| Jet Pilot | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Josef von Sternberg |
| Produced by | Jules Furthman Howard Hughes |
| Written by | Jules Furthman |
| Starring | John Wayne Janet Leigh |
| Music by | Bronislau Kaper |
| Cinematography | Winton C. Hoch |
| Studio | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 1957 |
| Running time | 112 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Jet Pilot is a 1957 Cold War romantic comedy film starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh. Written by Jules Furthman, the Technicolor movie went through several directorial changes. Josef von Sternberg directed between October, 1949 and February, 1950. After that Jules Furthman, Philip Cochran (second unit director), Ed Killy (assistant), Byron Haskin (for the model work), and Don Siegel also directed scenes (Siegel's weren't used), as did Howard Hughes himself.[1]
Filming dragged on for nearly four years. The last day of shooting was in May 1953, but the film was kept out of release by Howard Hughes' tinkering (something he was notorious for) until October 1957, by which time Hughes had sold RKO. Universal ended up distributing Jet Pilot.
Though the film was publicised as showcasing the U.S. Air Force's latest jets, by the time it was finally shown most of the aircraft in the film were obsolete and had been supplanted by more modern aircraft. In one aerial scene, the two lead characters fly a F-94 Starfire to test a radar approach to intercept a propeller driven B-36 bomber.
Jet Pilot was reportedly Howard Hughes's favorite film, one he watched repeatedly in his later years.
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A Russian defector lands a jet on an American airstrip. The base commander, Air Force Colonel Jim Shannon (John Wayne) is surprised to find that the pilot is a very attractive woman, Lieutenant Anna Marladovna (Janet Leigh). When she asks for asylum, but refuses to disclose any military information, Shannon is assigned to seduce her. They fall in love. Worried about the possibility of deportation, Jim marries her without permission.
When they return from their unauthorized honeymoon, Major General Black (Jay C. Flippen) takes Jim aside and informs him that his new wife is a spy, sent to send information back to the USSR. The Americans decide to play along, and escalate the situation.
Shannon goes home to tell Anna that she is to be imprisoned for years, then deported when she is finally released. To save her, they hatch an escape plan, steal a plane and fly to Soviet airspace. Their arrival is not shown, but Anna is criticized for allowing Shannon to crash the more advanced American plane when Russian fighters closed in, rather than fighting back. She says that she considered shooting him, then decided that he would be more valuable for his knowledge than the plane would have been.
While they are there, Shannon discovers that Anna is pregnant. Shannon is then assigned to help test new aircraft, a pretext for drugging him and pumping him for information about American aircraft. He learns much about Soviet capabilities from the questions he is asked, while only giving up outdated information in return. When Anna discovers this, she initially plans to turn him in, learns he is to be drugged into permanent insensibility, then lets her personal feelings override her sense of duty. She finds herself under suspicion, disposes of the agent sent to keep an eye on her, steals a plane and escapes back to the West with Shannon.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| John Wayne | Col. Jim Shannon |
| Janet Leigh | Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon/Capt. Olga Orlief |
| Jay C. Flippen | Maj. Gen. Black |
| Paul Fix | Maj. Rexford |
| Richard Rober | FBI Agent George Rivers |
| Roland Winters | Col. Sokolov |
| Hans Conried | Col. Matoff |
| Ivan Triesault | Gen. Langrad |
Location filming took place primarily at Edwards Air Force Base and Hamilton Air Force Base, California. The F-86A Sabre jets depicted in the early sequences were actual operational aircraft of the 94th Fighter Squadron, the first unit so equipped in the USAF, shortly after their conversion to the type in 1949. Location filming for the Russian air base was done at George Air Force Base, a World War II air base with many of its wartime structures still intact, giving the base a primitive appearance. The 94th FS and its parent 1st Fighter Group were actually based at George during filming, and had just finished a deployment to Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska, as depicted in the storyline.
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