Aviation History - USA (2019-09)

American B-45 Tor-

nado. Audiences were

further treated to an

early demonstration by

the Air Force Thunder-

birds in their F-84F

Thunderstreaks.

Noted Air Force histo-

rian Walter Boyne gives

Toward the Unknown high

marks. “This picture

was made by the air-

planes that appeared

in it and is worth seeing

just for the XB-51,” he

commented.

Howard Hughes,

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Hell’s Angels (story,

P. 60) focused on

World War I aviation,

made a major leap

into the motion picture business when the jet age

began. The result, for what it’s worth, was 1957’s

Jet Pilot. It was vintage Hughes, with an unbe-

lievable plot, big budget overruns and spectacular

aerial photography.

Colonel Jim Shannon (John Wayne) is ordered

to play host to defecting Soviet pilot Lieutenant

Anna Marladovna, played by Janet Leigh three

years before her shower scene in Psycho. Shannon

falls in love with Marladovna and marries her in

order to keep her from being deported. When his

wife is accused of being a spy, Shannon sneaks her

into a Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and takes

her to Siberia. After a long series of unbeliev-

ably casual interrogations, the Soviets convince

Shannon to test their version of a “parasite”

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the States, bringing the story full circle.

Principal photography was completed in 1949,

but the Red Scare and McCarthyism convinced

RKO Pictures to keep Jet Pilot on the shelf for

eight years. By the time audiences saw it in 1957,

the aircraft were obsolete.

Jet Pilot was shot on location at George Air

Force Base in Victorville, Calif., and Edwards.

Eager to promote itself, the Air Force willingly

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personnel, including Major Chuck Yeager, who

just a year earlier had exceeded Mach 1 in the

Bell X-1. The naturally adventurous Yeager had

initially been thrilled at the prospect of mixing it

up with Hollywood stars but ended up being dis-

appointed. He never saw Wayne or Leigh. He did

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a B-25 camera plane. Director Josef von Sternberg

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he could do. In one shot he dived into the overcast

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chase, then pulled out down on the deck. Then he

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DATED ENTRY

Top: Although Janet

Leigh and John Wayne

provided star power,

Jet Pilot’s aircraft were

outdated by the time

of the film’s release.