Jet Pilot (1957)

Air Force Colonel Jim Shannon is tasked to escort a defecting Soviet pilot who is scheming to lure Shannon to the USSR.

Director:

Josef von Sternberg

Writer:

Jules Furthman

Stars:

John Wayne, Janet Leigh, Jay C. Flippen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Wayne	...	Col. Jim Shannon
Janet Leigh	...	Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief
Jay C. Flippen	...	Maj. Gen. Black
Paul Fix	...	Maj. Rexford
Richard Rober	...	FBI Agent George Rivers
Roland Winters	...	Col. Sokolov
Hans Conried	...	Col. Matoff
Ivan Triesault	...	Gen. Langrad

Storyline

Air Force Colonel Shannon is assigned to escort defecting Soviet pilot Anna. He falls in love with her, but she is scheming to lure him back to the USSR. But Shannon has a scheme of his own.

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Plot Keywords:

champagne | opening action scene | aerial camera shot | jet fighter | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

Greatest Air Spectacle of the Jet Age! Earth-shaking, sky-shattering ... SO BIG it took years to make!

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Howard Hughes' alternate choice for the lead role was Cary Grant, but he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When the fighter breaks off after the radar intercept, the markings on the plane are backwards (flipped film).

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Quotes

Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon: Have you had many of them?
Col. Jim Shannon: Many what?
Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon: Women.

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Crazy Credits

Advertising carried the credits "Starring John Wayne, Janet Leigh, and the United States Air Force."

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Connections

Referenced in Rules Don't Apply (2016)

User Reviews

Woooosh! Ninotchka meets Dr. Strangelove

I waited a long time to see this movie, now I have and I must say I found it better than I had reason to expect. It is a fast moving comedy with many really funny scenes. Could it be this was the first movie that made fun of the Cold War? Could it be it was shelved for years for that reason (maybe the war in Corea made it inopportune to laugh about such matters)? Josef von Sternberg, steeped in German Expressionism, would be the last director you'd expect to helm a movie that at first sight seems to be an older version of Top Gun. But things are set straight very soon as it becomes evident that this is supposed to be a comedy in the vein of something by Ernst Lubitsch or Billy Wilder. Ninotchka comes to mind, and in a way - a hilarious way - Janet Leigh as the (intentionally?) grounded Russian jet pilot is in the footsteps of Greta Garbo here. So John Wayne as American jet pilot is a reticent, rather shy Melvyn Douglas. In his part you'd rather expect Cary Grant, and Wayne does seem to be slightly embarrassed throughout the movie.

Vivacious Janet Leigh's physical assets are highlighted as much as possible and with great success. There is a nice striptease scene in which she gets out of her cute white overalls, and each time she starts peeling off a new layer of clothing - woooosh - a jet plane is heard diving down. It's really a hoot. Soon she reappears in the American's war room in a neatly pressed Red Army uniform, full of medals and fruit salad (she must have stashed it somewhere in that jet plane of hers). Soon she and Wayne are off to Palm Springs, so that she can see what the Commies are missing. Wayne, in turn, gets a whiff of Socialist reality later on, as he accompanies the Russien pilot he sort of married back home. It's grim and Stalag-like, of course.

There is a lot of aerial footage in Jet Pilot and it is high quality material that still fascinates. A lot of elegant acrobatics is performed and filmed from different angles. But even the jets are well embedded in the comedy this movie ultimately is. One of the scene I liked best: Janet Leigh escapes. She runs to a jet with its – er – engine already running, pushes away the ladder and dashes of as if it were a little sports car or some getaway after a heist in a gangster movie. It's unparalleled and one of many laughs Jet Pilot offers.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 October 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jet Pilot

Filming Locations:

Riverside, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1