The Gypsy Moths

The Gypsy Moths
The Gypsy Moths Movie poster
Directed by	John Frankenheimer
Produced by	Hal Landers Bobby Roberts Edward Lewis (executive producer)
Written by	James Drought (novel) William Hanley
Starring	Burt Lancaster Deborah Kerr Gene Hackman
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Cinematography	Philip H. Lathrop
Editing by	Henry Berman
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	28 August 1969
Running time	107 mins
Country	USA
Language	English language

The Gypsy Moths is a 1969 American film starring Burt Lancaster, based on the novel of the same name by James Drought. It is the story of three barnstorming skydivers and their effect on a midwestern American town. At the time, the sport of skydiving was in its infancy, yet the movie featured an extreme variation of the sport known as wingsuit flying. Influenced by this movie, wingsuits gained a prominent resurgence in the 21st century. Todd Higley, a prominent skydiver in the Seattle area today, is said to have been the main technical advisor and stunt double for Mr. Lancaster, and today is well known for having invented wingsuit BASE jumping.

The movie also features Gene Hackman (fresh from his role in Bonnie and Clyde) and Deborah Kerr renewing her association with Lancaster from their previous work in From Here to Eternity and Separate Tables. The movie focuses on the differences in values between the town folk and the hard living skydivers and features Deborah Kerr's only nude love scene in her movie career.

The director, John Frankenheimer, expressed his anguish and disappointment at the critical reception of this piece and subsequent narrow release in the United States. The film was widely seen in Australia and the local skydiving fraternity there were quick to seize the opportunity to promote their sport.

Elmer Bernstein composed the score.

Plot

The title refers to a skydiving team that visits the Midwest for a show: the leader is one Mike Rettig (Lancaster), who is anxious to get in a good show. He is accompanied by his partners, Joe Browdy (Hackman) and Malcolm Webson (Scott Wilson). They come to the Midwest, where they stay at the home of Malcolm's uncle and aunt (William Windom, Deborah Kerr), but soon things do not come together as they should for the team. They are hit by excessive behavior, sex, and Mike suddenly being romantically involved with Malcolm's aunt, while Malcolm falls for local student Annie Burke (Bonnie Bedelia). As they learn, there is a serious difference between being professional skydivers and being plain people.

Reception

The film ran in limited release in the U.S. and saw few theaters taking it in for extended showings. Soon as it appeared, it disappeared, not getting an audience and it did not run until it came to TV years later. Director John Frankenheimer was depressed. He felt the film did not get enough attention as his thrillers, like Seconds and The Manchurian Candidate. Despite this, he would call this his favorite film.

Location

The remarkable aerial sequences were filmed at Benton, Kansas, and a Howard DGA-15 was used as the jump ship. Hackman (as Joe Browdy) has a great line in discussing the plane; after correctly decoding the "DGA" designation, he opines that "You're much better off jumping out of it, than taking a chance on landing it.". This line was probably unscripted, but attributable to the Howard's pilot, David Llorente.

Additional cast

• Gene Hackman
• Sheree North
• Scott Wilson
• William Windom
• Bonnie Bedelia
• Ford Rainey
• John Napier
• Carl Boenish, aerial cinematographer
• Carl Reindel
• Patty Lynn Wright

External links

• The Gypsy Moths at the Internet Movie Database
• The Gypsy Moths at the TCM Movie Database
• The Gypsy Moths at AllRovi
• Skydiving sequence from The Gypsy Moths on YouTube
• Skydivers demonstrating filming techniques on YouTube