The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film)
Encyclopedia
The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1965 American film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich
and based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix
by Elleston Trevor
. It stars James Stewart
as a pilot whose transport aircraft is downed in the middle of a desert
, Richard Attenborough
as his navigator, Hardy Krüger
as an engineer who designs a new aircraft from the remains of the original. The ensemble cast
also includes Peter Finch
, Ernest Borgnine
, Ian Bannen
, Ronald Fraser
, Christian Marquand
, Dan Duryea
, and George Kennedy
as other passengers on the aircraft.
. Frank Towns (James Stewart) is the pilot, and Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) navigates. The passengers are Capt. Harris (Peter Finch) and Sgt. Watson (Ronald Fraser) of the British army; Dr. Renaud (Christian Marquand), a physician; Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Krüger), an aeronautical engineer
; Mr. Standish (Dan Duryea), an oil-company manager; and several oil workers. The workers include Trucker Cobb (Ernest Borgnine), a mentally disturbed foreman; Carlos (Alex Montoya) and his pet monkey; and Gabriel (Gabriele Tinti). The struggle is complicated by a personality clash between Towns, who is a proud old traditionalist, and Dorfmann, a young, equally proud technician.
The film begins as Towns pilots a twin-engine Fairchild C-82 Packet cargo aircraft from Jaghbub to Benghazi
in Libya
. A sudden sandstorm shuts-down the right engine and later the left one as well, forcing Towns to crash-land in the desert. As the aircraft careens to a stop, several oil drums and oil drilling gear break loose, severely injuring Gabriel's leg and killing two other workers.
With no functioning radio to call for help, the survivors wait to be rescued, but the storm blew them too far off-course to be found. Although they have a large quantity of dates for food, they calculate their water will only last for 10 to 15 days provided they avoid physical exertion. After a few days, Harris sets out with Carlos to walk to an oasis. Harris and Towns refuse to let Cobb go along, but he later follows anyway and dies. Days later, Harris returns to the crash site alone and barely alive. Later he and Renaud are killed by passing Arabs. Gabriel eventually bleeds to death from his injured leg, while Watson manages to avoid risking his life with Harris.
Meanwhile, Dorfmann has been working on a radical idea: He believes they can build a new aircraft from the wreckage. The C-82 has twin booms extending rearwards from each engine and connected by the horizontal stabilizer
. Dorfmann's plan is to attach the outer panel of the right wing to the left engine, left boom and left wing outer panel, discarding the center fuselage and both inner wing panels of the aircraft. Harris and Moran believe he is either joking or deluded, and the animosity between Towns the veteran pilot and Dorfmann the aircraft designer increases. When Towns learns that Dorfmann is a designer of model planes, which Towns thinks of as toys but which Dorfmann views as full-fledged aircraft, the two argue vehemently.
With Renaud pointing out that activity will help the men's morale, Towns agrees to the plan. Dorfmann supervises as the workers cut, haul, and weld parts of the aircraft. All work stops when Dorfmann admits taking extra water, but Towns resumes it after Moran convinces him that they have no other way out. Throughout the ordeal, Moran mediates the conflict between Towns and Dorfmann. When the new aircraft is almost complete, Standish labels it "The Phoenix
", after the mythical bird that is reborn from its ashes.
Dorfmann loses his temper and stops working after Towns recklessly insists on testing the engine, which would deplete the scarce supply of explosive Coffman engine starter
cartridges. With prodding from Moran, Towns allows Dorfmann to take charge of the operation and work resumes. Towns and Moran fear the worst when they learn that Dorfmann designs model airplanes instead of real aircraft but, with no other options, they let him continue.
Just as the water runs out, the Phoenix is completed. Dorfmann panics when four cartridges fail to start the engine and Towns wants to use one of the remaining two cartridges just to clear the engine's cylinders. Dorfmann objects, but Towns ignores him and fires one cartridge with the ignition off. The sixth and final cartridge succeeds. The men pull the Phoenix to a nearby hilltop, then climb onto the wings. When Towns guns the engine, the Phoenix slides down the hill and along a lake bed before taking off. The film ends after the Phoenix lands at an oasis, where the workers jump into the water while Towns and Dorfmann reconcile.
, Arizona and Pilot Knob Mesa
, California. The flying sequences were all filmed at Pilot Knob Mesa near Winterhaven
, located in Imperial Valley
, California on the northern fringes of Yuma, Arizona
.
The C-82As were from Steward-Davies Inc. at Long Beach, California, while the O-47A came from the Air Museum — Planes of Fame
in California
. The R4Q-1 was purchased from Allied Aircraft of Phoenix, Arizona. The aerial camera platform was a B-25J Mitchell
, N1042B, which was also used in the 1970 film Catch-22
. The flying sequences were flown by Paul Mantz
and Frank Tallman
, co-owners of the Tallmantz Aviation
.
A famous racing/stunt/movie pilot and collector of warplanes, Paul Mantz
was flying the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1
, the machine that was "made of the wreckage", in front of the cameras on the morning of July 8, 1965. He was performing touch-and-go landings, and on one touchdown the fuselage buckled. The movie model broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Mantz and seriously injuring stuntman Bobby Rose on board.
Although principal photography was completed on August 13, 1965, in order to complete filming, a North American O-47
A (N4725V) from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Claremont, California was modified and used as a flying Phoenix stand-in. With the canopy removed, a set of skids attached to the main landing gear as well as ventral fin added to the tail, made it a visual lookalike. Filming using the O-47A was completed in October/November 1965. It appears in the last flying scenes, painted to look like the earlier Phoenix P-1.
The final production utilized a mix of footage that included the O-47A, the "cobbled-together" Phoenix and Phoenix P-1.
The final credit on the screen was "It should be remembered that Paul Mantz ... a fine man, and a brilliant flyer, gave his life in the making of this film ..."
: Ian Bannen for Supporting Actor
and Michael Luciano for Film Editing
.
Robert Aldrich
Robert Aldrich was an American film director, writer and producer, notable for such films as Kiss Me Deadly , The Big Knife , What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? , Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte , The Flight of the Phoenix , The Dirty Dozen , and The Longest Yard .-Biography:Robert...
and based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix
The Flight of the Phoenix
The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. The plot involves the crash of a transport aircraft in the middle of a desert and the survivors' desperate attempt to save themselves...
by Elleston Trevor
Elleston Trevor
Elleston Trevor was the pseudonym, and eventually legal name, of the British novelist Trevor Dudley-Smith , who also wrote as Adam Hall, Simon Rattray, Howard North, Roger Fitzalan, Mansell Black, Trevor Burgess, Warwick Scott, Caesar Smith and Lesley Stone...
. It stars James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
as a pilot whose transport aircraft is downed in the middle of a desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
as his navigator, Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger is a German actor. He is thought of as one of the greatest German actors of the 1960s. He was born in Wedding, Berlin, German Reich...
as an engineer who designs a new aircraft from the remains of the original. The ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
also includes Peter Finch
Peter Finch
Peter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
, Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine
Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty...
, Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen
Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,...
, Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser
Ronald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
, Christian Marquand
Christian Marquand
Christian Marquand was a French director, actor and screenwriter working in French cinema. A native of Marseille, he was born to a Spanish father and an Arabic mother his sister was film director Nadine Trintignant, and he can be seen as a heartthrob in French movies of the 1950s.His first film...
, Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea
Dan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society...
, and George Kennedy
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
as other passengers on the aircraft.
Plot
The story describes the struggle of several men to survive an emergency landing of their airplane in the SaharaSahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
. Frank Towns (James Stewart) is the pilot, and Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) navigates. The passengers are Capt. Harris (Peter Finch) and Sgt. Watson (Ronald Fraser) of the British army; Dr. Renaud (Christian Marquand), a physician; Heinrich Dorfmann (Hardy Krüger), an aeronautical engineer
Aerospace engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
; Mr. Standish (Dan Duryea), an oil-company manager; and several oil workers. The workers include Trucker Cobb (Ernest Borgnine), a mentally disturbed foreman; Carlos (Alex Montoya) and his pet monkey; and Gabriel (Gabriele Tinti). The struggle is complicated by a personality clash between Towns, who is a proud old traditionalist, and Dorfmann, a young, equally proud technician.
The film begins as Towns pilots a twin-engine Fairchild C-82 Packet cargo aircraft from Jaghbub to Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. A sudden sandstorm shuts-down the right engine and later the left one as well, forcing Towns to crash-land in the desert. As the aircraft careens to a stop, several oil drums and oil drilling gear break loose, severely injuring Gabriel's leg and killing two other workers.
With no functioning radio to call for help, the survivors wait to be rescued, but the storm blew them too far off-course to be found. Although they have a large quantity of dates for food, they calculate their water will only last for 10 to 15 days provided they avoid physical exertion. After a few days, Harris sets out with Carlos to walk to an oasis. Harris and Towns refuse to let Cobb go along, but he later follows anyway and dies. Days later, Harris returns to the crash site alone and barely alive. Later he and Renaud are killed by passing Arabs. Gabriel eventually bleeds to death from his injured leg, while Watson manages to avoid risking his life with Harris.
Meanwhile, Dorfmann has been working on a radical idea: He believes they can build a new aircraft from the wreckage. The C-82 has twin booms extending rearwards from each engine and connected by the horizontal stabilizer
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
. Dorfmann's plan is to attach the outer panel of the right wing to the left engine, left boom and left wing outer panel, discarding the center fuselage and both inner wing panels of the aircraft. Harris and Moran believe he is either joking or deluded, and the animosity between Towns the veteran pilot and Dorfmann the aircraft designer increases. When Towns learns that Dorfmann is a designer of model planes, which Towns thinks of as toys but which Dorfmann views as full-fledged aircraft, the two argue vehemently.
With Renaud pointing out that activity will help the men's morale, Towns agrees to the plan. Dorfmann supervises as the workers cut, haul, and weld parts of the aircraft. All work stops when Dorfmann admits taking extra water, but Towns resumes it after Moran convinces him that they have no other way out. Throughout the ordeal, Moran mediates the conflict between Towns and Dorfmann. When the new aircraft is almost complete, Standish labels it "The Phoenix
Phoenix (mythology)
The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....
", after the mythical bird that is reborn from its ashes.
Dorfmann loses his temper and stops working after Towns recklessly insists on testing the engine, which would deplete the scarce supply of explosive Coffman engine starter
Coffman engine starter
The Coffman engine starter was a starting system used on many piston engines in aircraft and armored vehicles of the 1930s and 1940s. The Coffman system was one of the most common brands; another was the Breeze cartridge system, which was produced under Coffman patents...
cartridges. With prodding from Moran, Towns allows Dorfmann to take charge of the operation and work resumes. Towns and Moran fear the worst when they learn that Dorfmann designs model airplanes instead of real aircraft but, with no other options, they let him continue.
Just as the water runs out, the Phoenix is completed. Dorfmann panics when four cartridges fail to start the engine and Towns wants to use one of the remaining two cartridges just to clear the engine's cylinders. Dorfmann objects, but Towns ignores him and fires one cartridge with the ignition off. The sixth and final cartridge succeeds. The men pull the Phoenix to a nearby hilltop, then climb onto the wings. When Towns guns the engine, the Phoenix slides down the hill and along a lake bed before taking off. The film ends after the Phoenix lands at an oasis, where the workers jump into the water while Towns and Dorfmann reconcile.
Cast
As appearing in order of screen credits (main roles identified):| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| James Stewart James Stewart (actor) James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime... |
Capt. Frank Towns |
| Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger Hardy Krüger is a German actor. He is thought of as one of the greatest German actors of the 1960s. He was born in Wedding, Berlin, German Reich... |
Heinrich Dorfmann |
| Richard Attenborough Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi... |
Lew Moran |
| Peter Finch Peter Finch Peter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a... |
Capt. Harris |
| Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine is an American actor of television and film. His career has spanned more than six decades. He was an unconventional lead in many films of the 1950s, including his Academy Award-winning turn in the 1955 film Marty... |
Trucker Cobb |
| Ian Bannen Ian Bannen Ian Bannen was a Scottish character actor and occasional leading man.-Early life and career:Bannen was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, the son of Clare and John James Bannen, a lawyer. Bannen served in the British Army after attending St Aloysius' College, Glasgow and Ratcliffe College,... |
"Ratbags" Crow |
| Ronald Fraser Ronald Fraser Ronald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:... |
Sgt. Watson |
| Christian Marquand Christian Marquand Christian Marquand was a French director, actor and screenwriter working in French cinema. A native of Marseille, he was born to a Spanish father and an Arabic mother his sister was film director Nadine Trintignant, and he can be seen as a heartthrob in French movies of the 1950s.His first film... |
Dr. Renaud |
| Dan Duryea Dan Duryea Dan Duryea was an American actor, known for roles in film, stage and television.-Early life:Born and raised in White Plains, New York, Duryea graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1924 and Cornell University in 1928. While at Cornell, Duryea was elected into the Sphinx Head Society... |
Standish |
| George Kennedy George Kennedy George Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and... |
Mike Bellamy |
| Gabriele Tinti | Gabriel |
| Alex Montoya | Carlos |
| Peter Bravos | Tasso |
| William Aldrich | Bill |
| Barrie Chase | Farida |
Locations
Principal photography started April 26, 1965 at the 20th Century-Fox Studios and 20th Century-Fox Ranch, California. Other filming locations, simulating the desert, were Buttercup ValleyYuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
, Arizona and Pilot Knob Mesa
Pilot Knob (Imperial County, California)
Pilot Knob is a peak in Imperial County, California.Pilot Knob is located southeast of Ogilby, It rises to an elevation of...
, California. The flying sequences were all filmed at Pilot Knob Mesa near Winterhaven
Winterhaven, California
Winterhaven is a census-designated place in Imperial County, California. Winterhaven is located east of Pilot Knob, The population was 394 at the 2010 census, down from 529 at the 2000 census. It is part of the 'El Centro, California Metropolitan Statistical Area'...
, located in Imperial Valley
Imperial Valley
The Imperial Valley is an agricultural area of Southern California's Imperial County. It is located in southeastern Southern California, centered around the city of El Centro. Locally, the terms "Imperial Valley" and "Imperial County" are used synonymously. The Valley is bordered between the...
, California on the northern fringes of Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....
.
Aircraft used
In 2005, Hollywood aviation historian Simon Beck identified the aircraft used in the film:- Fairchild C-82A PacketC-82 PacketThe C-82 Packet was a twin-engine, twin-boom cargo aircraft designed and built by Fairchild Aircraft. It was used briefly by the United States Army Air Forces and United States Navy following World War II.-Design and development:...
, N6887C — flying shots. - Fairchild C-82A Packet, N4833V — outdoor location wreck.
- Fairchild C-82A Packet, N53228 — indoor studio wreck.
- Fairchild R4Q-1 Flying BoxcarC-119 Flying BoxcarThe Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar was an American military transport aircraft developed from the World War II-era Fairchild C-82 Packet, designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute...
(the USMC C-119C variant), BuNo. 126580 — non-flying Phoenix prop. - Tallmantz Phoenix P-1Tallmantz Phoenix P-1-Bibliography:* Dwiggins, Don. Hollywood Pilot: The Biography of Paul Mantz. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1967.* Dwiggins, Don. "Paul Mantz: Kingpin of the Hollywood Air Force." Air Classics Vol. 11, no. 10, October, 1975....
, N93082 — flying Phoenix aircraft. - North American O-47North American O-47|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Eden, Paul and Soph Moeng. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-7607-3432-1.* Fahey, James C. U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946. New York: Ships and Aircraft, 1946....
A, N4725V — second flying Phoenix.
The C-82As were from Steward-Davies Inc. at Long Beach, California, while the O-47A came from the Air Museum — Planes of Fame
Planes of Fame
Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum located in Chino, California, and Valle, Arizona. The museum has many flying and static aircraft, along with multiple rare examples under restoration.-History:...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The R4Q-1 was purchased from Allied Aircraft of Phoenix, Arizona. The aerial camera platform was a B-25J Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
, N1042B, which was also used in the 1970 film Catch-22
Catch-22 (film)
Catch-22 is a 1970 satirical war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. Considered a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel, it was the work of a talented production team which included director Mike Nichols and...
. The flying sequences were flown by Paul Mantz
Paul Mantz
Albert Paul Mantz was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races.-Early years:...
and Frank Tallman
Frank Tallman
Frank Gifford Tallman was a stunt pilot who worked in Hollywood during the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life:...
, co-owners of the Tallmantz Aviation
Frank Tallman
Frank Gifford Tallman was a stunt pilot who worked in Hollywood during the 1960s and 1970s.-Early life:...
.
A famous racing/stunt/movie pilot and collector of warplanes, Paul Mantz
Paul Mantz
Albert Paul Mantz was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races.-Early years:...
was flying the Tallmantz Phoenix P-1
Tallmantz Phoenix P-1
-Bibliography:* Dwiggins, Don. Hollywood Pilot: The Biography of Paul Mantz. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1967.* Dwiggins, Don. "Paul Mantz: Kingpin of the Hollywood Air Force." Air Classics Vol. 11, no. 10, October, 1975....
, the machine that was "made of the wreckage", in front of the cameras on the morning of July 8, 1965. He was performing touch-and-go landings, and on one touchdown the fuselage buckled. The movie model broke apart and cartwheeled, killing Mantz and seriously injuring stuntman Bobby Rose on board.
Although principal photography was completed on August 13, 1965, in order to complete filming, a North American O-47
North American O-47
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Eden, Paul and Soph Moeng. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002. ISBN 0-7607-3432-1.* Fahey, James C. U.S. Army Aircraft 1908-1946. New York: Ships and Aircraft, 1946....
A (N4725V) from the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Claremont, California was modified and used as a flying Phoenix stand-in. With the canopy removed, a set of skids attached to the main landing gear as well as ventral fin added to the tail, made it a visual lookalike. Filming using the O-47A was completed in October/November 1965. It appears in the last flying scenes, painted to look like the earlier Phoenix P-1.
The final production utilized a mix of footage that included the O-47A, the "cobbled-together" Phoenix and Phoenix P-1.
The final credit on the screen was "It should be remembered that Paul Mantz ... a fine man, and a brilliant flyer, gave his life in the making of this film ..."
Reception
Opening in selected theaters on December 15, 1965, with a full release not until 1966, although commercially successful, critics were not universally appreciative. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times dismissed it as "grim and implausible,"while Variety praised the film as an "often-fascinating and superlative piece of filmmaking highlighted by standout performances and touches that show producer-director at his best."Awards
The Flight of the Phoenix was nominated for two Academy AwardsAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Ian Bannen for Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
and Michael Luciano for Film Editing
Academy Award for Film Editing
The Academy Award for Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. Since 1981, every film selected as Best Picture has also been nominated for the Film Editing...
.
See also
- List of American films of 1965
- The Flight of the PhoenixThe Flight of the PhoenixThe Flight of the Phoenix is a 1964 novel by Elleston Trevor. The plot involves the crash of a transport aircraft in the middle of a desert and the survivors' desperate attempt to save themselves...
, 1964 novel - Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)Flight of the Phoenix is a 2004 remake of a 1965 film, both based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix, by Elleston Trevor, about a group of people who survive a plane crash in the Gobi Desert and must build a new plane out of the old one to escape. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Tyrese...
- Lady Be Good (aircraft)Lady be Good (aircraft)Lady Be Good was an American B-24D Liberator, AAF serial number 41-24301, which flew for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Based at Soluch Field in Soluch as part of the 514th Bomb Squadron, 376th Bomb Group, it failed to return from an April 4, 1943 bombing raid on Naples,...
- Stunts that have gone wrong
- Paul MantzPaul MantzAlbert Paul Mantz was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races.-Early years:...