One of the last pictures helmed by Josef von Sternberg (The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express), Jet Pilot ended up co-directed by several others, including megalomaniac producer Howard Hughes after Sternberg left the project in early 1950. Incredibly, filming dragged on by his replacements until 1953. Hughes’ OCD fascination with all aspects of aviation caused him to tinker with the editing for another 4 years, not releasing it until 1957, when many of the jets in the film were on the verge of obsolescence. A potpourri of a movie, it conjures up some of the most surreal ideas ever about 1950s American/Soviet relations. The bizarre story line follows crack pilot John Wayne falling in love with defecting Soviet pilot, Janet Leigh (!), the couple getting secretly married, then both fleeing to Moscow when it looks like she will be imprisoned by the U.S. for espionage. There Wayne is cornered by Soviet intelligence to divulge top secrets of American air power. Initially, Leigh is loyal to her handlers, but her deep feelings for Wayne overcome her ideological scruples, and Leigh engineers their escape.
“Amazingly enough, it is a successful, even a beautiful film.” – Francois Truffaut
“Superb aerial footage” – Time Out
“Josef von Sternberg opts for a broad, preposterous comic-book style in this piece of cold-war hysteria, which completely undermines the Neanderthal intentions of the film’s producer, Howard Hughes. Janet Leigh is a busty Russian spy pilot, shot down over the U.S. (her flying suit striptease, punctuated by the roar of offscreen jet engines, is unforgettably outrageous)…” – Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Ariel Schudson discusses Jet Pilot on the New Beverly blog.
