Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

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The 1965 comedy film Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is set in 1910, at the dawn of aviation when Lord Rawnsley, an English press magnate, puts up the prize money for an air race from London to Paris to prove that Britain is "Number 1 in the air".

1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Crew
4 External links

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Sarah Miles plays the daughter of Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) whose favourite to win his race is none other than his daughter's fiancé, Richard Mays (James Fox). An international cast plays the array of international contestants, most of whom live up to their national stereotypes, including the fanatical Prussian (Gert Fröbe), a sexy Frenchman (Jean-Pierre Cassel) and the brash American (Stuart Whitman) who falls for Lord Rawnsley's daughter. However the main entertainment comes from the amusing dialogue and characterisations and the daring aerial stunts, with a dash of heroism and gentlemanly conduct thrown in for good measure at the end. Terry-Thomas plays the bad guy, the oily Sir Percival Ware-Armitage, who with the help of his stooge Courtney (Eric Sykes), sabotages other planes or drugs their pilots, only to get his fitting comeuppance in the end.

The original screenplay, written by Ken Annakin and Jack Davies, was nominated for an Academy Award. Ken Annakin also directed the film.

The film is notable for its use of specially constructed replicas of monoplanes and biplanes flown by stunt pilots (in one case a female aviator). Many of the planes employed wing warping for directional control, which involved re-discovering how to fly them safely. Several of the aircraft had dangerous features and the pilots had a number of narrow escapes. If made today, many of these shots would likely be done with computer animation for safety and to save costs — thus the movie holds up because of the added flavour of realism and the attention to detail in the replicas of the vintage planes, although a few of the flying stunts were achieved through the use of models and cleverly disguised wires.

The success of the film prompted Annakin to write (again with Jack Davies) and direct another race movie, Monte Carlo or Bust (aka Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies), released in 1969, this time involving vintage cars with the story set around the Monte Carlo Rally.

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