Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines (1965)

Lord Rawnsley: Well, I expect you know what I want to talk to you about.
Richard Mays: Oh, yes, sir, the race, of course.
Lord Rawnsley: No, no, not the race - Patricia.  She's getting rather keen on you.
Richard Mays: Oh.
Lord Rawnsley: Well, are you intending to propose to her?
Richard Mays: Well, with your permission, sir.
Lord Rawnsley: My dear fellow, you can take that for granted.  Your father was at school with me.
Richard Mays: There's just one snag, sir.
Lord Rawnsley: Oh?
Richard Mays: It's finding the time for married life.
Lord Rawnsley: What do you mean?
Richard Mays: Well, I'm soldiering all day, and I'm rather busy in the evenings too.  Monday I dine in. Tuesday's card night at White's. Wednesday I play snook with the adjutant. Thursday, uh, well, we like to end up at Romano's. Uh, that only leaves Friday.
Lord Rawnsley: Yes, but what about the weekends?
Richard Mays: Well, that's flying, sir.  It's the only time I've got. But I could give up my card night if you like, sir.
Lord Rawnsley: Oh, I don't think that's necessary. We don't want to spoil the girl.  You do love don't you?
Richard Mays: Oh, I do, sir. Very much.
Lord Rawnsley: I thought you did.  Well, glad to have had this little talk.  Nice to know you're serious. So few young people are these days.

Sorry for the long quote, but it’s just one of the priceless lines within the film that came to mind when putting this review together.

It's hard to imagine some films being remade these days.  There have been some attempts and on that thought we have a remake of the 60's big hit epic Ben Hur coming out soon which will no doubt please some and frustrate others.  Today's film in review is one that would be very unlikely to be remade firstly due to the wonderful actors and characters portrayed, and secondly it would no doubt be a very expensive film due to the construction of early 20th century aircraft.  Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines brings us early 20th century aircraft that were accurately remade (apart from more reliable and slight more powerful engines) for use in the film which is a delight to see and we have fantastic actors all combined in a great comedy.  

The film starts off with a combination of new and original footage of man's attempt to fly starting from the stone age, progressing through to a variety of man-made inventions that were designed to take man to the sky with some being hilarious.  The film then begins in 1910, which is about 7 years after man's first flight, where keen aviator Richard Mays (James Fox) and soon to be fiancée Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles) concoct a plan to bring the ideas and knowledge of aviation to one place where they can all learn from each other.  The idea of an air race from London to Paris is then brought to Sarah's father, British Newspaper Tycoon Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley), and is convinced that this would be the best way for Britain to maintain it's rule in the world which currently rules the sea but not the skies.  Lord Rawnsley then advertises the race in his paper and those around the world with a prize of 10,000 pounds.

Entrants from around the world such as France, Italy, Germany, America and England and Scotland begin to arrive in London as they prepare their planes for the race, but then the real fun begins as there are tensions between the nations, in particular France and Germany, and if that was not enough English aviator Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas) tries to sabotage some of the planes in order to score the win himself.

The film has great cast as per above and also includes Gert Fröbe (Goldfinger, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as the officer in charge of the German team and a cameo from Benny Hill as the fire chief who is very concerned about his fire engines.  The script is very well crafted and the film is well directed as are the stunts, but one of the many great parts of the film (apart from the stars, acting and script) are the planes where about 20 of them were built for the movie from the same authentic materials, and seeing these fly is just fantastic!

It really is hilarious to see the conflict between the different nations, like the carefree Americans, the by-the-book Germans, prim and proper English, the fun loving French who love having a rip at the Germans, then there are the proud Italians who refuse to have their practice runs behind the French.  

In many ways, the film reminds me of The Great Race (1965) which is another wonderful film of this era but instead of planes, it revolves around cars, and to a lesser degree It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963).  Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines also had a type of sequel called Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies (1969) or perhaps it might be known from its British title Monte Carlo or Bust! which is quite a good film but not as classy and polished as Magnificent Men.

The Bluray reviewed here is only available from the US and is in fact now out of print, though you can get a copy from some places like eBay that will likely charge you an arm and three toes.  There is also a DVD available in Australia that you can pick up off eBay for a reasonable price.

The image quality on the Bluray is fantastic and a far cry above the old DVD version I had (the cover was somewhat different than the above).  The restoration work done for this film is stunning to say the least and delivers a very clear, detailed and bold image whilst still retaining that film look.  There are some parts of the film that suffer a little because of the pristine restoration and that is during some scenes where they use blue screen effects which is similar to The Great Race and other films of that vintage.  I do not own many “Twilight Time” films simply because of their expense when converting the US dollar, but this (along with The Train) was worth it.  The sound also saw a full restoration and is similarly wonderful, bringing out the score perfectly.  The following extras have also been included:

• Isolated score track (just contains the music)
• Audio Commentary by Director/Writer Ken Annakin
• Trailers and TV Spots

Overall this is a wonderful movie that has its moments of being hilarious to mildly funny.  The acting is spot on as they portray their characters and the planes, setting and script are also wonderful.  This is a film which just could not be made the same these days and it comes highly recommended.  For a reasonable price you can get the DVD or even stream via your favourite paid streaming service.

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