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

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Jack Davies (written by) &
Ken Annakin (written by)

Release Date:

16 June 1965 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Sabotage efforts damage an international air race.

Plot Keywords:

Air Race | Prize | French Stereotype | Year 1910 | Digit In Title

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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
Sam Wanamaker	...	George Gruber
Eric Barker	...	French Postman
Maurice Denham	...	Trawler Skipper
Fred Emney	...	Colonel
Gordon Jackson	...	MacDougal
Davy Kaye	...	Jean
John Le Mesurier	...	French Painter
Jeremy Lloyd	...	Lieutenant Parsons
Zena Marshall	...	Countess Sophia Ponticelli
Millicent Martin	...	Airline Hostess
Eric Pohlmann	...	Italian Mayor
Marjorie Rhodes	...	Maid
Norman Rossington	...	Assistant Fire Chief
William Rushton	...	Tremayne Gascoyne
Graham Stark	...	Fireman
Jimmy Thompson	...	Photographer
Michael Trubshawe	...	Niven
Tony Hancock	...	Harry Popperwell
James Robertson Justice	...	Narration Spoken by (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gerald Campion	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Robin Chapman	...	Postman (uncredited)
Cicely Courtneidge	...	Muriel, Colonel's Wife (uncredited)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Member of the French Team (uncredited)
Maurice Dunster	...	French Policeman (uncredited)
Gary Graham	...	Child at Air Show (uncredited)
Max Howard	...	Boy in crowd (uncredited)
Judy Huxtable	...	Girl on Beach (uncredited)
Nigel Kingsley	...	Youngest Child of Ponticelli (uncredited)
Ferdy Mayne	...	French Official (uncredited)
Bill Nagy	...	American Journalist (uncredited)
Steve Plytas	...	Continental Journalist (uncredited)
Nicholas Smith	...	Fireman (uncredited)
Ronnie Stevens	...	R.A.C. Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Ken Annakin

Writing credits
Jack Davies		(written by) &
Ken Annakin		(written by)

Produced by
Jack Davies	....	associate producer
Stan Margulies	....	producer

Original Music by
Ron Goodwin

Cinematography by
Christopher Challis		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Anne V. Coates
Gordon Stone

Casting by
Stuart Lyons

Production Design by
Thomas N. Morahan		(as Tom Morahan)

Costume Design by
Osbert Lancaster		(costumes designed by)

Makeup Department
Biddy Chrystal	....	hairdresser
Stuart Freeborn	....	makeup artist
W.T. Partleton	....	makeup artist (as William Partleton)
Barbara Ritchie	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Colin M. Brewer	....	unit manager (as Colin Brewer)
Patrick Clayton	....	unit manager (as Pat Clayton)
Denis Holt	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Clive Reed	....	assistant director
Don Sharp	....	second unit director
Jake Wright	....	assistant director: second unit

Art Department
Jim Morahan	....	associate art director
Arthur Taksen	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Jonathan Bates	....	dubbing editor
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound (as Gordon McCallum)
John W. Mitchell	....	sound
Otto Snel	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Richard Parker	....	special effects
Ron Ballinger	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)
Jimmy Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)
Fred Heather	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Malcolm King	....	special effects (uncredited)
Nick Middleton	....	special effects (uncredited)
Jimmy Ward	....	special effects (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Roy Field	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gilbert Chomat	....	stunt pilot (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Derek Piggott	....	stunt pilot: Stuart Whitman (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bill Sawyer	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Silk	....	stunt driver (uncredited)
John Sullivan	....	stunts (uncredited)
David Watson	....	stunt pilot: Karl-Michael Vogler (uncredited)
Allen Wheeler	....	stunt pilot (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Skeets Kelly	....	second unit cameraman
Dudley Lovell	....	camera operator
Mike Fox	....	focus puller: aerial unit (uncredited)

Animation Department
Ralph Ayres	....	animation

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dinah Greet	....	associate costume designer

Music Department
Ron Goodwin	....	conductor

Other crew
Joy Mercer	....	continuity
Ronald Searle	....	titles designed by
Allen Wheeler	....	technical adviser (as Air Commodore Allen H. Wheeler)
Geoff Freeman	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1969) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• 20th Century Fox Film Corporation (1965) (USA) (theatrical) (released by) (as 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox Video (1987) (USA) (VHS)
• Magnetic Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• National Screen Service  titles executed by (as National Screen Service Ltd. London)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

138 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French | German | Italian | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Norway:7 | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Iceland:L | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Booker Airfield, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Director and co-writer Ken Annakin had been working on an adventure film about transatlantic flight, when the producer's bankrutpcy aborted the production. He then made this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The race numbers on some of the radio-controlled models are different than the numbers on the full-size airplanes they represent.

Quotes:

Colonel Manfred von Holstein:There is nothing a German officer cannot do.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sixty Six (2006)

Soundtrack:

LA CALUNNIA UN VENTICELLO

A Comedy for the Ages; Farce, Beauty Aloft, Humorous Types Below

"Those Magnificent Men" probably looked on story boards like merely a colorful, often humorous and very enactable satire of an era, of its nations and of the early days of manned flight. Its plot line involved an international air race, from England to Paris, for whose prizes competitors in home-made aircraft from all over the world would journey to compete. The racers included Stuart Whitman aided by his brother Sam Wanamaker (Wilbur and Orville) from the U.S., James Fox of England, Albert Sordi from Italy, Gert Frobe and his team from Germany, Jean-Pierre Cassell and his ebullient hard-drinking group from France, plus a Scotsman and his dog, the villainous Sir Percy and his henchman, Terry-Thomas and Eric Sykes, a Japanese entrant and many others. Others in the large cast of the ensuing film also included Robert Morely as the wealthy patrician organizer of the race, a rather weak Sarah Miles as his daughter, beautiful Irina Demick who keeps turning up in every locale (in a new persona) and many more. But what the film's makers forgot was that the bravery and beauty of these canvas-winged and wooden primitive aircraft taking off and actually achieving flight would upstage even the often-hilarious comedy of the well-written proceedings. Using Red Skelton as "every man who has ever dreamed of flight", the producers prepared for the race, staged the race, and awarded the prizes--the climax being the arrival of the racers and what happened near the finish line, plus a justly happy ending. The film was written by Ken Annakin with Jack Davies, and Annakin directed it very competently also. Ron Goodwin's music and title song are well-remembered treats too. Others in the large, attractive cast include narrator James Robertson Justice, Gordon Jackson, Zena Marshall, Karl Michael Vogler, Yujiro Ishihara, Benny Hill, Flora Robson and Jeremy Lloyd. The film's pace is beautifully varied and consistently-maintained; the action includes acts of sabotage by the villains, practice flights gone wrong, low-comedy, a duel between the dour Frobe and devil-may-care Cassell conducted in hot air balloons, national humor at the expense of all concerned and incidents before and during the race. This is a very well-acted film; but the fine technical achievements and subordinate arts here had to take a back seat to the flight of the many wonderful "early birds", who outshone even the amusing national types who flew them. A much-imitated and superior comedy classic of its sort.