The Movie "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines"

[Michel Van]

Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN74T2v6Hg8&feature=related

is a 2 hour extravaganza with with authentic sets, props and costumes and beautiful stuntman choreography with real aircraft (long before CGI came up )

with a international character actors like Gerd Fröbe as Colonel Manfred von Holstein

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McFj_vq3cwk&feature=player_embedded

or Alberto Sordi (sadly no Youtube video)
also Benny Hill and Terry Thomas and more and more excellent actors

the Movie is one of my favorite

 

[The Artist]

Pre-CGI effects in this one included having someone paint the crane cables ("flying" the aircraft) to match the background sky color before each "flying" shot with an identifiable actor or actress.

This movie still holds up very well for me.

 

[Michel Van]

there is wonderful anecdote to this Movie and James Bond: Goldfinger !
those two were made same time in same Studio complex !
Gerd Fröbe walk from Set of "Those Magnificent Men" to Set of "Goldfinger" Play this roles and back.

wat let to some hysterical laughter at set of Goldfinger
wen Colonel Manfred von Holstein marched in full uniform, as Beatbox planing german military marches
(like on second Youtube video)

 

[pathology_doc]

Two things that elevated it above the usual comedy for me:
1) The knife-edge airborne rescue at the end of the race, with the sportsmanship at the finish line.
2) The segue into the overflight by English Electric Lightnings at the close of the film.

 

[1635yankee]

I loved this movie! Of course, I'm also a sucker for a) making fun of military stuffed shirts and b) old airplanes.

The duel over the sewage pond is priceless.

 

[Dynoman]

Great movie! Once you get past the stereo types of its cast of international characters, its great to see early circa 1910 replicas (some actually flying). Types I saw fly were the 1910 AVRO Triplane, Demoiselle, Antoinette, and Bristol Boxkite. I found a list of the aircraft used in the movie. They were:

Antionette
AVRO Triplane
AVRO Baby
Blackburn-12
Bleriot XI
Bristol Boxkite
Demoiselle
Demoiselle FG
Dixon-Nipper
Eardly Billings
Phillips Multiplane
Vickers 22

Also interesting was an early mechanical flight simulator (not sure how accurate to an actual design), the layout of the aerodromes, and the vintage cars, motorcycles and the period dress. All in all, a fun movie!