Movie |
World War I | Aerial Combat
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Production was shut down briefly due to a disaster on another semi-related film in the area. Birch Williams, an American living expat in Ireland, was the owner of the period planes Roger Corman leased for the production. He was so interested in and excited by what Corman was doing that he decided to make a similar film himself, using his own planes. Unfortunately, there was a midair mishap, and Williams and two pilots were killed. In response, the Irish government shut down all film flying, and the insurance company canceled Corman's policy. It took several days of negotiation to get their status restored, and to resume production.
While the dogfights were shot in Ireland over a two-week period using actual vintage planes, the crash sequences were filmed at Andrews Air Force base in a single day, using models assembled by a group of teenaged hobbyists Roger Corman happened across while scouting locations.
Reused the vintage airplanes from The Blue Max (1966).
Stunt pilot Charles Boddington was killed during filming when the vintage biplane he was flying crashed at Weston aerodrome near Dublin. The following day, another aircraft crashed, injuring pilot Lynn Garrison and actor Don Stroud.
Director Roger Corman's soon-to-be wife, Julie Halloran, filled in as a gunner in one of the planes during the raid sequence when the production came up one actor short.
"Canadian Reporter: Lieutenant Brown, the readers of the Toronto Star want to know about Canada's newest Ace. Roy Brown: What is there to know? I'm just a technician; I change things. Canadian Reporter: Change things? Roy Brown: Put a plane in front of me, with a man in it, I change them into a wreck and a corpse. Canadian Reporter: Well... well how do you like France? Roy Brown: It's a nice country, isn't it? Lots of my friends will be staying after the war. Canadian Reporter: Ah... how do you like the French girls, Lieutenant? Roy Brown: With both their arms and legs, I think. Canadian Reporter: [coughs] ... the German planes, are they dangerous? Roy Brown: The Germans, they're dangerous. The planes, they're dangerous too. They kill as many Germans as we do, the same way ours do us. Canadian Reporter: But now that we outnumber the Germans, we're... we're winning, aren't we? Roy Brown: How in Christ's name do I know? I go out in the morning and try to stay alive till I run out of petrol. One day I come back and they tell me I'm an Ace. Canadian Reporter: But you've... you've shot down eight German planes! Roy Brown: Is it eight? God Almighty I thought it was a hundred. I keep shooting him down but he's always up there in the morning. How the hell do I know who's winning the war? One of these mornings... Canadian Reporter: One of these mornings, it'll all be over. Roy Brown: How can it be over? There's still some of us alive. They wouldn't end it with any of us alive, now would they?"
"Reporter: You started the war as a cavalry officer, yeah? Baron Manfred von Richthofen: Yeah. Reporter: So, now, how does it feel to fly? To fight in the sky? Baron Manfred von Richthofen: My ancestors were Teutonic knights; I've merely exchanged my horse for an airplane. Reporter: [laughing] I see, so the flying is just a means to an end? Baron Manfred von Richthofen: The flying is wonderful! But it's the hunt that I find most satisfying: the stalking, the chase, and finally the kill. The climax. Reporter: Oh, so you enjoy it sir? Baron Manfred von Richthofen: What should I say? War is the father of nations. It makes them slaves or it makes them free. Victory brings with it a climax, a sense of fulfillment. Reporter: But the danger! Every day, every minute! While you are in the air... Baron Manfred von Richthofen: I never think of it. It's like the weather: always there. But when you hunt, you think about your hunting, don't you?"
