Those Fantastic Flying Fools (1967)

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.

Director:

Don Sharp

Writers:

Harry Alan Towers (original story) (as Peter Welbeck), Jules Verne (inspired by the writings of)

Stars:

Burl Ives, Jimmy Clitheroe, Terry-Thomas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Burl Ives	...	Phineas T. Barnum
Jimmy Clitheroe	...	General Tom Thumb
Terry-Thomas	...	Captain Sir Harry Washington Smythe
Graham Stark	...	Grundle
Gert Fröbe	...	Professor von Bulow (as Gert Frobe)
Lionel Jeffries	...	Sir Charles Dillworthy
Dennis Price	...	The Duke of Barset
Troy Donahue	...	Gaylord
Daliah Lavi	...	Madelaine
Edward de Souza	...	Henri (as Edward De Souza)
Hermione Gingold	...	Angelica
Judy Cornwell	...	Electra
Renate von Holt	...	Anna (as Renata Holt)
Joachim Teege	...	Bulgeroff
Stratford Johns	...	Warrant Officer

Storyline

Phineas T Barnum and friends finance the first flight to the moon but find the task a little above them. They attempt to blast their rocket into orbit from a massive gun barrel built into the side of a Welsh mountain, but money troubles, spies and saboteurs ensure that the plan is doomed before it starts.

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Plot Keywords:

spy | saboteur | welsh mountains | gun barrel | rocket | 

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Taglines:

Sky-High Laughs!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joachim Teege replaced Klaus Kinski

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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!

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Crazy Credits

Closing credits: and Queen Victoria JOAN STERNDALE BENNETT God Bless her !

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

We Must Always Trust the Stranger
Music and Lyrics by Ron Goodwin

User Reviews

Underrated and Good Fun

This is a very underrated film. In Halliwell's Film Guide it gets no stars at all, and when it was shown recently on TV, the reviewer in the listings magazine I buy each week made no secret of how little he liked it.

However, this 'comedy fantasy' has a huge amount going for it. Although it is rarely hilarious, it is often funny and it is usually fun. The cast is terrific. The costumes and cinematography are also excellent, and the period feel is surprisingly good: we really feel that we are in the late 19th century. This is impressive given that many films with bigger budgets than this are not as successful in recreating a period atmosphere.

Maybe the title misled people into thinking that it was going to be an exciting science-fiction adventure, and so their expectations were raised too high. However, with slightly lower expectations, it can be enjoyed rather a lot.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Those Fantastic Flying Fools

Filming Locations:

Dublin, Ireland

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jules Verne Films Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1