The Skydivers (1963)

A woman seeks revenge on her former lover, who owns a skydiving business.

Director:

Coleman Francis

Writer:

Coleman Francis

Stars:

Kevin Casey, Eric Tomlin, Anthony Cardoza

Bottom 100 #78 | See the Bottom 100 movies as voted by our users.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kevin Casey	...	Beth Rowe
Eric Tomlin	...	Joe Moss
Anthony Cardoza	...	Harry Rowe (as Tony Cardoza)
Marcia Knight	...	Suzy Belmont
Bob Carrano	...	Bob
Michael Rae	...	Red
Jerry Mann	...	Bernie
Keith Walton	...	Jim the Photographer
Paul Francis	...	Pete
Titus Moede	...	Frankie Bonner
Jimmy Bryant	...	Himself - Night Jumpers Guitar Player
Rue Barclay	...	Himself - Night Jumpers Bass Player
Junior Nichols	...	Himself - Night Jumpers Drummer
Harold Hensley	...	Himself - Night Jumpers Sax Player
Harold Saunders	...	Mr. Morgan (as Howard Saunders)

Storyline

A couple own an airfield which makes its money on skydiving in the middle of New Mexico. They are having marital problems because the man is cheating on his wife, but remains she tries to remain true to him. The woman he is cheating with is jealous of the man's wife, so she seduces another guy to conspire with her to kill him. Meanwhile, the wife is cheating on the cheating husband with the husband's old Army buddy... and they all enjoy coffee all the while.

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Plot Keywords:

coffee | skydiving | acid | acid vendor | failed parachute | 

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Taglines:

First feature length motion picture showing the daredevils of the sky who free fall from heights of 20,000 feet with only a ripcord between life and death!

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Crown International Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fiend from Half Moon Bay

Filming Locations:

Hemet, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crown International Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Color:

Black and White

Did You Know?

Trivia

Coleman Francis:  [vigilante shooting]  Joe and Suzy are gunned down by Coleman Francis and the law(?) at the end with no trial or arrest.

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Goofs

A small white plane has no registration number on its side on the ground. The registration number is clearly visible in flight.

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Quotes

Suzy Belmont: What do you suppose would happen if you poured acid into someone's parachute?

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1995)

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Soundtracks

"HaSo - Stratosphere Boogie"
Written by Jimmy Bryant
Performed by Jimmy Bryant and the Night Jumpers

User Reviews

The Cinematic Disasterpiece of the Talkies Era

I was cruising IMDb and was checking out the Bottom 100 because I wanted to see if "Manos" was given a boost after the Entertainment Weekly story. What a pleasant surprise to see that "The Skydivers," the movie that I said was the worst I'd ever seen when I rubbernecked it twenty five years ago, has taken its rightful place at the top…I mean, the bottom.

For a while, I thought perhaps the WOAT tag should have gone to a woeful idea for a teen comedy called "Nice Girls Don't Explode," starring archetypal pretty-girl-trapped-by-a-nerd's-psyche Michelle Meyrink, but then I found my Beta cassette of "Skydivers" and came to my senses.

You've heard of "shoestring budgets" – this movie had a dental floss budget. Everything you need to know about the lack of cash Coleman Francis suffered is in an early scene in which a car – a junker with what looks like latex paint strokes across it – pulls up at the airport. As the car stops, the passenger door flies open. The driver gets out, there is dialogue I can't remember (but I'm sure it was as inane as the infamous coffee line), and the driver and another person get into the car. The driver gets in the driver's seat, the other person gets in the passenger's seat, closes the door, and sticks his arm out the open window to hold the door closed! Francis didn't have a friend who could lend him a car with properly operating doors?

Even the centerpiece of the movie – the skydiving footage – is ridiculously inept. And "Skydivers" has the most unconvincing love scene on celluloid – there's even less chemistry between those two than there was between Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman in "Revenge of the Sith." At least "Manos" made a lame attempt at titillation with the ladies wrestling in lingerie.

It's a shame I have to give "Skydivers" one star in order to vote (especially when there are apparent "Manos" anti-fans who are giving "Skydivers" 10 stars). When it comes to bad movies, "Skydivers" is back where it belongs: Number One with an ICBM.