The Hunters (1958 film)

The Hunters
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Dick Powell
Produced by	Dick Powell
Written by	Wendell Mayes James Salter
Starring	Robert Mitchum Robert Wagner May Britt
Music by	Paul Sawtell
Cinematography	Charles G. Clarke
Edited by	Stuart Gilmore
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release dates	August 26, 1958 (1958-08-26) (New York City)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2,440,000[1]
Box office	$2,100,000 (U.S. rentals)[2]

The Hunters is a 1958 feature film adapted from the novel The Hunters by James Salter. Produced by Dick Powell, it stars Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner as two very different United States Air Force fighter pilots in the midst of the Korean War. ""The plot was changed greatly, and not for the better."^[3]

Plot

Major Cleve "Iceman" Saville (Mitchum) is a veteran World War II fighter ace eager to fly an F-86 Sabre fighter in the Korean War. His commanding officer, Colonel "Dutch" Imil (Richard Egan), assigns him command of a flight.

Among his pilots is a new replacement, talented, but brash Lieutenant Ed Pell (Wagner). In their first mission, they encounter a flight of MiG's and Pell abandons his element leader, Lieutenant Corona (John Gabriel), during combat to down an enemy fighter. Corona's aircraft is shot up and he is killed while trying to land his damaged jet fighter. As a result, Saville wants Pell assigned to someone else, but Imil overrules him; Pell was top of his class in flight school and Imil sees him as a younger version of Saville. If anyone can get Pell to grow up, it is the Major.

Another pilot under Saville's command, Lieutenant Carl Abbott (Lee Philips), poses a different kind of problem. He lacks confidence in his abilities; his worried wife Kristina (May Britt) asks Saville to watch over him. Saville falls in love with her, and vice versa. Aware of the situation, Abbott offers Saville a deal: his wife in return for the opportunity to go one-on-one with "Casey Jones" (an uncredited Leon Lontoc), the most feared enemy ace, whose MiG-15 is marked with "7-11", if they should run into him. A disgusted Saville turns him down.

Nevertheless, on a mission soon afterwards, Abbott tangles with Casey Jones and is quickly shot down far behind enemy lines. In an ensuing dogfight, Saville manages to shoot down Casey Jones. Low on fuel, Saville orders Pell to return to Home base while Saville continues his search for Abbott and spots his chute. Saville deliberately ditches his aircraft nearby, disobeying standing orders, which is, if a pilot deems his aircraft operational, he is to do everything in his power to ensure the return of the plane to homebase. After Saville cuts down an injured Abott from a tree, they are immediately attacked by a North Korean Patrol. Saville and Abbott are about to be captured, when suddenly Pell's aircraft appears and strafes the North Korean infantrymen closing in. Pell is shot down himself. The trio then unite and try to make their way back to safety.

Along the way, they are assisted by a friendly Korean farmer (Victor Sen Yung) and his family. When a North Korean patrol happens by, the Americans hide, but in their haste, a jacket is left behind. As a result, the family members are executed. Saville and Pell avenge the slain family and ambush the Patrol killing all the soldiers, but Saville is shot in the shoulder. Wounded, exhausted and hungry, the three airmen trudge back to the safety of their lines and are eventually rescued by an allied patrol of Greek Scouts.

Afterward, Saville and Abbott convalesce in a military Hospital, Colonel Imil and Pell drop by for a visit and to congratulate him for his victory over the North Korean ace, Casey Jones. Saville confesses to Imil that he deliberately ditched his plane to save Abbott and is ready to face a court martial. But Colonel Imil says, he will go with Pell's report that states that the Abbott was shot down by enemy fighters while Saville and Pell were shot down by ground fire. Abbott is to be transferred back to the U.S. to recuperate. His brush with death has changed his priorities; he remorsefully asks his wife, Kristina for another chance at their marriage. She decides to go with him. Saville and Kristina say their farewells as a squadron of jet fighters zooms overhead.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):^[4]

Production

The flying scenes were principally filmed over the southwest United States in the vicinity of Luke Air Force Base and Williams Air Force Base.^[5] Operational F-86 Sabre fighters, which were still front line aircraft at the time, were used in the aerial sequences. The crash footage of an F-100 Super Sabre was used in one scene to represent the attempted landing of an F-86. USAF F-84F Thunderstreak fighters were painted with Communist Bloc paint schemes and insignia to portray enemy MiG-15s. A C-130A Hercules was used as an aerial photography platform. Palm Beach AFB, Florida was used during the production as the main location where aircraft used in the film were parked and maintained.

With this film, director Dick Powell completed his obligations to 20th Century Fox in his producing-directing contract, having already delivered The Enemy Below.

Reception

Considered a lacklustre war drama, The Hunters did not fare well with critics, although most audiences saw it as a widescreen epic. Director Dick Powell strove to create an authentic "look" with carefully set up scenes focusing on military personnel and the jet fighter operations that underlined the main action scenes. Reviewer Mark Hassan noted, "The real star of the film is the extraordinary aerial cinematography".^[6]

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• The Hunters at the Internet Movie Database
• The Hunters at the TCM Movie Database
• The Hunters at AllMovie