Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes (1965)

Sabotage efforts damage an international air race.

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Jack Davies, Ken Annakin

Stars:

Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, James Fox

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stuart Whitman	...	Orvil Newton
Sarah Miles	...	Patricia Rawnsley
James Fox	...	Richard Mays
Alberto Sordi	...	Count Emilio Ponticelli
Robert Morley	...	Lord Rawnsley
Gert Fröbe	...	Colonel Manfred Von Holstein (as Gert Frobe)
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Pierre Dubois
Irina Demick	...	Brigitte / Ingrid / Marlene / Françoise / Yvette / Betty
Eric Sykes	...	Courtney
Red Skelton	...	The Neanderthal Man / Passenger on Airport
Terry-Thomas	...	Sir Percy Ware-Armitage
Benny Hill	...	Fire Chief Perkins
Yûjirô Ishihara	...	Yamamoto (as Yujiro Ishihara)
Flora Robson	...	Mother Superior
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Captain Rumpelstrosse

Storyline

In the early days of the 20th century, a British Newspaper offers a prize for the winner of a cross channel air race which brings flyers from all over the world. There are many sub-plots as the flyers jockey for position and the affections of various women.

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Plot Keywords:

london england | competition | air race | prize | english channel | 

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Taglines:

20th Century-Fox Presents The Motion Picture That Sets Comedy Ahead 100 Years!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French German Italian Japanese

Release Date:

16 June 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Filming Locations:

Fulmer Hall, Fulmer, Slough, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$5,600,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$31,111,111

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century-Fox Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

138 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Passat Ornithopter airplane in this movie was given to Cole Palen for promoting this movie. It can now be seen at the Old Rhinebeck Areodrome.

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Goofs

The configuration of several aircraft changes from shot to shot. This includes the Bristol Boxkite which, in some scenes has two rudders and in others has three. The Antoinette is changed the most. In close ups it has thin "wing warping" wings. In others it has thick modern glider wings with ailerons with redundant support wires added. These changes occurred when it became clear that the accurate replicas of 1910 flying machines, originally built were not airworthy enough. Details are provided in Allen Wheeler's book "Building Aeroplanes for Those Magnificent Men."

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Quotes

Colonel: [Having helped Richard Mays return to the race] I think I'll get one of those Muriel
Colonel's Wife: I shouldn't Willie, you're near enough to your wings as it is.

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Crazy Credits

Closing credits: Those Magnificent Men - and Women - were ...

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Connections

Referenced in The World at War: Whirlwind: Bombing Germany - September 1939-April 1944 (1974)

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Soundtracks

Rule Britannia
(uncredited)
Music by Thomas Augustine Arne
Heard at the finish line

User Reviews

It Was The Machines That Were Magnificent

This was a fairly long but interesting story of an early 20th century airplane race taking place between London and Paris. The actual race only takes place for the last 45 minutes, and that's fun to watch. The terrain also is nice to view.

Before that, you get profiles of the competitors of the race. You really get the typical stereotypes of movies: the French men woo all the women; the Germans are make to look too militaristic and stupid; the English are portrayed as very stiff upper-lipped and the Italians are all too emotional, etc.

Stuart Whitman and James Fox both battle for Sarah Miles' affections and Terry Thomas has some funny lines as a villain.

I loved the airplanes in this film - really cool "flying machines," as they are labeled here. They came in all sizes and shapes. In the very beginning of the movie, they show actual footage of early flight failures and they are familiar but still fascinating. Interspiced in the actual footage are closeups of Red Skelton playing the part of some of those unsuccessful fliers. Since he had no lines, Skelton reminded me of some of the great silent film comedians.