Baa Baa, Black Sheep (1976) (TV)

Director:

Russ Mayberry

Writers:

Gregory H. 'Pappy' Boyington (inspired by the book)
Stephen J. Cannell (television story and teleplay)

Release Date:

21 September 1976 (USA)

Genre:

War | Action | Drama

Plot:

Maverick WW2 Marine aviator forms his own fighter squadron.

Plot Keywords:

Military | Pilot | Aviation | WWII | Fighter Pilot

Cast

Robert Conrad	...	Maj. Greg 'Pappy' Boyington
Simon Oakland	...	Brig. Gen. Thomas Moore
Dana Elcar	...	Col. Thomas A. Laird
James Whitmore Jr.	...	Capt. James W. Gutterman
Robert Ginty	...	Lt. T.J. Wiley
Dirk Blocker	...	1st Lt. Jerry Bragg
W.K. Stratton	...	2nd Lt. Larry Casey
John Larroquette	...	Lt. Bob Anderson
Peter Donat	...	Col. Mathis
Sharon Gless	...	Nurse 1st Lt.
George Gaynes	...	Maj. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault
Lance LeGault	...	Lt. Huck (as W.L. LeGault)
Anthony Charnota	...	Freddy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Janice Carroll	...	Nurse Delmonte
John Durren	...	Doc Roberts
Sandra Kerns	...	Nurse
John Lawlor	...	Dr. Jim Reese
James Lough	...	Admiral's Aide
Jeff MacKay	...	Lt. Donald French (as Jeff Mackay)
Jake Mitchell	...	Lt. Robert Boyle
Byron Morrow	...	Adm. Nimitz
James Murtaugh	...	Medical Lieutenant
Charles Napier	...	Maj. Red Buell

Also Known As:

Flying Misfits (UK)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U | West Germany:18 (video rating)

Company:

Stephen J. Cannell Productions

Movie Connections:

Followed by "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (1976)

The Boyington's are Born

The Flying Misfits is the feature length opener to the Baa Baa Black Sheep/ Black Sheep Squadron television series which aired on NBC in the late 70's and currently can be seen (with limited commentary from star Robert Conrad and surviving members of the real squad) on the History Channel.

The movie covers the story (with a little Hollywood magic) of how Major Boyington left the Flying Tigers in China and arrived in the South Pacific. The scene where he bypasses red tape by getting Admiral Nimitz to clear the way for his rightful rank is both interesting and an excellent way to foreshadow the lengths Conrad's Boyington is willing to go to get what he wants. Simon Oakland and veteran actor Dana Elcar demonstrate with their characters the two sides of military brass that Boyington had to deal with.

A good "companion" piece to the series is co-star Larry Manetti's book on his time in Hollywood. He and Conrad became good friends on the show and Larry gives some great insights on his time with the series. Also. for those who thought John Larroquette started with "Night Court", this movie/series is a good chance to see some of his early work.

When the History Channel started airing the series around 1999, they aired the movie a few times. Since the movie made only extremely rare appearances on The Encore movie networks prior to this, this was a good chance for me to see what I missed, since I used to watch it when WOR-9 aired the syndicated repeats about ten years ago. The aerial scenes are great, as are some of the landing scenes, especially when you consider the island landing area was actually an airfield in Southern California.