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IMDbPro

Those Fantastic Flying Fools

Original title: Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon
  • 19671967
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
5.2/10
859
YOUR RATING
Troy Donahue, Gert Fröbe, Burl Ives, Lionel Jeffries, Daliah Lavi, and Terry-Thomas in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
AdventureComedyFantasy
In Victorian England, an American showman uses a wealthy Frenchman's finances to build a German explosives expert's giant cannon designed to fire a people-filled projectile to the Moon, but ... Read allIn Victorian England, an American showman uses a wealthy Frenchman's finances to build a German explosives expert's giant cannon designed to fire a people-filled projectile to the Moon, but spies and saboteurs endanger the project.In Victorian England, an American showman uses a wealthy Frenchman's finances to build a German explosives expert's giant cannon designed to fire a people-filled projectile to the Moon, but spies and saboteurs endanger the project.
IMDb RATING
5.2/10
859
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Don Sharp
  • Writers
    • Harry Alan Towers(original story)
    • Jules Verne(inspired by the writings of)
    • Dave Freeman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Burl Ives
    • Jimmy Clitheroe
    • Terry-Thomas
  • Director
    • Don Sharp
  • Writers
    • Harry Alan Towers(original story)
    • Jules Verne(inspired by the writings of)
    • Dave Freeman(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Burl Ives
    • Jimmy Clitheroe
    • Terry-Thomas
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 19User reviews
    • 21Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos28

    Burl Ives and Terry-Thomas in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Burl Ives in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Joan Sterndale-Bennett in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Jimmy Clitheroe and Burl Ives in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Troy Donahue in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Gert Fröbe and Dennis Price in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Graham Stark and Terry-Thomas in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Tom Irwin, Dennis Price, and Joan Sterndale-Bennett in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Tom Irwin, Lionel Jeffries, and Joan Sterndale-Bennett in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Troy Donahue in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
    Gert Fröbe, Stratford Johns, and Hugh Walters in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Burl Ives
    Burl Ives
    • Phineas T. Barnum
    Jimmy Clitheroe
    • General Tom Thumb
    Terry-Thomas
    Terry-Thomas
    • Captain Sir Harry Washington Smythe
    Graham Stark
    Graham Stark
    • Grundle
    Gert Fröbe
    Gert Fröbe
    • Professor von Bulow
    • (as Gert Frobe)
    Lionel Jeffries
    Lionel Jeffries
    • Sir Charles Dillworthy
    Dennis Price
    Dennis Price
    • The Duke of Barset
    Troy Donahue
    Troy Donahue
    • Gaylord
    Daliah Lavi
    Daliah Lavi
    • Madelaine
    Edward de Souza
    Edward de Souza
    • Henri
    • (as Edward De Souza)
    Hermione Gingold
    Hermione Gingold
    • Angelica
    Judy Cornwell
    Judy Cornwell
    • Electra
    Renate von Holt
    Renate von Holt
    • Anna
    • (as Renata Holt)
    Joachim Teege
    • Bulgeroff
    Stratford Johns
    Stratford Johns
    • Warrant Officer
    Derek Francis
    Derek Francis
    • Puddleby
    Anthony Woodruff
    • Announcer
    Hugh Walters
    Hugh Walters
    • Carruthers
    • Director
      • Don Sharp
    • Writers
      • Harry Alan Towers(original story)
      • Jules Verne(inspired by the writings of)
      • Dave Freeman(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Bing Crosby was attached to this project; he was going to play P.T. Barnum, but delays and rewrites caused him to drop out.
    • Quotes

      The Duke of Barset: A common device for swindling! In my day you'd be led to a room with a gun on the table. The door would be closed. A shot would ring out. A woman would scream.

      Captain Sir Harry Washington Smythe: I say, I did so like the part about the woman screaming!

    • Crazy credits
      Closing credits: and Queen Victoria JOAN STERNDALE BENNETT God Bless her !
    • Connections
      Spoofs Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965)
    • Soundtracks
      We Must Always Trust the Stranger
      Music and Lyrics by Ron Goodwin

      Performed by Mike Clifford (uncredited)

    User reviews19

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Whimsical comedy with Jimmy Clitheroe & Terry-Thomas
    This comedy features a delightful array of well-known British character actors of the 1960's, including the lovely Terry-Thomas (well to the fore in this picture), the eccentric Lionel Jeffries, and the diminutive comic Jimmy Clitheroe.

    Terry-Thomas is best remembered for his villainous roles in the films 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines' and 'Monte Carlo or Bust', two of the finest comedies of the period, in which his comic villain stole both pictures.

    'Rocket to the Moon' is a film in a very similar vein. Terry-Thomas is once again playing a dastardly villain, who is frightfully English, don't-you-know? The plot is likewise a madcap costume romp, set decades earlier. And, like the other two pictures, it trades on the period charm of its historical setting - at one point the villainous Sir Harry (played by Terry-Thomas), refuels his gas-driven jalopy by stealing the gas from a Victorian street lamp.

    The plan to send a rocket to the moon, in the name of Queen Victoria, manned by diminutive comic Jimmy Clitheroe, is entirely in keeping with the equally mad idea of flying an aeroplane from London to Paris in the earlier film, in which Terry-Thomas also played a dastardly, scheming and titled bounder.

    'Rocket to the Moon' takes a step forward, as this time an American comedian is included in the cast, in the person of Burl Ives, as a scheming Yankee showman who wants only to make a fast buck out of the whole enterprise. This gives him rather an advantage over Tony Curtis, who had to play the role that he was given in 'Monte Carlo or Bust', as the sole American star, mostly straight, as romantic lead and chief fall-guy.

    The first snag in the plan is that Lionel Jeffries' design for the moon rocket is an obvious damp squib. So Dennis Price kicks him off the project, and he teams up with the dastardly Sir Harry, in order to sabotage it. Sabotage is Terry-Thomas's main activity in both the other pictures, so he's well in character here.

    As in both the other pictures, too, Gert Frobe appears in character, as the mad Prussian. This time he's invented a new explosive, one which he reckons will be capable of hurling the rocket up to the moon. But he and his assistants may perish in the attempt to test-fire it.

    This is gentle comedy, with a whimsical edge. It's great fun, but it depends on an appreciation of the links between this picture and the other two - and on a liking for whimsical Sixties comedy.

    A picture with the main aim of recruiting a tiny astronaut, because all that can be built is a tiny rocketship, is guaranteed to be fairly whimsical. Variety star Jimmy Clitheroe, best remembered today from his radio series 'The Clitheroe Kid', gives a splendidly comic performance as General Tom Thumb, an innocent who Burl Ives intends to "con" into the job of the astronaut.

    This is a great film, drawing laughs equally from the slightly mad but lovable characters, the running gags with the two related pictures, and the snags that bedevil the moonship scheme itself. A picture featuring a character as eccentric as Jimmy Clitheroe the Kid Himself - how can it fail. Don't some mothers 'ave 'em?

    Stephen Poppitt & Sandra Skuse
    helpful•9
    0
    • sskuse
    • Oct 10, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 26, 1967 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Tolldreiste Kerle in rasselnden Raketen
    • Filming locations
      • Ardmore Studios, Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland(interiors)
    • Production company
      • Jules Verne Films Ltd.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 35 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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    Troy Donahue, Gert Fröbe, Burl Ives, Lionel Jeffries, Daliah Lavi, and Terry-Thomas in Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)
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