The Flight of the Phoenix

• Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich
• December 15, 1965
• Based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor

After their plane crashes the passengers try to survive the harsh Sahara.

The Flight of the Phoenix was something I knew the existence of but had never taken in until I came across it while out shopping. Loving the legendary Jimmy Stewart and having some money burning a hole in my pocket I picked it up.

What we get is a nail-biting survival drama that has more to it than simply surviving a harsh situation. The titular Phoenix is not necessarily about getting the survivors out of the situation they are in but rather simply giving them hope enough to survive until they get rescued. At least that’s what it ultimately comes down to. While those working on it want it to succeed, the leadership is more interested in the hope it gives.

The characters we get do realistic and logical things in the context of the situation. They are not virtuous and upstanding but real individuals who make hard and sometimes selfish choices while trying to survive. You understand where they’re coming from.

There is a level of believability to all this. We watch as people break down and struggle to maintain their humanity in an inhuman condition. And when it comes to their desperate bid for survival it is not about making it out alive but about stepping up to the situation. Victory is not about surviving but just not giving up.

Events occur in a very small yet very desolate and inhospitable area. There’s really just one setting for this entire story yet between the acting and the narrative and what occurs it is so meaty and packed and just captures your mind and won’t let go. The sense of isolation and desperation makes you wonder how this will end.

The legendary Jimmy Stewart stars as Frank Towns, the captain of the doomed plane and mostly a pessimist from the start. Not entirely pessimistic as he wants to live, but he doesn’t see a way exactly how that can happen. Or perhaps Towns is a realist? It is after all a pretty hopeless scenario that they find themselves in.

Jimmy Stewart was an amazing talent. He could not only play affable and charming leading men, but he could also play grizzled and tough and cynical. He could do comedies and dramas and adventure stories. He clearly draws on his military experience as a pilot to give Towns a level of realism. His military career was something that troubled him until the day he died.

Towns works with the alcoholic Lew Moran (Richard Attenborough) who is his more hopeful yet equally pessimistic copilot. You feel as if Lew is ready to give up but something inside him keeps pushing him on to find what even he knows is a false hope. His fear of death keeps him from succumbing.

Ernest Borgnine is the idiot of the group Trucker Cobb. Disaster films need such a character and this is ultimately what The Flight of the Phoenix is mixed with a heavy dose of survival. And it’s something he would play in later films. Whatever baggage he was carrying before the flight plays into his state here. He comes off as somebody who views himself as more than he actually is and has a little trouble accepting the realities of who he is.

I need to give an honorable mention to George Kennedy as Bellamy. He’s not a major player in the story but that’s not what I’m after in this instance. George Kennedy was a fantastic actor who I think often gets a bad rap. When he was in good stuff he was very good but when he took a paycheck film like many actors do he took some really big stinkers. And I think that harmed his legacy. The man could do action, drama, and comedy much like Stewart. Have you seen The Naked Gun films? He was absolutely perfect in them.

Dorfmann (Hardy Kruger), the German of the group, is an abrasive character that falls in a post WWII stereotype. He’s generally cold and analytical more than he is anything else. There is a bit of ego in him that helps sell his fantastical idea of building a plane from the scraps. You can believe it’s possible if they can survive long enough to build it.

As the heat and isolation wear on all of them personalities clash and fray. These are distinct individuals but not melodramatically distinct individuals. They are not unbelievably different but rather as different as you would encounter in everyday life which helps to sell the film.

One of the best reveals in this whole movie comes towards the end when Towns and Moran realize they have put their survival into the hands of not an aeronautical engineer as had been assumed, but rather an engineer who makes model planes. I remember watching The Flight of the Phoenix and my jaw dropping. It is just an absolutely shocking moment. The plane they are building to escape is simply an enlarged version of something Dorfmann has already done. And Dorfmann doesn’t see how this might be horrifying to people!

During the course of the narrative there is a struggle between Towns and Dorfmann for what is ultimately control of the group and who gets to lead the survival effort. While Dorfman maintains control for much of the story Towns at the end gets to demonstrate he too has something to contribute and that his input is just as valuable at certain moments as Dorfmann’s is.

The Flight of the Phoenix is heavy dialogue and minimal action. Aside from the crash and the ultimate escape, it is heavy dialogue and atmosphere. A sense of death with figurative buzzards circling overhead pervades. The environment is bleak, and you feel the isolation and near hopelessness of the situation. With essentially one set, director Robert Aldrich managed to keep you captivated throughout the nearly 2 ½ hour film. And it is a 2 ½ hours that goes by without any boring moments.

The Flight of the Phoenix is a fantastic bit of survival drama that hooks you from start to finish. It shows you do not need elaborate sets or numerous locations to create a captivating film. All you need is a solid script and actors giving it their all. I cannot recommend this movie enough!