Hacker Cinema
The War Lover
1962 · Film · 105 min
Directed by Philip Leacock
Buzz Rickson is a dare-devil World War II bomber pilot with a death wish. Failing at everything not involving flying, Rickson lives for the most dangerous missions. His crew lives with this aspect of his personality only because they know he always brings them back alive.
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3 comments on Hacker News
> I've somehow heard of neither of your first two mentions, but will be checking them both out soon.
I envy you! I wish I could see them again for the first time!
Based on your remarks, I bet you would love "The War Lover", 1963. They used 3 real B-17s for the movie. Very realistic. I know this because my dad flew 32 missions in a B-17, and was assigned by the Air Force to them as a consultant for accuracy for the movie. He made the mission map used in the briefing.
He was also responsible for the "cutting the grass sequence". The director was just going to use models because it was too dangerous, but my dad showed them how to do it safely. The sequence is just terrific. The AF was mad at him for recommending it, but the sequence was very popular with the critics and he was forgiven.
P.S. How to do it safely: do it at dawn when the air is still. Station people at various locations around the flight path in continuous communication with the pilot telling him his altitude. Fly the route again and again, each time slightly lower.
In the movie The War Lover, Steve McQueen (well, the actual pilot) pilots a B17 bomber "cutting the grass", i.e. flying low with the gear up. The stunt was to be done with models because it was too dangerous.
My dad was in the AF at the time, and was assigned to the movie as a consultant on AF trivia. He convinced them that the stunt could be done safely, and explained how to do it.
And so it was done. My dad got in trouble, because if the B17 had crashed doing the stunt, the AF would have looked bad. But it didn't crash, and the stunt was a big deal to the movie crowds, so he was forgiven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGGynxYbA48
It's still freakin' impressive today.
His other contribution to the movie was the mission briefing wall maps.
This story reminds me of the B-17s used in the 1963 Steve McQueen movie "The War Lover".
3 B-17's were procured, put in flying condition, and flown to England. With some clever photography and editing, the movie makes those 3 airplanes look like a fleet. After the movie, what was to be done with the planes?
The British government wanted some large import tax on them, but the movie production budget was exhausted. They couldn't even afford to buy the gas to fly them back to the US. The movie company tried to GIVE the airplanes to a British museum, but the government still wanted their import tax, and the museums couldn't pay the tax, either.
The solution was to pour gasoline on them and burn them to the ground.