Flight from Ashiya
Encyclopedia
Flight from Ashiya is a 1964
film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service
, flying out of Ashiya Air Base, Japan
. In this fictionalized film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a liferaft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas.
and various experiences in their collective pasts, told in flashback. Some have considered the flashbacks as tedious and boring, but the aircraft sequences are generally considered quite good, especially for fans of the Grumman Albatross. Richard Widmark
plays Colonel Stevenson (the pilot in command); Yul Brynner
portrays Master Sergeant Mike Takashima (the Pararescue specialist) and George Chakiris
portrays the co-pilot, Lieutenant Gregg.
helicopter came too close to a mountain. The avalanche subsequently buried alive the group of people whom he was attempting to rescue. The accident has since caused him to fear flying solo. Stevenson, deeply prejudiced against the Japanese, recalls the reason for his hatred: as a civilian pilot in the Philippines prior to World War II, he met and married Caroline Gordon. She and their infant son later died in a Japanese prison camp when they were refused medical supplies which were being saved for Japanese soldiers. Takashima, half-Polish (mother), half-Japanese (father), reminisces about his tragic love affair with Leila, an Algerian girl, when he was an Army paratrooper during World War II. He was unable to stop the blowing up of a bridge where Leila had run to look for him after learning that his unit was being withdrawn from town. Stevenson, Gregg and Takashima are the lead aircraft of a flight of two HU-16s dispatched to rescue the Japanese civilians at sea. When one HU-16 air rescue plane crashes while attempting to land in the treacherous seas, Stevenson refuses to jeopardize his plane for Japanese lives. At the last minute, however, he recalls Caroline's dying plea not to hate; he overcomes his prejudice. Takashima volunteered to parachute to the liferafts with rescue equipment. Stevenson and Gregg then land the plane at sea and rescue the survivors, but when Stevenson is injured in the landing, Gregg is forced to overcome his fear and handle the dangerous takeoff and the flight back to Ashiya.
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service
Air Rescue Service
The Air Rescue Service is a disestablished organization in the United States Air Force. Previously a subcommand of the Military Air Transport Service , a USAF major command , ARS was redesignated as the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service on 1 Jan 1966 when MATS was redesignated as the Military...
, flying out of Ashiya Air Base, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In this fictionalized film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a liferaft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas.
Plot
The movie centers on three flight crew members of a USAF Air Rescue Service HU-16 AlbatrossHU-16 Albatross
The Grumman HU-16 Albatross is a large twin-radial engine amphibious flying boat that was utilized by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, primarily as a search and rescue and combat search and rescue aircraft...
and various experiences in their collective pasts, told in flashback. Some have considered the flashbacks as tedious and boring, but the aircraft sequences are generally considered quite good, especially for fans of the Grumman Albatross. Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark was an American film, stage and television actor.He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death...
plays Colonel Stevenson (the pilot in command); Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
portrays Master Sergeant Mike Takashima (the Pararescue specialist) and George Chakiris
George Chakiris
George Chakiris is an American-Greek dancer, singer and actor.-Early life:Chakiris was born in Norwood, Ohio, to Steven and Zoe Chakiris, immigrants from Greece. Chakiris studied at the American School of Dance....
portrays the co-pilot, Lieutenant Gregg.
Overview
MSgt Mike Takashima, Col Glenn Stevenson, and 1st Lt John Gregg, all members of the U. S. Air Force Air Rescue Service at Ashiya Air Base, Japan, set out to rescue the survivors of a Japanese ship wrecked in a still-raging storm. As they fly to the site of the wreck, each man recalls a part of his past: Gregg remembers the avalanche caused in Europe when his H-19 ChickasawH-19 Chickasaw
For other uses of "H19" see H19 .The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw, was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom...
helicopter came too close to a mountain. The avalanche subsequently buried alive the group of people whom he was attempting to rescue. The accident has since caused him to fear flying solo. Stevenson, deeply prejudiced against the Japanese, recalls the reason for his hatred: as a civilian pilot in the Philippines prior to World War II, he met and married Caroline Gordon. She and their infant son later died in a Japanese prison camp when they were refused medical supplies which were being saved for Japanese soldiers. Takashima, half-Polish (mother), half-Japanese (father), reminisces about his tragic love affair with Leila, an Algerian girl, when he was an Army paratrooper during World War II. He was unable to stop the blowing up of a bridge where Leila had run to look for him after learning that his unit was being withdrawn from town. Stevenson, Gregg and Takashima are the lead aircraft of a flight of two HU-16s dispatched to rescue the Japanese civilians at sea. When one HU-16 air rescue plane crashes while attempting to land in the treacherous seas, Stevenson refuses to jeopardize his plane for Japanese lives. At the last minute, however, he recalls Caroline's dying plea not to hate; he overcomes his prejudice. Takashima volunteered to parachute to the liferafts with rescue equipment. Stevenson and Gregg then land the plane at sea and rescue the survivors, but when Stevenson is injured in the landing, Gregg is forced to overcome his fear and handle the dangerous takeoff and the flight back to Ashiya.
See also
- "Flight From Ashiya" was also the name of the debut single by the British psychedelic band KaleidoscopeKaleidoscope (UK band)Kaleidoscope were an English psychedelic rock band that were active between 1967 and 1968. The band's songs were combining the elements of psychedelia with remarkable lyrics...
, released in September 1967.