Movie |
World War I | Fighter Pilot
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According to Tab Hunter in his memoirs, "Tab Hunter Confidential", William A. Wellman was furious because, on the set, Warner Brothers replaced a coffee man, who gave coffee to the crew, with an automatic machine where everyone had to pay, so Wellman grabbed the machine, threw it on the floor and brought it brutally to the street. The coffee man came back.
Writer, Producer, and Director William A. Wellman wanted Paul Newman for the lead, with Clint Eastwood as his best friend, Duke Sinclair. When Newman opted to do Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) instead, the studio insisted on the lead part going to contract player Tab Hunter. Wellman thought the chemistry between Hunter and Eastwood wrong and replaced Eastwood with one of the actor's best friends, David Janssen. Eastwood ended up playing a smaller supporting role.
Final movie of Writer, Producer, and Director William A. Wellman. NOTE: He had previously directed numerous aviation dramas, including Wings (1927), the winner of the first Academy Award for Best Picture, saw this movie as a tribute to his fellow World War I combat pilots. The studio, however, gave Wellman a very low budget, and he felt he could not make the movie he wanted to make. Originally, this movie had a tragic ending for Thad Walker and his Parisian bride, but studio head Jack L. Warner demanded a happy ending. When Wellman refused, the studio took the movie away and shot a new ending with Tab Hunter and Etchika Choureau. Afterwards, Wellman decided to retire from directing. His son, William Wellman, Jr., later said that his father "just got tired of fighting with the studios."
The scene where Thad Walker (Tab Hunter) escorts a U.S. General (Paul Fix) to a brothel is based on a real incident from William A. Wellman's wartime experience. During the war, Wellman supposedly encountered General John J. Pershing, a.k.a. "Black Jack", in a Paris brothel. Several years later, Pershing came to Hollywood to tour the Paramount Pictures lot, where Wellman was working as a cameraman. When Pershing saw Wellman, who was standing in a line of movie technicians, General Pershing said to him, "I'm sure I know you. Have we met before?" Wanting to protect General Pershing's reputation, Wellman replied, "Yes, but I'd rather not say where, sir." Pershing and Wellman later had a private meeting in a back office at the studio, where they talked about their wartime service. The meeting had a positive effect on Wellman's career, as the studio executives took notice of him. He was promoted to Assistant Director, and from there soon became a full director.
Writer, Producer, and Director William A. Wellman based this movie on his experiences as a combat pilot during World War I. While stationed in France, Wellman joined the French Foreign Legion's Lafayette Flying Corps, N.87, les Chats Noir (Black Cat Group). The plane he flew was a Nieuport 24 fighter, which he named "Celia" after his mother. He was credited with three recorded "kills" of enemy aircraft, plus five probable kills. Wellman was shot down in combat and survived the crash, but walked with a limp for the rest of his life. He received the Croix du Guerre for his service. After the war, he returned home and joined the U.S. Army Air Corps for two years, where he taught combat tactics to new pilots at Rockwell Field in San Diego, California. The main character, Thad Walker (Tab Hunter), was based on a fellow pilot who flew with Wellman in the Lafayette Escadrille.
"[first lines] Narrator: A half-forgotten corner of France in a wholly-forgotten war. In memory of the heroes of the Lafayette Escadrille, who died in defense of life and of liberty. This monument, this patch of foreign sky, belongs to a handful of Americans who flew for France and died for France in the First World War. They came with an air of adventure or a sense of impatience in the days before America entered the war. The wore French uniforms, they fought in French planes, and they fell in love with French women. These weren't just names in 1917; they were headlines. But this story is about a man whose name isn't carved in stone with the other young men of that old war. He ran away to war for reasons of his own. His name is Thad Walker."
"Jimmy: [to the American flyers] Oh, say can you see, by dawn's early light!"
