The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

George Roy Hill

Writers:

George Roy Hill (story)
William Goldman (screenplay)

Release Date:

13 March 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Robert Redford Takes to the Skies in This Rousing Adventure

Plot:

A biplane pilot who had missed flying in WWI takes up barnstorming and later a movie career in his quest for the glory he had missed...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Barnstorming | Biplane | WWI | Circus

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Waldo Pepper
Bo Svenson	...	Axel Olsson
Bo Brundin	...	Ernst Kessler
Susan Sarandon	...	Mary Beth
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Newt
Edward Herrmann	...	Ezra Stiles
Philip Bruns	...	Dillhoefer
Roderick Cook	...	Werfel
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Patsy
Margot Kidder	...	Maude
Scott Newman	...	Duke
James S. Appleby	...	Ace
Patrick W. Henderson Jr.	...	Scooter
James N. Harrell	...	Farmer (as James Harrell)
Elma Aicklen	...	Farmer's Wife

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:G | Finland:K-12 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Elgin, Texas, USA

Company:

Jennings Lang

Trivia:

In his book "Adventures in the Screen Trade" writer William Goldman wrote that his original idea for the opening scene was cut. The idea was to open with a young boy trying to impress a young girl by holding out his arms and actually being able to fly. We then see the sky filled with young boys flying and young girls being impressed. The director felt the tone of that scene did not match the rest of the film.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Waldo Pepper walks out on the wing to practice his first wing walk, the shadow of the camera can be seen on the plane.

Quotes:

Ezra Stiles: It's gonna be a monoplane.
Waldo Pepper: A monoplane. Are you telling me you're building me an airplane with only one wing?
Ezra Stiles: Just thought you'd like to know: the biplane's gone the way of the Dodo.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Radar Secret Service (#6.20)" (1993)

The word "great" also describes the movie

This movie has special significance for me because I first saw it as a

teenager. Yet it holds up as a great movie for me 28 years after it was

made (unlike some others I could name).

I like Robert Redford in almost anything, and he's at his best here as

a barnstorming pilot in the 1920s who pretends to have seen more action

in World War One than he did. He made me feel for the character when he

said, "It should have been me" after rival flyer Axel Olsen exposed him

as a "four-flusher" for claiming he was a key figure in a famous battle.

Pepper finally gets his chance to go up against the German World War One

ace Ernst Kessler (perhaps loosely based on the real German ace Ernst

Udet) as a stunt pilot in a movie crew.

The dialogue scenes between Pepper and Kessler leading up to the

climactic dogfight are the best part of the movie, even though Kessler's

lines seemed to be written more in the interest of serving the plot than

in serving the character.

The idea that Kessler was a man who only felt at home in the air, for

whom nothing worked out well on the ground, resonated with me, as it did

with Pepper, who felt the same way.

In closing, I'd like to mention the beginning of the movie when Waldo

Pepper lands at a small town in Iowa to offer airplane rides. He

promises a free ride at the end of the day to a boy named Scooter if he

will tote a 5-gallon gas can back and forth from the filling station to

keep Pepper's plane fueled.

The song that plays over the opening credits during this sequence has

stuck with me for 28 years. I heard it again in 1992 while attending a

boot camp graduation ceremony at the Great Lakes Naval Recruit Training

Command and remembered it from the movie. I don't know the name of it,

but I love that song.

Anyway, at the end of the day Scooter asks for his free ride and Pepper

says he only promised that to get him to haul gas. He never takes kids

for rides. Whether the character is kidding or not isn't clear, but it

certainly seems that Scooter (and his dog) get the best ride of the day.

That sequence establishes Pepper as a decent, if somewhat slippery

character and gets the m