Last night's movie was another one of those repeat viewings that involve the passage of an Enormous Span of Time between the first and second screening. In 1975, Dad took us to see "The Great Waldo Pepper" at the Cinerama Dome. At 46 years between views, that makes it third on our list of Lengthy Layoffs after "Those Magnificent Men" (56 years!) and "2001" (50 years). In fact, it was "Magnificent Men" that made me think of Waldo Pepper. Both films celebrate the early days of aviation, when flying was new and exciting and still done mostly by the seat of one's pants. It's interesting to note, in "Waldo Pepper", that the story begins in 1926. Therefore, when we saw it for the first time at the theater, it was almost 50 years in the past. That seemed so long ago, but as of last night it's almost doubled. Ahh, there's that Time Thing again, in all it's weird glory.
Well at any rate, Waldo Pepper (Robert Redford) is a barnstormer, wowing rural audiences in Nebraska. He flies into farm country, performs a few stunts, and acts as his own promoter, talking up his talents while offering rides for five dollars a head. He's got a cool yellow bi-plane and the folks can't resist (and on a side note, I should mention it was a big deal for children in those days to get their first ride in an airplane. Dad used to talk about his flight in a Ford Trimotor when he was nine years old). Waldo's doing pretty well until a rival shows up, "Axel Olsson" (Bo Svenson), a skilled pilot himself. Waldo doesn't appreciate the invasion of his territory, so he sabotages Svenson's plane, causing him to crash. This is all played as light comedy.
Next he meets a pretty gal at a movie theater. Waldo has seen this particular flick several times and uses this knowledge to pick up "Mary Beth" (Susan Sarandon, in one of her first major roles). But just as he's taking her out for an ice cream sundae, in walks her boyfriend........you guessed it, Bo Svenson. He's in a full leg cast from the crash and in no mood to watch Waldo steal his gal. Now, Waldo's a former Air Corps pilot who served in the war but never saw any combat, so he likes to embellish his history. We've already watched him tell a farm family about his infamous dogfight against a legendary German ace. Now he's repeating that story to Mary Beth. Bo Svenson sits down, looks at Waldo - still mad about the plane crash - and waits for him to finish. Then he chimes in with his own version, which turns out to be the real thing :
"Are you talking about that fight with Ernst Kessler"? Waldo becomes silent, nonplussed. Svenson goes on to name all the pilots involved, "each of whom was in my squadron". Now that Waldo's been shown up as a BSer, he gains respect for Bo Svenson. He also stops hitting on Mary Beth, too, and the three of them become friends, then partners.
Now they're a team, performing daredevil stunts around the midwest. They join a flying circus, where the owner demands ever riskier exhibitions : "My customers are looking for blood"! They decide to try wing walking, and Waldo's pretty good at it, but it too becomes rote. "Why don't you have the lady do it"?, suggests the owner (Phillip Bruns). "We'll stage it so her clothes blow off. That'll give 'em something to talk about"!
This is where the movie takes a tragic turn (spoilers ahead), and as I watched I remembered it from the theater all those years ago. Svenson takes Mary Beth up to perform the stunt, but when she gets out on the wing, she freezes. Waldo sees what's happening and jumps in his own plane to try and rescue her. In an amazing bit of stuntwork, he is shown climbing out of his cockpit and onto Svenson's wing. Just as he's reaching out for Mary Beth, she slips and falls. I recall being jarred the first time I saw it, because of the sudden change in tone. What had been a breezy adventure was now sad, in large part because Sarandon made "Mary Beth" so appealing, in a Roaring '20s way. Bo Svenson is devastated by her death and bows out of the act. Waldo is alone again, and is now being investigated in the accident that killed Mary Beth. "All I did was try to save her"!, he exclaims. The investigator is an old friend, his former squadron leader (Geoffrey Lewis) who works for the newly established CAA. "Are you gonna tell me there's regulations on flying now"?, Waldo cries. "There are on stunts like you tried to pull", replies Lewis. "I'm sorry, old buddy, but I have to ground you for a year. I have no choice, it's the agency's decision". Waldo's lost what matters most to him; the ability to fly.
He's got a lifelong pal (Edward Herrmann) who's an accomplished aircraft designer. Herrmann hopes to cheer Waldo up. He's working on a new design - a monoplane - that he believes will be able to set a world record. "It's gonna be the first plane to pull an outside loop"!, he tells Waldo. "I'll have it ready around the time your suspension is up. You can be the one to perform it. Even Ersnt Kessler hasn't been able to pull a loop. Imagine being the first one to do it"! This perks Waldo's ears. He wasn't aware that Kessler, the great German ace, is now performing in American stunt shows. Waldo's enthusiasm returns, and Herrmann builds the monoplane. But it's finished ahead of schedule, and Waldo's still prohibited from flying. "You should do the loop", he tells Herrmann. "It's the only way we'll get there first". Herrmann's a decent pilot, but nowhere near the skill of Waldo. He tries to perform the outside loop at an airshow and fails. On his third attempt, the new plane hits the ground. Herrmann is seriously injured but still alive. Then the crowd gathers around him (remember, "they want blood"!) as the plane starts to burn. Waldo tries to rescue him, but too many people are in the way. Herrmann dies, and Waldo's infuriated. He jumps in his plane and buzzes the crowd. "Get away from him, get away from him", he yells, flying low enough to give them haircuts. He crashes the plane into a building, and is again investigated by Geoffrey Lewis. "This time I've gotta take away your licence", he informs Waldo.
"Are you telling me I can never fly again"?
"I'm afraid so", is the answer. Waldo's permanently grounded.
The movie's gone from light comedy to fully tragic in the course of twenty minutes and it's quite a turn of events, but keep in mind that we're working with some heavy hitters. George Roy Hill directed and was coming off his Best Picture win with "The Sting" (he also directed Redford in "Butch Cassidy"), and the script was by the great William Goldman.
Waldo ends up in Hollywood, at the behest of his old pal Svenson, who's now a stunt double in the motion picture industry. He gets Waldo a job on his upcoming movie : an aerial spectacular that will feature a re-creation of the Kessler dogfight! Hill gives you a feeling such a showdown is coming (the subject of Kessler is mentioned throughout the film), but when Waldo finds out the German ace is on set, he's elated. He's finally going to meet The Master. Kessler's been hired to fly his own stunts. Waldo will play his American opponent. The director is a bloodthirtsty sort who wants realism. "Fly as close together as possible, give me tension"!!, he demands.
At this point, Waldo and Kessler - both of whom are disillusioned with life on the ground - are ready to give the director exactly what he wants. They stage an unscripted dogfight for the cameras - with Geoffrey Lewis watching too! - where they play a game of chicken with each other, slashing at each others wings in midair, until finally both planes become disabled.
The ending is ambiguous, and I won't reveal any more of what happens. Goldman could've made it a tad less mysterious, but all in all I give this film a ten. I agree with many fans at IMDB who say it's the gold standard for aviation movies, and the plot, with it's many subthreads, is compelling all the way through. It's about the freedom of flight, before "the sky was mapped" (as Waldo says), by the agencies working for commerce. There's an artistry to what the daredevils are doing, a romance in their courage, and a chivalry between pilots. This is pointed out in the "Kessler story" which forms the basis for the climax.
I was startled to read on IMDB, after the movie was over, that Robert Redford and Bo Svenson performed all their own wing walking stunts. Holy Jumping Jiminy! I mean, it's clear that someone is doing it, that it's real wing walking and no static airplane models are being used. The planes are all definitely in flight. But yeah, it was actually Redford and Svenson, and maybe I shouldn't be surprised because in Redford's case, they say he climbed that mast in "All is Lost", at age 77. If you saw the movie, you know the scene I'm referring to. "The Great Waldo Pepper" looks fantastic in gorgeous Technicolor widescreen. I'd sure love to see it at the Cinerama Dome again. They just don't make movies like this anymore, and I think it's equal to George Roy Hill's best. That's why I'm gonna give it my highest rating, Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. Despite the sudden shift in tone, it's a classic of big studio filmmaking. Very highly recommended! ////
The previous night's picture was another aerial adventure : "Pilot X"(1936), a whodunit with a Ten Little Indians plot. Someone is shooting down pilots at an aircraft test facility. A group of World War 1 flying aces are called in to solve the case (sadly, Snoopy is not among them), with the caveat that all are suspects. This is an oft-used "Indians" gimmick : invite all the major suspects to a house, an island, or in this case an airport. "One of you is the culprit", says the owner. "He will try to shoot the others down. Those of you who are innocent must find out who he is". They discover that a masked pilot flying a black airplane is ambushing the others mid-air. He calls himself Pilot X and leaves notes describing when he'll strike next.
Beautiful Lona Andre plays the love interest, engaged to Leon Ames (of "Meet Me in St. Louis" fame). He's an engineer and doesn't fly, but his father owns the facility. I was sure it was Miss Andre who was Pilot X (and she might be!), cause she always disappears when a death happens. She's also fooling around on Leon Ames (cause he's boring) with a debonair crash investigator (John Carroll). It's a nice little programmer, nothing fancy but it does have a lot of early aerial footage. There's also one scene where an English pilot freaks out about the killing and starts screaming his bloody head off. It's scenery chewing at it's finest - "just mad, I tell you!! Mad!!"
The format has more substance than the usual Indians plot, as well. Quite often in these movies, it's just a matter of picking the most unlikely suspect, then seeing if you outwitted the screenwriter. This time, there's a psychological reason for the killer's behavior that's explained and adds up. It also comes out of the blue and you might not guess it. Good stuff with a ton of flying, "Pilot X" gets Two Solid Thumbs Up. If you like bi-planes you came to the right place. The running time is 69 minutes. /////
That's all for the moment. I'm gonna head over to Chatsworth Park for a hike, then we'll watch another movie this evening. Have a great afternoon. I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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