| Fate Is the Hunter | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ralph Nelson |
| Produced by | Aaron Rosenberg |
| Written by | Ernest K. Gann (book) Harold Medford |
| Starring | Glenn Ford Nancy Kwan Rod Taylor |
| Music by | Jerry Goldsmith |
| Editing by | Robert L. Simpson |
| Release date(s) | November 8, 1964 (US) |
| Running time | 106 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2.6million |
| Box office | $2.2million[1] |
Fate Is the Hunter is a 1964 film about the crash of an airliner and the subsequent investigation released by 20th Century Fox. It was nominally based on the bestselling 1961 book of the same name by Ernest K. Gann, but the author was so disappointed with the result that he asked to have his name removed from the credits. In his autobiography A Hostage to Fortune, Gann wrote, "They obliged and, as a result, I deprived myself of the TV residuals, a medium in which the film played interminably."
The movie stars Glenn Ford and Nancy Kwan and includes performances by Suzanne Pleshette, Rod Taylor, Jane Russell (playing herself entertaining for the USO in a flashback sequence), Wally Cox, and also includes an unbilled appearance by Dorothy Malone. It also features an early film score by prolific composer Jerry Goldsmith.[2]
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Pilot Jack Savage (Taylor) is suspected of drinking and causing an airliner crash that kills 53 people and leaves only a single survivor, Martha Webster (Pleshette), a flight attendant. The captain's wartime buddy, airline executive Sam C. McBane (Ford), is convinced of his friend's innocence and investigates doggedly.
Eventually, a test flight re-creating the actual ill-fated flight shows that the crash was caused by a series of events -- including a cup of coffee spilling and shorting out wiring which falsely indicated an engine fire -- and not by pilot negligence.
An excerpt of this movie was used in the 1980 comedy film Airplane!.
The film is mentioned several times in the 1995 television episode "JAG: Pilot Error"; it provides the protagonist with a clue in solving a fighter jet crash shown in this T.V. film.
The "Consolidated Airways" jet aircraft used in the filming was one of two fabricated from DC-7(B) donors, the second was used to create the crash scene (on the beach). The wings were reportedly removed and reversed, a Boeing 707 nosecone along with "supersonic spike" were also added in order to achieve the appearance of a modern jet airliner. Modifications to the rear section of the aircraft included the addition of two nacelles to accommodate the simulated jet engines. A rear-mounted Boeing 707 spike-styled HF antenna isolator, and antenna were also added to the tail section. An area of the Twentieth Century Fox back lot was converted into the tarmac, taxiway, and runway seen in the film. Because of the fear of litigation, it was reported that no airframe manufacturer or airline was willing to cooperate in the production of the film, making these steps necessary. The "Fate" aircraft was later used in the filming of an episode of the ABC television series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964-1968), and remained parked for several years afterwards on an overpass adjacent to the 20th Century Fox Studios.
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