Hellfighters (1968)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

Clair Huffaker (writer)

Release Date:

27 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance

Tagline:

The Toughest Hellfighter Of All! [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

The story of macho oil well firefighters and their wives.

Plot Keywords:

Oil | Oil Well | Fire | Male Female Relationship | Family Relationships

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 23

5:15 PM

AMC

Cast

John Wayne	...	Chance Buckman
Vera Miles	...	Madelyn Buckman
Katharine Ross	...	Tish Buckman
Jim Hutton	...	Greg Parker
Jay C. Flippen	...	Jack Lomax
Bruce Cabot	...	Joe Horn
Edward Faulkner	...	George Harris
Barbara Stuart	...	Irene Foster
Edmund Hashim	...	Col. Valdez
Valentin de Vargas	...	Amal Bokru
Frances Fong	...	Madame Loo
Alberto Morin	...	General López
Alan Caillou	...	Harry York
Laraine Stephens	...	Helen Meadows
John Alderson	...	Jim Hatch

Runtime:

121 min | Finland:112 min (cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System) | 70 mm 6-Track (Australia)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (heavily cut) (1969) (35 mm) | Finland:K-12 (uncut) (1968) (70 mm) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Germany:12 (re-rating) (2008) | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Baytown, Texas, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

When Tish Buckman and Greg Parker look at the house they plan to move into after they wed, it's the same house used as the Douglas home in "My Three Sons" (1960). It was later used as one of the houses on "Wysteria Lane" in "Desperate Housewives" (2004).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the scene that is supposedly at Hobby Airport in Houston, mountains are seen in the background. There are no mountains (especially snow covered ones) around Houston.

Quotes:

Chance Buckman: [referring to the fact that Greg brings a girl to a different fire] What did you use for openers this time, the old headache gag? Why, you poor man, perhaps if I rubbed your neck?
Greg Parker: True - every word, true. But it works.
Chance Buckman: Can't say I blame you. A fellow as ugly as you are probably couldn't get to first base without a fire.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Sopranos: Walk Like a Man (#6.17)" (2007)

I really liked this movie!

After the first Gulf War, we heard a steady stream of news reports about workers putting out oil fires in Kuwait. I immediately understood what they were describing, because I had seen Hellfighters, and they were using the same techniques.

I really liked this movie. I thought Chance Buckman was the perfect role for John Wayne's character...his character seemed to match the sort of person who would be doing this for a living. Fighting the fires while getting shot at by guerrilla fighters seemed a big much, until I considered what is going on with people working on the infrastructure in Iraq...not much different.

I've heard the complaint that the special effects are not up to today's standards, but they work for me...they do not interrupt my suspension of disbelief, and they are not distracting like some of todays whiz-bang special effects.

I think this is one of John Wayne's best movies.