Hellfighters (1968)

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

Clair Huffaker (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 November 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | 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 | Firefighter | Playing Cards

Cast

John Wayne	...	Chance Buckman
Katharine Ross	...	Tish Buckman
Jim Hutton	...	Greg Parker
Vera Miles	...	Madelyn Buckman
Jay C. Flippen	...	Jack Lomax
Bruce Cabot	...	Joe Horn
Edward Faulkner	...	George Harris
Barbara Stuart	...	Irene Foster
Edmund Hashim	...	Colonel Valdez
Valentin de Vargas	...	Amal Bokru (as Valentin De Vargas)
Frances Fong	...	Madame Loo
Alberto Morin	...	General Lopez
Alan Caillou	...	Harry York
Laraine Stephens	...	Helen Meadows
John Alderson	...	Jim Hatch
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Dr. Songla
Rudy Diaz	...	Zamora
Bebe Louie	...	Gumdrop
Chris Chandler	...	Houston TV reporter
William Hardy
Howard Finch	...	Ed 'Cal' Calhoun
Richard 'Cactus' Pryor	...	Chance's doctor (as Cactus Pryor)
Big John Hamilton
Elizabeth Germaine
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Edward Colmans	...	Senor Caldez (uncredited)
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Hernando - Houseboy (uncredited)
Bella Jarrett	...	(uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Firefighter in Airplane (uncredited)
John Stephenson	...	Mr. Chapman (U.S. Embassy, Venezuela) (uncredited)

Directed by
Andrew V. McLaglen

Writing credits
Clair Huffaker		(screenplay)

Produced by
Robert Arthur	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography by
William H. Clothier		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Folmar Blangsted

Art Direction by
Frank Arrigo
Alexander Golitzen

Set Decoration by
John McCarthy Jr.		(set decorations) (as John McCarthy)
James Redd		(set decorations) (as James S. Redd)

Costume Design by
Edith Head		(costumes designed by)

Makeup Department
Larry Germain	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Bob Larson	....	unit production manager (as Robert E. Larson)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Terry Morse Jr.	....	assistant director
Robin S. Clark	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Joe Florence	....	second second assistant director (uncredited)
Harry Hogan III	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Ted Swanson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Lyle Cain	....	sound
Ronald Pierce	....	sound
Waldon O. Watson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Fred Knoth	....	special effects
Whitey McMahon	....	special effects (as Whitey McMahan)
Herman E. Townsley	....	special effects (as Herman Townsley)

Visual Effects by
Albert Whitlock	....	matte supervisor

Stunts
Hal Needham	....	stunt coordinator
Stan Barrett	....	stunts (uncredited)
Dick Bullock	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jim Burk	....	stunts (uncredited)
Roydon Clark	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary Combs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Courtney	....	stunts (uncredited)
Everett Creach	....	stunts (uncredited)
Alan Gibbs	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gary McLarty	....	stunts (uncredited)
Hal Needham	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rock A. Walker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Robert Warner	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Berry	....	director of photography: second unit (uncredited)

Music Department
Joseph Gershenson	....	music supervisor

Other crew
'Red' Adair	....	technical advisor: of the Red Adair Wild Well Control Company: upon whose personal experiences are based many of the incidents in this motion picture and whose technical help enabled us to re-create them
Bob Forrest	....	dialogue coach
'Boots' Hansen	....	technical advisor: of The Red Adair Wild Well Control Company: upon whose personal experiences are based many of the incidents in this motion picture and whose technical help enabled us to re-create them
'Coots' Matthews	....	technical advisor: of The Red Adair Wild Well Control Company: upon whose personal experiences are based many of the incidents in this motion picture and whose technical help enabled us to re-create them
Orin Borsten	....	publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (presents) (as Universal)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (as A Universal® Picture) (as A Universal Picture also)
• J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors (1969) (UK) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1971) (USA) (TV) (original airing) (pan/scan)
• Universal Pictures (1969) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal (1969) (France) (theatrical) (as Un Film Universal)
• Koch Media (2010) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2007) (Canada) (DVD) (5 film collection)
• Universal Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD) (5 film collection)

Other Companies

• Cinematique  cosmetics by
• Universal Title  titles

Also Known As:

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 (uncut) (1968) (70 mm) | Finland:K-12 (heavily cut) (1969) (35 mm) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Germany:12 (re-rating) (2008) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987) | UK:PG (tv rating) | UK:U | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Baytown, Texas, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The character of Chance Buckman is based on real-life oil well firefighter 'Red' Adair.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Hellfighters are fighting the first oil well fire, they explode nitro glycerine over the oil rig to extinguish the fire. After the explosion, the fire is still burning!

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:

Referenced in "NCIS: Playing with Fire (#9.22)" (2012)

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.