Review: Flight of the Phoenix

Guilt-ridden pilot James Stewart and hard-drinking navigator Sir Richard Attenborough are transporting employees from an oil rig company, British army personnel and other assorted passengers from Libya. The plane experiences engine trouble due to a sandstorm and Stewart is forced to crash land the plane in the Sahara desert. There the assorted passengers and crew have personality clashes, and face both mental and physical strains as their situation appears dire and helpless. Or is it? Ernest Borgnine is a mentally fatigued oil rigger, while Peter Finch is the army man who wants to go marching off to find an oasis. Hardy Kruger plays a German plane designer with zero people skills who gets on Stewart’s nerves. Stewart, for his part carries guilt from the crash which resulted in a few deaths and one severe injury.

 

Highly entertaining 1965 all-star disaster movie from director Robert Aldrich (“The Dirty Dozen”, “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”) is exciting, harrowing, and pretty irresistible stuff. Aldrich does a particularly excellent job early on with the extended opener featuring a sandstorm and rapidly malfunctioning plane, whilst also introducing most of the characters.

 

It’s a bit surprising that Scottish character actor Sir Ian Bannen was chosen for an Oscar nomination here, not because he isn’t terrific, just that there’s some even more impressive performances here. He was on the rise though, so perhaps you had to be there at the time. Still, Bannen is perfect as the shit-stirring, sarcastic Crow who whilst entertaining is clearly a bit of an embittered prick. For my money though, Jimmy Stewart, Hardy Kruger, Ernest Borgnine, and Ronald Fraser are the most impressive of the bunch. In fact, I think it’s criminal that Kruger and Borgnine weren’t Oscar nominated. Stewart is in perfect Jimmy Stewart form as the emotional, highly stressed and ornery pilot. In a film full of volatile character dynamics, Stewart’s short-tempered and over-the-hill pilot squares off against a terrific Hardy Kruger as the aloof, slightly arrogant German plane designer is perhaps the most tense. Neither of them is remotely villainous but they aren’t always likeable either, though with Stewart he’s ultimately relatable. He’s just in a bad head space. Kruger excels as the smart guy who doesn’t remotely suffer fools and likely doesn’t make friends easily…but he may just be the man to save them if only they’ll listen. Ernest Borgnine once again shows off his versatility, here playing an oil-rig foreman who is none-too-bright, insecure about it, and on top of it all, coming apart at the seams from the stress of his job (his current predicament merely exacerbating things). It’s a tricky role that lends itself to ham, but Borgnine manages to rein it in and you actually end up feeling a bit sorry for his rather child-like character. Ronald Fraser has what I’d call the Roy Kinnear role of the fat and lazy coward who has no business being in the military. He’s an absolutely useless piece of shit, but one has to admit he’s probably one of the more human and relatable characters too even if you want to slap him a bit. Also solid is Aussie-born Peter Finch, getting to play Alec Guinness in “Bridge on the River Kwai” as the military man who doesn’t realise the severity of the situation they’re in. There’s no call here for any of his stubborn protocol and stiff upper lip stuff. He’s also set up to be the guy whose ideas are wrong at every turn, pretty much.

 

It’s a shame that a weathered-looking Dan Duryea and a young-ish George Kennedy don’t get a lot to do despite being in a lot of the film. The latter would get plenty of opportunity in subsequent films, however. Meanwhile Aldrich casts his son William in a supporting role, though he makes little impression. Hooray for nepotism I guess. It’s a pretty frightening situation these characters are in and unlike some disaster films, Aldrich and the cast effectively convey the mental, emotional, and physical toll this situation would take. In fact, the film only has one flaw: length, it’s about 10-15 minutes too much movie. However, at least it’s too much of a very good thing I guess.

 

This is near-classic all-star disaster movie stuff. Well-written, well-directed, well-acted and just below the top tier. Based on an Elleston Trevor novel, the screenplay is by Lukas Heller (“Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte”, “The Dirty Dozen”).

 

Rating: B+