The daring men in their flying boxes

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Movie
German title The daring men in their flying boxes or how I flew from London to Paris in 25 hours and 11 minutes
Original title Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
Country of production UK
original language English
Publishing year 1965
length 138 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Ken Annakin
script Ken Annakin,
Jack Davies
production Stan Margulies
music Ron Goodwin
camera Christopher Challis
cut Anne V. Coates ,
Gordon Stone
occupation
chronology

Successor  →
Monte Carlo Rally

The daredevil men in their flying boxes (in the English original: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes ) is a fictional film that was released in 1965 by the British director Ken Annakin, mostly in original locations was filmed along the English and French Channel coasts.

action

Lord Rawnsley , editor of an English newspaper, was suggested in 1910, during the first attempts to fly to increase the circulation of his newspaper, that proof of the English superiority in the air should also be demonstrated by a race from London to Paris. According to an international tender, more or less experienced pilots from various countries take part in the race. It is of course expected that the English participant - the fiancé of the lord's daughter - wins the race.

Among the participants are the Prussian Colonel Manfred von Holstein (“There is nothing that a German officer cannot do!”) , Who has to stand in for his captain Rumpelstoß who was incapacitated with a laxative , the American Orville Newton , who with his last Dollars in his pocket and promptly falls in love with the lord's daughter, the rich Italian Count Emilio Ponticelli , who flies the planes to pieces faster than his designer, the French Pierre Dubois , who stops at every stop Confronted with a new, strangely but always the same looking female beauty, the Japanese Yamamoto , whose aircraft is composed of very different European aircraft types (allusion to the copying of European products by the Japanese post-war industry), and the officer Richard , who takes off as a salvation of honor for the British Mays , d he can't stand the American advances towards the Lord's daughter at all. However, the scheming Sir Percy Ware-Armitage also takes part in the race, which tries to throw all other participants out of the race by sabotage .

The Englishman Richard Mays actually wins the race, but only because the American is delaying his flight to help the Italian count out of an emergency. As a fair sportsman, the Englishman shares the cash prize and also gives his fiancée - a happy ending.

Trivia and awards

  • The film begins with an animated opening sequence and a catchy song sung, composed by Ron Goodwin (also known for the music for the Miss Marple films with Margaret Rutherford ). The German version " Richt'ge men like us " sang the Botho-Lucas-Chor .
    After a black and white introduction in which the "previous" story of the conquest of the airspace is amusingly processed in the typical style of the silent film era with a small picture format, the screen curtain opens to the full width of the Todd-AO film format and the film is in Color continued.
  • In comic supporting roles of Americans act Red Skelton as Neanderthals (in the incoming and final sequence of the film) and Briton Benny Hill as a firefighter Perkins, who constantly crashed airmen from stinking sewage basin, the sewage (in the original English: sewage farms), mountains got to.
  • Functional replicas of existing single and double-decker aircraft that were flown by stunt pilots were used for the film . The Frenchman Dubois' small plane, a Demoiselle replica, was flown by the stunt pilot Joan Hughes , as men would have been too heavy for the machine.
Terry-Thomas and Gert Fröbe at the film premiere
  • The film script was nominated for an Oscar in 1966, the film received the British Film Award for Best Costumes and also a nomination for camera work and color design. At the Golden Globes there were nominations for the film as “best comedy film”, for Alberto Sordi as “best actor in a comedy” and for James Fox as “most promising newcomer”.
  • The success of the film prompted director Ken Annakin to shoot another “racing film” with an almost identical cast, this time with historic car models, which alludes to the present film in the original with the title “Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies” , but was also released in 1969 under the title “Monte Carlo or Bust” . The German title was " Monte Carlo Rallye " .
  • Gert Fröbe contributed some gags and jokes from his military experience to the film. The gag of “Army service instructions for operating an airplane” (quote: “Number 1: Sit down!”) Comes from him as well as the idea for the film music. “ Goldfinger ” and “The daredevil men ...” were shot almost simultaneously in adjacent studios in London. One day Fröbe surprised the Goldfinger crew with an appearance in "full gear". In doing so, he imitated a military march; Composer Ron Goodwin, who was also in the studio, made a note of the subject.
  • The guerrilla war between von Holstein and Pierre Dubois reflects the political tensions between France and imperial Germany since the end of the Franco-Prussian War , which finally erupted again in the First World War .

Reviews

"A large number of caricatures of national idiosyncrasies, which are bound to the cliché but are amusingly staged, serve as the occasion for a tricky series of gags."

- Lexicon of international film

“In the turbulent parts with the rickety flying machines, it was pretty nice and quick, in the actual story it was awkward. All in all: decent fun. "

- Protestant film observer, review No. 370/1965

error

  • The sloping surfaces next to the sewage fields, which the fire brigade use several times, are modern concrete surfaces that did not exist in 1910.
  • In the scene of the film, when the British side starts in Dover , modern ferries can be seen in a harbor.
  • When an airplane lands on a train that eventually goes into a tunnel, the sound says it won't be destroyed until it exits the tunnel.
  • According to the story, Sir Percy's plane lands on the train in France. The locomotive of the train is a Scottish "Jones Goods". The wagons are also Scottish.
  • In this very scene, a power plant can be seen twice in the background for several seconds. This is too modern in the design of the cooling towers and chimneys for 1910.
  • At the first appearance of the Germans, today's national anthem is erroneously played (" Unity and Law and Freedom " with the melody from the " Kaiserquartett " by Joseph Haydn , which was the anthem of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1910 ), as historically correct , “ Heil dir im Siegerkranz ” (this one has the same melody as “ God save the King ”).
  • The French participant's aircraft, modeled on the Demoiselle by Santos Dumont, is equipped with a four-cylinder boxer engine from a VW Beetle , which was only available 24 years after the film was set to open.
  • In the scene in which Sir Percy observes the competitors from the roof of a hall, he first crawls up a ladder lying on the roof, on which he also finds support at the top. When the Frenchman flies over him, he slips down the roof without hesitation; because suddenly nothing more can be seen of the ladder. Only the ladder that was already there, standing on the floor and leaning against the roof is still there, on which the servant stands.
  • Captain Rumpelstoß wears a false badge of rank (epaulette), namely that of a lieutenant colonel (plaited, a star).
  • When the camera pans over Paris, a push boat can be seen on the Seine . However, this type of ship was only tested in Europe around 1930 and was actually used from around 1960. Outwardly, the type of push boat developed in the USA around 1910 is not similar.

Movie quotes

  • Colonel von Holstein (reading the instruction manual): "Number 1: Sit down!"
  • Colonel von Holstein (several times in the film): "There is nothing that a German officer (in the original" German officer ") cannot!"
  • Colonel von Holstein (in a scene on the beach): "Rumpelstoß, now we want to dive!"
  • Captain Rumpelstoß (after having been ordered to pilot the German flying machine during the race, although he has never flown): “How should I learn to fly?” - The Colonel then: “Very simple: read the regulations, and then fly! "
  • Count Ponticelli: "I'm going to England like Julius Caesar!"
  • Lord Rawnsley: "The bad thing about these international meetings is that there are always foreigners."
  • To Lord Rawnsley's remark, "If God had wanted me to fly, he would have given me wings," replies his daughter Patricia: "But dad, you go on the train too, although you don't have any wheels!"

Planes

  • The American Orville Newton wants to reach Paris in a Bristol Boxkite (The Phoenix Flyer). Interestingly, this aircraft did not make its maiden flight until July 1910, so the time to get to England would have been extremely short, but there was a predecessor, the Farman Boxkite .
Santos-Dumont Demoiselle
  • The aircraft of the French pilot Pierre Dubois is a demoiselle of the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont .
  • Richard Mays contests the big race in an Antoinette IV from the French designer Levavasseur , which in the film is equipped with a four-cylinder engine. However, the original was powered by an Antoinette eight-cylinder engine.
  • Sir Percy competes in an AVRO Triplane .
  • The plane used by the Italian Ponticelli in the race is a Vickers 22 monoplane , which was very similar to the very popular Blériot XI . He is also testing a Philips Multiplane , a Passat Ornithopter and a Lee-Richards Annular Monoplane .
  • The Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane is the only aircraft with a "double role" , one time as the aircraft of the German Colonel von Holstein, the other time with an Asian look as the aircraft of the Japanese Yamamoto.

media

Video

For a long time the film was only available in German as a VHS video. By using the 4: 3 full-screen format (television format), a large part of the film image cannot be seen. In particular in the opening credits with the “opening of the curtain” to the Todd-AO picture, an important point of the staging is omitted. From the original four-channel stereo sound of the 35 mm film version and the six-channel stereo sound of the 70 mm film version, the sound was only used in mono for the VHS version.

DVD

In March 2004, an English-language DVD was released which, in contrast to the VHS version, shows significant differences in quality in terms of picture and sound. A German DVD version was released in April 2005, but it only has mono sound in German and 5.1 stereo sound in English. In addition, the German edition lacks all the additions from the American edition, including the "Making of".

Blu-ray

In July 2012, an English-language Blu-ray was released which, in contrast to the DVD version, shows enormous differences in quality in terms of picture and sound. The sound is in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. In places the picture looks like a freshly shot Hollywood strip and shines with high sharpness. The colors are now clear and precise, although the DVD versions were often washed out and had a red cast in places.

Film music

  • The German version of the title song ("Richt'ge Männer wie wir") was released on the CD "Botho Lucas Choir - Made In Germany" by EMI Electrola, EAN 094636344423.

After the original film music was released on vinyl long-playing records in several countries in 1965 and an EP single with four tracks in France , the Intrada company released the music on a limited 2-CD edition in 2011. The music on this edition is available in stereo, while only a few tracks of the music have been published in stereo on the other sound carriers, including the intermediate music published on other CDs by composer Ron Goodwin, which was used in the break between the first and second part Performance is coming (see Intermission ).

novel

  • John Burke: The air has no beams . Heyne, Munich 1966 (novel about the film)

Web links

References and comments

  1. ↑ The daring men in their flying boxes. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed October 15, 2016 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Vickers 22 monoplane - information and photo
  3. ↑ Philips Multiplane - information and photo
  4. ↑ Lee Richards Annular Biplane - Info and Photo
  5. ↑ Eardley Billing Tractor Biplane - information and photo
  6. ↑ Page at Soundtrackcollector