Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965)

Sabotage efforts damage an international air race.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Jack Davies, Ken Annakin

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stuart Whitman	...	Orvil Newton
Sarah Miles	...	Patricia Rawnsley
James Fox	...	Richard Mays
Alberto Sordi	...	Count Emilio Ponticelli
Robert Morley	...	Lord Rawnsley
Gert Fröbe	...	Colonel Manfred Von Holstein (as Gert Frobe)
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Pierre Dubois
Irina Demick	...	Brigitte / Ingrid / Marlene / Françoise / Yvette / Betty
Eric Sykes	...	Courtney
Red Skelton	...	The Neanderthal Man
Terry-Thomas	...	Sir Percy Ware-Armitage
Benny Hill	...	Fire Chief Perkins
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Yamamoto (as Yujiro Ishihara)
Flora Robson	...	Mother Superior
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Captain Rumpelstoss

Storyline

In the early days of the 20th century, a British Newspaper offers a prize for the winner of a cross channel air race which brings flyers from all over the world. There are many sub-plots as the flyers jockey for position and the affections of various women.

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Plot Keywords:

air race | prize | french stereotype | year 1910 | digit in title | 

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Taglines:

or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French German Italian Japanese

Release Date:

16 June 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Filming Locations:

Booker Airfield, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$5,600,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 7,566,000 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two of the replicas (the "1910 Bristol Boxkite" and the "1911 Roe IV Triplane") built for the film still fly across the English countryside as both are preserved in the "Shuttleworth Collection" based at Old Warden, Bedfordshire.

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Goofs

When Sir Percy is running along the length of the steam train in 1910 France, a nuclear power plant with its distinctive hour-glass shaped cooling towers are clearly visible in the background.

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Quotes

[Reading from flight instruction manual]
Colonel Manfred von Holstein: Step one: sit down.

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Our All Time Favourite Films (2010)

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Soundtracks

"LA CALUNNIA UN VENTICELLO"
(from IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA)
Music by Gioachino Rossini
Lyrics by Cesare Sterbini (uncredited)

User Reviews

Playful comedy epic.

You'll never forget the silly, marching band styled theme song to this 1965 comedy. Made during a period of big budgeted, epic, widescreen comedies with a big cast. Stuart Whitman is charming as the American entry into a multi-national air race between London and Paris in 1910. Sarah Miles, Terry-Thomas, Gert Forde, Benny Hill and James Fox lend fine support. Lots of well arranged, well thought out slapstick as well as low key, charcater driven comedy (James Fox and Whitman are great as romantic rivals forced to share the same breathing space.) At 2 hours 18 minutes, alot of fun.