The Skydivers (1963)

User Rating:

1.5/10   

Director:

Coleman Francis

Writer:

Coleman Francis (writer)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

I like coffee!

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Coffee | Skydiving | Acid Vendor | Light Airplane | Car And Plane Mixup

Cast

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)

Also Known As:

Fiend from Half Moon Bay (USA)
Panic at Half Moon Bay (USA)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Filming Locations:

Hemet, California, USA

Company:

Crown International Pictures

Trivia:

Director Trademark: [Coleman Francis] [light aircraft]The same small airstrip found in all his films.

Goofs:

Continuity: A small white plane has no registration number on its side when on the ground, but the registration number is clearly visible when it is in flight.

Quotes:

Joe Moss: Coffee? I LIKE coffee!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Skydivers (#7.9)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Tobacco Worm

Remember Folks, Sex For Sundries is FUN!!!

Just try and keep this straight: Harry is married to Beth (with whom he runs an airport/parachuting school), but catting around with Suzy, who also has a thing going with Frankie, who used to work for Harry. Frankie's place as mechanic has been taken by Harry's war buddy Joe, who would probably like to to Harry's place as well. But when Harry leaves Suzy and calls her a "broad" in the bargain, well, she just has no other choice but to Do The Nasty with the local pharmacist in exchange for a little acid to pour all over Harry's parachute, which she does with the help(?) of Frankie (actually, she does the driving, the planning, gets the acid, and actually applies it to said parachute--while he stands and/or sits around looking stupid and/or nervous).

Anyways, after you're finished doing the sexual algebra--well, there isn't much left to do after that, except enjoy the spectacle of writer/director Coleman Francis' misfiring-synapse style of editing, in which the flow of scenes is interrupted with irrelevant closeups or bits of action involving other characters who have not previously been been seen on-camera (all but the most important characters in this film tend to pop up without explanation and to disappear in similar fashion--given that this film is too cheap and amateurish to deserve shelter on Poverty Row, Francis probably couldn't afford actual exposition, or maybe he didnt think about it until after the bulk of the film was shot, or maybe he shot the footage, got drunk, and suddenly ran across it in the editing room and tried to splice it in before the Four Roses left him snoring over the moviola).

You could talk about the acting, I suppose, but it would be a waste of time, given that most of the cast, with the exception of Kevin Casey (Beth) and Marcia Knight (Suzy) don't actually bother with it. The cast seems to consist mostly of people who gave him money to make the film or the relatives of people who gave him money to make the film, or of members of his family, or of people he ran into while on a bender. The result is the weirdest cast this side of a Fellini movie, but unlike Fellini, who generally picked talented and/or appealing oddballs to appear in his films, Francis just picked oddballs. Although there IS a tall blonde here that wouldn't look out of place dancing in the Trevi Fountain at dawn--Marcello Mastroianni optional.