Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

directed by Ken Annakin
List(s):"Movie Two"
Category: "Action/Adventure"
Year of Release:1965
Date Added:02/05/2015
Date Watched:10/24/2024
Description:In 1910, London newspaperman organizes a London to Paris air race for contestants from all over the world (read Europe, with one entry from the U.S. and one from Japan). Patricia (Sarah Miles) is courted by Richard (James Fox), the English Army entrant, and Orvil (Stuart Whitman), a cowboy from Arizona. There's about an hour and a half of slapstick silliness before the race starts, and then a lot of scenes of flying without any real race feel. Richard and Orvil are fighting for the lead when they reach Paris, but Orvil changes course for a mid-air pickup of the Italian flyer whose plane has caught on fire. Richard is a good sport and agrees to split the prize with Orvil. The credits roll with Orvil kissing Patricia, so I guess that's how that ended up.
My Rating:6

Reviews for Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Review - Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

Visually impressive, and many of the airplanes actually flew. But there was no real character development except for Patricia, and the slapstick wasn't really clever — just flyers repeatedly crashing into sewer ponds, that sort of thing. One funny bit — the French flyer kept bumping into this woman (Irina Demick), but every time she had a different name, different accent, and different nationality.

Reviewed by Roger on 2024-10-24 16:24:17

Back to the list