Fly Me (1973)

Director:

Cirio H. Santiago

Writer:

Miller Drake (screenplay)

Release Date:

March 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

See Stewardesses Battle Kung Fu Killers!

Plot:

Stewardesses battle kung fu killers. |

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Martial Arts | Hijack | Airplane | Stewardess

Cast

Pat Anderson	...	Toby
Lenore Kasdorf	...	Andrea
Lyllah Torena	...	Sherry
Richard Young	...	Doctor
Naomi Stevens	...	Mother
Dick Miller	...	Taxi Driver (as Richard Miller)
Ken Metcalfe	...	Donald
Vic Diaz	...	Enriquez
Richard Roake	...	Co-Pilot
Carmen Barredo	...	Receptionist
Cole Mallard	...	Bill
Leo Martinez	...	Tourist Guide
Pat Munzon	...	Chiang
Roger Lee	...	Customer on Airplane
Daniel Fauré	...	Young Man at Airport
Curtis Wong	...	Thug
Larry Wikel	...	2nd Thug
Eileen Koch	...	Female Attacker
Sharon Wikel	...	2nd Attacker
Rebecca Aston Smith	...	Tourist
Pat Oshu	...	Massage Girl
David Grossman	...	Sailor
Jack Davison	...	Freak
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Chow	...	Kung Fu Master (uncredited)

Directed by
Cirio H. Santiago		(as Cirio Santiago)

Writing credits
Miller Drake		(screenplay)

Produced by
Cirio H. Santiago	....	producer (as Cirio Santiago)

Cinematography by
Felipe Sacdalan		(director of photography) (as Philip Sacdalan)

Film Editing by
Barbara Pokras
Gervacio Santos		(as George Santos)

Art Direction by
Ben Otico

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jun Amazan	....	assistant director (as Jon Amazan)
Jonathan Demme	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Willie Arce	....	sound
Donald Santos	....	sound engineer (as Don Santos)

Special Effects by
Tony Gosalvez	....	special effects

Stunts
Sharon Wikel	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sean Doyle	....	assistant camera
Stephen M. Katz	....	director of photography: second unit
Randall Robinson	....	assistant cameraman: second unit

Editorial Department
Richard S. Brummer	....	editorial associate

Other crew
David Chow	....	director: Kung Fu sequences
Eddie Collins	....	title designer
Joe Dante	....	dialogue director

Distributors

• International Film Distributors (1973) (Canada) (theatrical)
• New World Pictures
• Shout! Factory (2012) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

74 min

Country:

USA | Philippines

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Quotes:

Co-Pilot:[over the intercom] Hi, this is your co-pilot Ernie. Just wanted to point out a couple of sights of interest to you folks flying the Hong Kong cannonball for the first time. If you look down to your left, you'll be able to see the famous Pacific Ocean. And if you look to your right, you'll be able to see... the famous Pacific Ocean, yessiree.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)

Slkightly above-average "stewardess-sploitation" film

You get a strong hint early on that this is probably not going to be a good movie when it clearly says (right there in the opening credits) "directed by Ciro Santiago". But compared to the rest of the oeuvre of the infamous Filipino exploitation hack, this is actually not too bad. It's a slight improvement over the similar Santiago film "Cover Girl Models" and it's definitely better than a lot of his other swill like "Vampire Hookers".

This is a "stewardess-spolitation" flick focusing on the various misadventures of a trio of sexy American stewardesses in the Far East. The main story, featuring Lenore Kasdorf, is similar to "Cover Girl Models" with a mixture of half-ass spy antics and half-ass kung-fu fighting. The second story is pure comedy as the Italian-stereotype mother of the newest and most virginal stewardess (Pat Anderson)has tagged along on the trip and goes to great lengths to stop her bubble-headed daughter from getting together with a handsome "bone doctor". The third story though is actually quite sleazy, approaching something out of the European "Black Emanuelle' series, as the third stewardess (Lillah Toreno)gets involved in drug trafficking and falls into the hands of a white-slavery group and ends up tied-up naked and even raped at one point (off-screen).

The dramatic shifts in tone here may be kind of off-putting to those expecting just a sexy, light-hearted romp, but they also serve to make the film more interesting than the usual "stewardess-spolitation" fare (it's especially interesting the way Santigo eventually manges to tie these three disparate plot-lines together). The female cast here is generally strong. Lenore Kasdorf was a familiar TV actress in the 70's, so it's fun to see her in somewhat racier fare. Lillah Toreno, on the other hand, was pretty much exclusively known for sleazy fare like the Gary Graver softcore porn "roughie", "And When She Was Bad". Pat Anderson appeared mostly in other films like this--the two most famous being Santiago's "Cover Girl Models" and the New World favorite "Summer School Teachers". The male cast is less memorable, but the ubiquitous Dick Miller appears in the early scene as a cab driver who repeatedly runs off the road while Anderson's character changes out of her bikini in the back of his cab, and the ever slimy Victor Diaz plays a corrupt Asian official. On the downside, the movie is even more horribly cheap than usual--we know we're supposedly in the Tokyo Airport at one point only because "Tokyo Airport" is written on a frickin' chalkboard in the background! Still, for the stewardess-sploitation genre, this is slightly above average.