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

The Passat Ornithopter airplane in this movie was given to Cole Palen for promoting this movie. It can now be seen at the Old Rhinebeck Areodrome.

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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

Count Emilio Ponticelli: It is a pity that the race will now be won by a Protestant.
Mother Superior: A Protestant? Sisters, don't stand there gazing. This good Catholic needs our help!

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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

Set against an old-time air-race, this is a charming spoof of national characteristics.

Centred around a London-to-Paris air race early in the 1900's, this is a wonderful English comedy spoofing national characteristics! You know the sort of thing, the expansive American hero, the fair-playing Englishman, the great French lover, the emotional Italian count, the enigmatic Japanese, the humourless pomp-loving German, and so on.

The casting is interesting, for this light-hearted movie's principal roles are filled by actors who are far more familiar playing the heavy: Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Gert Frobe. And make no mistake, they are superb at it!

Offending no-one of any age, this movie plays out against the back-drop of the air race, with a fantastic array of primitive aircraft. It is fun and full of life, tripping along easily and smoothly from one delightful absurdity to another. The English have made this movie, and while they have considerable fun at the expense of the Frenchman and the German, they cannot resist poking the bulk of the fun at themselves. They do so by augmenting the cast with the shifty Englishman (Terry-Thomas), the confidence man (Tony Hancock), and the foreigner-distrusting representative of the upper crust (Robert Morley).

This movie is a must see for anyone with any pretense to a sense of humour!