Birds of Prey (1973 film)

Birds of Prey
Directed by	William A. Graham
Produced by	Alan A. Armer
Written by	Robert Boris
Starring	David Janssen Ralph Meeker Elayne Heilveil
Music by	Jack Elliott and Allyn Ferguson
Cinematography	Jordan Cronenweth
Edited by	Jim Benson
Distributed by	Tomorrow Entertainment, Inc.
Release dates	January 30, 1973 (1973-01-30) (U.S.)
Running time	81 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Birds of Prey is a 1973 television movie starring David Janssen, Ralph Meeker, and Elayne Heilveil. The screenplay was written by Robert Boris from a story by Boris and Rupert Hitzig, and directed by William A. Graham. It is a crime action film depicting a radio station helicopter traffic reporter who, witnessing an armored car robbery, engages in a chase when the suspects flee in a vehicle and then switch to their own get-away helicopter.

Plot

A former American Volunteer Group pilot, Harry Walker (David Janssen), who flies a Hughes 500C helicopter^[1] for Salt Lake City radio station KBEX as a traffic reporter, is introduced doing an afternoon rush-hour report during a station nostalgia promotion in which standards from the World War II era are being played on air. Opening credits run over aerial combat footage borrowed from the 1942 Republic Pictures film Flying Tigers, then segues into footage of a P-40 Warhawk in full sharkmouth scheme being towed along the highway to the radio station by Walker as part of the promotion. Walker's ex-AVG squadron mate, Captain "Mac" McAndrew, now a communications officer with the Salt Lake City Police, responds in a squad car to the radio station and quizzes Walker on whether he has paperwork for hauling the fighter on public streets, which he does. They reminisce about their wartime experiences years ago, pointing out their different viewpoints - Walker in the past, and McAndrew, "in front of a computer", in the present.

Meanwhile, two bearded men are seen breaking into an Army National Guard Armory and stealing canister grenades.

As McAndrew and another officer drive away from the radio station, Mac comments that one would think that Walker might act his age, characterizing him as a "Smilin' Jack".

Back in the air, Walker observes an armed robbery of an armored car at the Zion's Bank in downtown Salt Lake City in which the bearded men gun down the guards and grab a canvas sack of currency, then grab a female hostage and shove her into their getaway car. Reporting what he has seen to his buddy McAndrew over the radio, Walker pursues the car and describes the vehicle, its license number, and the suspects' descriptions. During the chase the helicopter flies under several highway overpasses near the Union Pacific railyard before the getaway vehicle drives up into a multi-level garage where the police and Walker think that they have the bandits cornered. Then an Aérospatiale Alouette II ^[2] rises up from the far side of the garage structure and the suspects abandon their vehicle for the helicopter, taking the female hostage with them, but not before a pursuing police officer drops one of the robbers with his side arm as the man tries to board the chopper.

Walker then continues the aerial pursuit as the robbers fly off. Low on fuel, Walker flags down a gasoline tanker on U.S. 40 and tops up his fuel supply. He also offers to buy a rifle from another driver after explaining the situation but the driver refuses his cash. As Walker continues the pursuit McAndrew informs him that fingerprints have identified two of the robbers as former Marines who served in Vietnam and they surmise that the chopper pilot is similarly experienced. The hostage is identified as Teresa Janice Shaw, a bank employee, who is due to get married the following Friday.

The getaway helicopter attempts to hide in the open pit copper mine at Bingham but Walker locates it sitting behind a giant shovel. The chase continues into canyonlands. Both helicopters land and the robbers try to parlay with the radio station pilot over a loudspeaker, offering him a bribe as both aircraft sit on the ground, but Walker says that he only wants them. When the robbers land to refuel from 55-gallon drums they have previously stashed in a remote location, one of them drops off the helicopter with a shotgun, unseen by Walker, and holes his oil line as the Hughes 500 flies past. When the remaining bandits wrestle with their fuel drums, T.J., the hostage, grabs the money bag and flees through the underbrush. While one robber chases her through thicket on foot, the getaway copter hovers overhead. Snatches of the 1930s big band tune "Sing, Sing, Sing" punctuate the chase. Walker, who has landed to patch his oil leak, then comes to the woman's rescue, knocking the ground pursuer flat with his landing skid, with the two helicopters hovering over the bank employee as she crouches in the blowing dust as they manoeuver for position, the "birds of prey" of the title. Walker touches down next the woman and she climbs into his helicopter - with the money. As twilight falls, and a thunderstorm approaches, Walker drops his chopper into a narrow canyon and eludes the pursuing robbers.

During the night, Walker and T.J. converse and exchange lines of dialogue from Casablanca while repairing the oil line. She reveals that she has never been far from Salt Lake City in her 22 years and that she has known her fiance since childhood. Walker states that he had failed marriages and advises her not to rush into nuptials. A gentle flirtation takes place and she kisses Walker three times, becoming somewhat infatuated with the dashing pilot, unlike anyone she has ever met. He stops the seduction before it goes any further, directing her to tune the radio to KBEX, which is playing Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade".

The following morning, Walker raises a Continental Airlines flight on an emergency channel and asks the pilot to relay their location to the police. Determining that the robbers are close by and still searching for the radio station chopper, Walker directs the girl to go to the nearby highway and hitch-hike after he lifts off, but she doesn't want to leave him. He insists so that she doesn't get hurt and she leaves the money with him.

The helicopter chase resumes, with McAndrew and a police pilot in a Piper Apache, alerted by the airline pilot, approaching the area as well. The two helicopters fly to an abandoned airfield where the bank employee said the robbers have a getaway plane and pilot to fly them to Mexico. The two choppers fly in and out of abandoned hangars, including a scene in which both hover inside a large one. Gunfire is exchanged and another bandit goes down. As the police aircraft arrives, McAndrew runs to the hangar where Walker has cornered the bandit's helicopter inside, and tosses the money out to his old AVG buddy. The pilot of the SA-315B LAMA throws one of the grenades out the hangar door forcing Walker to get out of the way, and then chases after the policeman and shoots at him. Walker then crashes his helicopter into the bandit's aircraft to save his buddy. As McAndrew looks at the burning wreckage, he states, "Damn it Walker. Nobody asked you to do that."

The police pilot runs over and the policeman says that they are going after the pilot of the getaway plane who has just fled after seeing the crash. "What about Walker?" asks the police pilot. "What about him?" says McAndrew. The closing credits roll as the police aircraft is shown pursuing the other plane into the distance with KBEX playing another wartime song.^[3]

Cast

Production

Birds of Prey was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah, with final scenes shot at the recently closed Wendover Air Force Base, where the 509th Composite Group prepared for their atomic missions in World War II.

The KBEX call letters were assigned to an FM station in Dalhart, Texas by the Federal Communications Commission on February 20, 2013.^[4] Prior to 2013, KBEX was typically used as a stock call sign for fictional TV and radio stations in film, radio and television productions.

References