Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

A Brilliant Conflict

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Interesting film, in that the contrast of positives and negatives is as glaringly apparent as The Grand Canyon is wide.First, to get the negatives out of the way, the (mis)casting centers around Jay C. Flippen, a career "character actor," as John Wayne's Air Force Commanding General. John Wayne reporting to Jay C. Flippen is like Humphrey Bogart reporting to Jerry Lewis, as in "Something is amiss, here." Where the John Wayne-Jay C. Flippen seniority debacle is concerned, it makes one wonder, "Where have you gone Dean Jagger?" - who did such a credible job propping up Gregory Peck in "One O'Clock High," filmed in the same year of 1949.It has already been noted, elsewhere here, the credibility gap of Janet Leigh lacking a hint of a Russian accent. This, of course, is the typical Howard Hughes bravado of just getting his "starlet of the year" up there on the screen, and to hell with the consequences of in-default major details undermining everything else. Ava Gardner, Jean Peters, Jane Russell, and Janet, et al, never complained, we may assume. Some may think this is strictly an Air Force public relations-type vehicle. However, the real motivation behind this film may have been more subtle, such as putting Janet Leigh's kissy face and contour-friendly mammary gland dimensions opposite John Wayne, to propel her into the national "silver screen" luminary spotlight. And giving John and Janet multiple kissing scenes validates this theory, as John Wayne indulged in few kissing scenes with his leading ladies, over the entire span of his career. And as smiling fate would have it, Janet's career went full bore right into the 60's, complete with "Psycho" shower scene immortality, without so much as a "leg up" from this film, which was finally released in 1957 for political red red tape reasons far in excess of any political statement this film actually makes.The most compelling question surrounding this film has to do with the V.I.P. treatment this "off course" seductive female Soviet fighter pilot receives, courtesy of the U.S. military, as John Wayne is assigned the task of escorting her on a whirlwind tour of parties, clubs and dances, ad nauseam. This begs the question: at what point does the U.S. Government come to regard her as a spy(?), which is the delayed reaction, two-thirds into the film. So that, if a cold war spy suspect is pretty, she gets a pass? Hollywood script writers are known for their apostasy when it comes to sticking to the facts, but this one is off the chart for script-writing license absurdity.The saving grace for this film is simply that John and Janet seem a great "opposites attract" pairing, complete with a smoldering physical attraction chemistry. Janet does not seem over-matched as John's intellectual rival when it comes to social banter and as regards discussing the nuances of advanced-technology aviation. She holds her own, in fact.Call this film entertaining and well worth seeing, so long as you don't take it too seriously. After all, those who produced it didn't make that mistake, either.********

Once he ended his professional relationship with Paramount and Marlene Dietrich, Josef von Sternberg was unable to develop projects. A confessed admirer of everything Japanese, he made a trip in 1936 to Tokyo where he discussed the possibility of a new film, impeded by the next world war; he did not finish a version of "I, Claudius" that he had started in 1937 in London; and in the next decade he could only make "The Shanghai Gesture" (1941), a film that enjoys today a deserved cult following, and a short for the U.S. government, "The Town". Then in the 1950s he directed his last three films, two of which brought him new problems with the studios, where he had no control of what he shot, unlike his final work, "The Saga of Anatahan". In the other two films, "Jet Pilot" and "Macao", made for RKO, its owner, Howard Hughes, hampered the creative process, as usual. As "Trivia" tell us, due to his interest in aviation Hughes also wanted to produce a show of the latest advances in aeronautical technology, but when the film was released the planes on the screen were old fashioned (only experts can tell this, for me they seem war airplanes all the same). Sternberg's Hughesian hell began with "Jet Pilot", which was supposedly finished in 1950. But Hughes continued making changes until 1953, and the film was released in 1957. By then Hughes had sold RKO, but he had had enough time to change it to his liking. Written by Jules Furthman, "Jet Pilot" is a cross between a screwball comedy and one of those Cold War atrocities dealing with the fear to the "Red Menace": the communist Soviet Union. The anti-Soviet barrage was frequently more stupid than brilliant and if it came from American minds, hands or mouths, the result was worst (than the funny satires of Don Camillo, for example). The vociferous jingoism and proto-Fascist patriotism was disguised as chic efficacy, "democracy" and a few more idiocies. Right-wing to the bone, John Wayne enjoyed every minute of it and it shows, but at least it is nice to see him laugh for a change, while he falls for a pilot (Janet Leigh) who has defected from the USSR. She turns out to be a spy, but everything will turn out well, as in a not too distant Doris Day vehicle. In the last shot there is a memorable line of dumb dialog when, while she eats a beefsteak, Janet tells John that all she wanted to communicate to her fellow Russians is that "not everything is war". Sure, it is also beef, but the one who wrote it forgot about Hiroshima. Maybe as a prize, Hughes let Furthman (who wrote the line) direct a few additional scenes, as he and others did to no avail.

What a fun film this turned out to be. I don't recall it at all from my high school days in 1957, and now having seen it in my retirement years, "Jet Pilot" is a very entertaining movie. The history of this film, from its making in 1950 and delayed release until 1957 is interesting in itself. Thanks to those reviewers who added to that background.The flying sequences with all the aerial antics are excellent. Howard Hughes was known for his interest and work in aviation, so his interest in producing this movie is obvious. It would be interesting to know some of the politics or other hidden details behind the film's delayed release of so many years. How much of a concern might there have been in Washington about a film like this during the early months of the Korean War (then called "conflict")? To those whose sons, husbands or brothers were in peril on the battlefields of Korea, a film with humor about the Cold War could be seen as dispassionate. The world was just five years beyond the end of World War II, and it was still fresh in the minds of most. The extent of the atrocities of the Holocaust was still being unveiled. Likewise, the horrors and effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan to end World War II in 1945. Were there other reasons for holding this film back?Whatever the reason, by the time of its release, "Jet Pilot" was clearly the first tongue-in-cheek treatment of the Cold War and Soviet Union that would reach its zenith in 1964 with "Dr. Strangelove." More than half a century later, the flying scenes in "Jet Pilot" are exciting and fun to watch. With all of the supersonic developments in aviation and all the space missions in the past half century, most of us still don't move at the speed of jet fighters when traveling. So, the film isn't outdated to that extent. As for plot and script, I think this movie may indeed have been ahead of its time. Anyone with a sense of humor has to appreciate the obvious spoofing in this film. The idea that the U.S. would let a dubious Soviet defector fly any aircraft she wanted, and have free reign to go where she wanted around military bases in 1950 is itself so preposterous that even a modern-day Scrooge would have to laugh. In its day, the humor of that would not have been lost, and most audiences by 1957 surely would have been able to enjoy the obvious word play, characterizations and humorous jabs throughout the script. John Wayne and Janet Leigh especially added to the humor with their facial expressions and sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious comedic nuances. The supporting cast did likewise – check out the laid back almost nonchalant attitudes of the FBI and CIA agents. That some reviewers could not see the intentional spoofing in this film – by director, writer, actors and all, is puzzling. Maybe some have lost all sense of humor. Anyway, the film makers gave us sufficient obvious signals – Leigh's miscues on Wayne's baloney, bird hatching and other idiomatic references. And then, to be sure the audience didn't miss its laugh, each one of those was followed with Paul Fix giving Leigh some other concocted explanation for what Wayne had said. Another laugh, bigger than the first. In 1962, Agent 007 gave birth to the James Bond movies in "Dr. No." Ian Fleming's and later writers' subsequent stories have continued to entertain audiences with their mixture of mystery, action, romance and humor for half a century. And the humor is usually in the form of spoofery. Anyone who has enjoyed the James Bond franchise of films will enjoy "Jet Pilot." It's a milder form of this mixed genre. Who knows, it may even have influenced the James Bond producers. Clearly, all involved in this film were having fun. So, enjoy it yourself. Just don't take it any more seriously than you would a James Bond movie.

I can watch this film just for the flying.I'd love to get my hands on all of the footage and remake it with a descent plot.Although intended to showcase American airpower in the 50's, it could be redone as cold war retro flick because the footage is still cool and beautiful. This the only place you will likely ever see some off that magnificent old hardware in use.We know the Duke was a hardcore anti-communist as was Howard Hughes. The two no doubt saw eye-to-eye on politics, ergo it is no surprise that they would both be involved in this movie, yet it was probably a bad idea for the Duke. Some people consider it his worst movie (through no fault of his own, the script is ludicrous). I doubt even the red hunting members of the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) could take it seriously.Still, it has a really cool theater poster. It's a painting of the Duke in an old P-2 flight helmet with the late/post WW2 style flying goggles (althought I believe they use the P-4 helmet in the movie. The P-4 is just a P-2 with a big retractable visor screwed on. The visor replaced the old style goggles). Again, it also has some great aerial footage, which is what you would expect from Hughes.