited)
Jimmy Baya	...	Greek Sergeant (uncredited)
Slosson Bing Jong	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
John Caler	...	Officer (uncredited)
Vinnie De Carlo	...	Korean Bartender (uncredited)
John Doucette	...	Chief Master Sergeant (uncredited)
Alicia M. Goodchild	...	Stand in for May Britt (uncredited)
Jay Jostyn	...	Major Dark (uncredited)
Whamok Kim	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Frank Kumagai	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Mabel Lim	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Leon Lontoc	...	Casey Jones, Chinese Ace (uncredited)
Mae Maeshire	...	Package Wrapper (uncredited)
Ralph Manza	...	Major Gifford (uncredited)
Nobu McCarthy	...	Japanese Clerk (uncredited)
Alena Murray	...	Mrs. Mason (uncredited)
Robert 'Bob' Olen	...	Officer (uncredited)
Robert Reed	...	Jackson (uncredited)
George Sasaki	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
Nina Shipman	...	WAF Lieutenant (uncredited)
Mary Song	...	Korean Woman (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Chinese Soldier (uncredited)
Rachel Stephens	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Frank Tang	...	Chinese Officer (uncredited)
Larry Thor	...	Captain Owynby (uncredited)
Kam Tong	...	Red Chinese Officer (uncredited)
Chiyo Toto	...	Sukiaki Girl (uncredited)
James Yagi	...	Doorman (uncredited)

Directed by
Dick Powell

Writing credits
Wendell Mayes		(screenplay)
James Salter		(novel)

Produced by
Dick Powell	....	producer

Original Music by
Paul Sawtell

Cinematography by
Charles G. Clarke		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Stuart Gilmore

Art Direction by
Maurice Ransford
Lyle R. Wheeler

Set Decoration by
Bertram C. Granger
Walter M. Scott

Costume Design by
Charles Le Maire		(executive wardrobe designer) (as Charles LeMaire)

Makeup Department
Ben Nye	....	makeup artist
Helen Turpin	....	hair stylist
Roy Stork	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Stanley Goldsmith	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Curtis Havens	....	second unit director (as James C. Havens)
Ad Schaumer	....	assistant director
Maurice Harmell	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ed DeCuir	....	labor foreman (uncredited)
Ed Graves	....	production illustrator (uncredited)
Ted Harmon	....	nurseryman (uncredited)
Bob McLaughlin	....	props (uncredited)
Charles Myall	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Donald L. Nobles	....	props (uncredited)
Fred Pommit	....	props (uncredited)
Donald Robinson	....	painter (uncredited)
Herb Sage	....	props (uncredited)
Fred R. Simpson	....	property master (uncredited)
Harold Wardean	....	props (uncredited)
Walter Wiley	....	construction foreman (uncredited)
Charles Zimmerman	....	painter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Harry M. Leonard	....	sound
E. Clayton Ward	....	sound
Jesse Long	....	cableman (uncredited)
Roy Potts	....	boom operator (uncredited)
A.C. Ward	....	sound mixer (uncredited)
Ralph Zerby	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Ronald Jolley	....	effectsman (uncredited)
Art Royne	....	effectsman (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Tom Tutwiler	....	aerial photographer
J.H. Cooley	....	grip (uncredited)
Walter Fitchman	....	key grip (uncredited)
Til Gabani	....	camera operator (uncredited)
C.J. Geras	....	grip (uncredited)
Grover Jones	....	best boy (uncredited)
Bert Kershner	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
W.L. Lagune	....	grip (uncredited)
David McEwen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Fred Richter	....	grip (uncredited)
L.A. Smith	....	grip (uncredited)
Charles Wise	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Swede Munden	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Leonard Doss	....	color consultant

Transportation Department
Frank McGarry	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert E. Wayne	....	technical advisor (as Major Robert E. Wayne United States Air Force)
Vernon L. Wright	....	technical advisor (as Captain Vernon L. Wright United States Air Force)
Jim Boguson	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Carl Downey	....	operator (uncredited)
Ted Harmon	....	landscaper (uncredited)
R.H. Ibling	....	operator (uncredited)
Harold McLean	....	operator (uncredited)
Don Prince	....	publicist (uncredited)
Robert Saffell	....	pilot (uncredited)
Tex Wilsford	....	craft service (uncredited)
Marshall J. Wolins	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (1958) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1963) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Bausch & Lomb  CinemaScope lenses
• Department of Defense, The  Twentieth Century-Fox wishes to thank for their assistance in the production of this motion picture (as Department of Defense)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation  CinemaScope is the registered trademark of
• United States Air Force, The  Twentieth Century-Fox wishes to thank for their assistance in the production of this motion picture (as United States Air Force)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (magnetic prints) | Mono (optical prints)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2005) | West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #19007) | Canada:G (video rating)

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

One scene in the film quite realistically realizes author James Salter's description of Seville's (Connell in the novel) first sight of the fighter pilots in their club at the base in Korea. Salter wrote that "It looked like a lumberjack camp. No two pilots dressed alike." In the film, Seville eventually wears a WWII sheepskin-lined leather cap and a sage green flight jacket over a blue flight suit, while Pell wears a flap-eared winter hat and a blue flight jacket over a green flight suit. Other pilots wear similar mixes of uniform clothing from both the WWII and Korean War eras.

Goofs:

Factual errors: All of the vehicles used by the North Koreans are actually US military vehicles.

Quotes:

Major Cleve Saville:You don't tinker with a man's fear. He does that for himself.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)

Great aerial sequences for its day.

Not a bad war movie for the fifties. The aerial sequences are exciting and well done (pre-computer). Mitchum is his usual entertaining, stoic self, and Robert Wagner has an especially amusing role as a young, "hipster/hotshot" pilot, that takes after Mitchum.

It's on TV every once in a while. Catch it!