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DVD Description
In the early days of flight, Lord Rawnsley offers £10,000 in prize money for the winners of a London to Paris air race. Intending to prove that British means best, Rawnsley puts his faith in a Royal Navy Lieutenant (James Fox), but other competitors, including a German officer (Gert Frobe) and a caddish English gent (Terry-Thomas), are determined to prove their own worth.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Set around a fictional 1910 London to Paris air race and the rivalries of the pioneer aviators it attracts from all around the world to risk life, limb and some dodgy back-projection in the Paris sequences, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, or How I Flew From London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes began life as a project on pilots Alcock and Brown for Alexander Korda. Director Annakin had already reconstructed many of the vintage aircraft before the producer's death took the project with him.
As with The Longest Day, the story provided 20th Century Fox with a great opportunity to increase its foreign box-office prospects by populating the film with popular actors from around the world, while its episodic structure and the sheer size of the cast meant that many could film their parts in a matter of days, keeping the budget manageable. As a result, many are so brief that blink-and-you'll-miss-them (Red Skelton, Tony Hancock, Benny Hill).
If it is typical of the international co-productions that were to follow it, it is atypical in that it is also quite funny and highly entertaining. This despite studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck wanting to play down the comic aspects of the film, cutting many early scenes from the script and the rough-cut and building up the rather lukewarm romantic triangle with Stuart Whitman and James Fox fighting over Sarah Miles.
The colour in the casting is definitely on the sidelines. Gert Frobe is memorable as the pompous Prussian learning to fly "from ze book of instructions," as is the briefly seen Tony Hancock as a less than successful inventor whose real-life plaster cast on his broken foot was written into the script to provide one of the film's biggest laughs. But, despite the large ensemble, the undisputed star of the show is easily Terry Thomas at his most caddish as the archetypal cheat and rotter Sir Percy Ware Armitage, making a great double act with Eric Sykes as his put-upon chauffeur that was surely the inspiration for Dastardly and Muttley.
Ron Goodwin's catchy score and Ronald Serle's cartoons catch the mood perfectly, and the planes - built to original specifications - are quite wonderful to watch while the spoilsports among you will have fun looking out for the modern cars (such as the Land Rover clearly visible about an hour into the film) and the Sixties ferries in the Dover and Calais sequences.
Unfortunately, like many Fox Classics titles, the UK PAL DVD is extras-lite - the NTSC version has a much better collection.
As with The Longest Day, the story provided 20th Century Fox with a great opportunity to increase its foreign box-office prospects by populating the film with popular actors from around the world, while its episodic structure and the sheer size of the cast meant that many could film their parts in a matter of days, keeping the budget manageable. As a result, many are so brief that blink-and-you'll-miss-them (Red Skelton, Tony Hancock, Benny Hill).
If it is typical of the international co-productions that were to follow it, it is atypical in that it is also quite funny and highly entertaining. This despite studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck wanting to play down the comic aspects of the film, cutting many early scenes from the script and the rough-cut and building up the rather lukewarm romantic triangle with Stuart Whitman and James Fox fighting over Sarah Miles.
The colour in the casting is definitely on the sidelines. Gert Frobe is memorable as the pompous Prussian learning to fly "from ze book of instructions," as is the briefly seen Tony Hancock as a less than successful inventor whose real-life plaster cast on his broken foot was written into the script to provide one of the film's biggest laughs. But, despite the large ensemble, the undisputed star of the show is easily Terry Thomas at his most caddish as the archetypal cheat and rotter Sir Percy Ware Armitage, making a great double act with Eric Sykes as his put-upon chauffeur that was surely the inspiration for Dastardly and Muttley.
Ron Goodwin's catchy score and Ronald Serle's cartoons catch the mood perfectly, and the planes - built to original specifications - are quite wonderful to watch while the spoilsports among you will have fun looking out for the modern cars (such as the Land Rover clearly visible about an hour into the film) and the Sixties ferries in the Dover and Calais sequences.
Unfortunately, like many Fox Classics titles, the UK PAL DVD is extras-lite - the NTSC version has a much better collection.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I've waited for years for this film to come out on DVD and now that I've bought it can happily say it was worth the wait in gold! it is an airborne version of the Wacky Races and must have surely inspired this entire genre.
The film is packed with character actors from 50s and 60s including inimitable and much missed greats such as Terry Thomas, Robert Morley, Eric Sykes, Benny Hill and Gert Frobe. They all clearly had fun making it which means there are plenty of laughs.
What is extraordinary is that the film was made long before the clever special effects we take for granted today, so many of the stunts and flying sequences are real and breathtaking. The film is chock full of classic scenes like the hot air balloon duel and the plane landing on the train.
I would be lying if i said it wasn't a bit dated, and its rampant pro-Britishness is a bit toe-curling at times, but on balance, it is a fine piece of entertainment and the kind of movie that is all too rare these days: one that the whole family can sit down in front of and enjoy together.
The film is packed with character actors from 50s and 60s including inimitable and much missed greats such as Terry Thomas, Robert Morley, Eric Sykes, Benny Hill and Gert Frobe. They all clearly had fun making it which means there are plenty of laughs.
What is extraordinary is that the film was made long before the clever special effects we take for granted today, so many of the stunts and flying sequences are real and breathtaking. The film is chock full of classic scenes like the hot air balloon duel and the plane landing on the train.
I would be lying if i said it wasn't a bit dated, and its rampant pro-Britishness is a bit toe-curling at times, but on balance, it is a fine piece of entertainment and the kind of movie that is all too rare these days: one that the whole family can sit down in front of and enjoy together.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
What a marvellous film and certainly one of the wackiest films ever made in film history. A wealthy newspaper proprietor (Robert Morley) decides to sponsor an air-race from London to Paris. The invitation to race attracts competitors from all around the world and the usual villain or two intent on winning by cunning methods and devices.Terry-Thomas is in brilliant form as the villain here.
With an international star-studded cast such as James Fox, Stuart Whitman,Sarah Miles, Gert Frobe, Jean Pierre Cassel and the likes of the late Dame Flora Robson, Tony Hancock and Benny Hill to name but a few this film is unforgettable.It's zany, funny, mad and totally loud. This film has always been one of my favourite films since childhood and every time I see it I'm thoroughly entertained and never disappointed.
With an international star-studded cast such as James Fox, Stuart Whitman,Sarah Miles, Gert Frobe, Jean Pierre Cassel and the likes of the late Dame Flora Robson, Tony Hancock and Benny Hill to name but a few this film is unforgettable.It's zany, funny, mad and totally loud. This film has always been one of my favourite films since childhood and every time I see it I'm thoroughly entertained and never disappointed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Classic
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines is a true classic. Phenomenal production values (were the planes replicas or museum pieces? Read more
Published 16 days ago by D. Padbury
Classic film
There is not a lot you can say really. This is classic Brittish comedy at its best. Wish they made more films like this.
Published 1 month ago by D. Childs
good film
not quite as good as I remembered, but still very funny and worth watching even if partner didnt like. What more can i say.
Published 1 month ago by Richard H. Hardaker
Fun
This is so much fun to watch, the whole family including the youngest daughter thinks it really funny and silly. That why sundays were invented
Published 5 months ago by me
Magnificent Men In their Flying Machines - Truly Magnificent
I loved this film when I was young, and I still love it!
If you haven't seen it, it tells of a fictional air-race from London to Paris in 1910 when aviation was still more of... Read more
If you haven't seen it, it tells of a fictional air-race from London to Paris in 1910 when aviation was still more of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Nac_Macfeegle
Great Fun!
What could be better than an escape into a turn of the century aviation historical event, which just could have happened. Read more
Published 10 months ago by John Arlom
Best of Genre - Gentle 1960s Costume Comedy
Jam-packed with stars from the '60s, this is a great comedy movie that can be watched over and over again. Read more
Published 13 months ago by P. Geare
if you like flying films this is the one for me
i can't say much about this film except I thoroughly enjoyed it.for something you don't have to think about this is the one.
Published 15 months ago by labrat
Wonderful!
I first came familiar with this film when we sang its theme song at school. I did not know until much later that it was actually the theme song for a film, and the fact that,... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Andrew Norris
Magnificent Film
This excellent film is just as good and enjoyable today as it was when it first came out many years ago in 1965. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Clairac
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