Hellfighters (1968)

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 | Plunger Detonator | Firefighting

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
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Dr. Songla
Rudy Diaz	...	Zamora
Chris Chandler	...	Houston TV reporter
William Hardy
Howard Finch	...	Ed 'Cal' Calhoun
Richard 'Cactus' Pryor	...	Chance's doctor (as Cactus Pryor)
Big John Hamilton
Bebe Louie	...	Gumdrop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bella Jarrett
Edward Colmans	...	Senor Caldez (uncredited)
Elizabeth Germaine	...	(uncredited)
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Hernando (houseboy) (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Firefighter in airplane (uncredited)
John Stephenson	...	Mr. Chapman (U.S. Embassy, Venezuela) (uncredited)

Directed by
Andrew V. McLaglen

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Clair Huffaker		writer

Produced by
Robert Arthur	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard Rosenman

Cinematography by
William H. Clothier

Film Editing by
Folmar Blangsted

Art Direction by
Frank Arrigo
Alexander Golitzen

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

Costume Design by
Edith Head

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

Production Management
Robert E. Larson	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Robin S. Clark	....	second assistant director
Joe Florence	....	second second assistant director
Harry Hogan III	....	third assistant director
Terry Morse Jr.	....	first assistant director
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
Herman E. Townsley	....	special effects

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

Music Department
Joseph Gershenson	....	music supervisor

Other crew
'Red' Adair	....	technical advisor
Orin Borsten	....	publicist
Robert Forrest	....	dialogue coach
'Boots' Hansen	....	technical advisor
'Coots' Matthews	....	technical advisor

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• 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 Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)

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 asked to comment on the film during production, actress Katharine Ross replied, "It's the biggest piece of crap I've ever done!" Then the reporter asked Vera Miles (who was playing Wayne's wife and Ross's mother in the film) to respond to Ross's comment. She thought for a moment and said, "Well, it's not the biggest piece of crap I'VE ever done!"

Goofs:

Continuity: A rear view of the cockpit shows the doorway to be clear while a view from inside the cockpit shows a curtain over the doorway.

Quotes:

Greg Parker: [after being awakened by a kiss from Tish] What are you doing here?
Chance Buckman: [being awakened by Greg's question] What's Tish doing here?
Madelyn Buckman: That was my idea.
Chance Buckman: Somebody wake me up!

Movie Connections:

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

Great realism for it's day.

Loosely based on the exploits of Red Adair, Hellfighters is a perfect vehicle for John Wayne. The characterizations are a bit overstated, but this was standard for the era, so I allow for that. And who could have picked a more appropriate love interest for the Duke than Vera Miles as a San Francisco Department Store heiress.

I thought Jim Hutton and Katherine Ross made a good offsetting couple to JW & VM and Bruce Cabot, a long-time associate of Wayne's, an excellent comic element.

I think the thing that sold it for me was the reality of the fire scenes which I just marveled at until I saw that Red Adair was a technical adviser on the film. That and the knowledge that Wayne was all for reality as much as possible really made me a watch it anytime fan of this picture.

If one takes into account the decade in which the picture was made, it can be and is, for me at least, a very enjoyable film. I highly recommend it!