The Great Waldo Pepper goes west

[Dana]

RIP, Robert Redford.

I was 16 and obsessed with airplanes (and that kind of flying) when "Waldo Pepper" came out, counting the days until the movie's release, having read all about the filming in Flying or Air Progress magazine. Flying by the late great Frank Tallman, no CGI then.



His other films weren't half bad, either...

 

[eman1200]

I’m not gonna lie, I thought he had already died. Anyways, that sux. I know he’s a legend but I’ve surprisingly seen very few of his movies.

 

[Lowflynjack]

I always loved this movie, then I found out a great scene was filmed near me in Elgin, TX.

The scene featuring Susan Sarandon performing a stunt as a wing-walker in a biplane that lands on the town's Main Street. The 1975 film received a special waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to allow the stunt plane to fly through the center of the town during the filming of the scene.

 

[Nick D]

"You're sitting here with a four flusher, Mary Beth!"

 

[kyleb]

Redford was in some great movies. Butch and Sundance, The Sting, 3 Days of the Condor, All the President's Men, The Candidate, Out of Africa, and a ton of others. And then you have Waldo Pepper, which wasn't a great movie, but did have some great flying scenes. Unlike Redford, Waldo only made it to 36 before he passed. My takeaway from that movie was the transition from aviation being the figurative wild west to being controlled by the CAA and its "Highways in the Sky", putting an end to the escapades of the Waldo Peppers of the world.

 

[asicer]

There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.

 

[Dana]

My takeaway from that movie was the transition from aviation being the figurative wild west to being controlled by the CAA and its "Highways in the Sky", putting an end to the escapades of the Waldo Peppers of the world.

That was the background, but the movie was about the loss of freedom and innocence that Waldo and his like enjoyed as government control intruded. It was necessary, of course, but it's always for the old timers. Even in the movie, the actual wild west is reduced to a movie set with an immaculate actor complaining that the stuntman (Waldo) doesn't fall off the balcony gracefully enough for his character.

 

[Randomskylane]

It’s available on Netflix for another week or two.

The flying scenes are fabulous in part because there’s no concern about CGI or models instead of real planes.

There’s an alternative ending on YouTube (not good)

Quentin Tarantino did a podcast review of the movie with iirc Ebert, for those who want to get into the meaning of various aspects of the movie.

I think it’s better than what some of the reviews indicate. Usually the bad opinions (according to me and of course my opinion is infallible) rely on mistaken information/assumptions.

 

[172andyou]

It’s available on Netflix for another week or two.

The flying scenes are fabulous in part because there’s no concern about CGI or models instead of real planes.

There’s an alternative ending on YouTube (not good)

Quentin Tarantino did a podcast review of the movie with iirc Ebert, for those who want to get into the meaning of various aspects of the movie.

I think it’s better than what some of the reviews indicate. Usually the bad opinions (according to me and of course my opinion is infallible) rely on mistaken information/assumptions.

Ebert has been dead for a long time. Roger Avary.

 

[skyking3286]

And I loved the roller skate wheels on the Jenny so they could land it after the wheels and tires were let go.

 

[X3 Skier]

“Can’t Swim?! Hell the fall’s gonna kill ya!”

 

[Ed Haywood]

I watched it again last night. I enjoyed the outside loop attempts, and Kessel's 10 spin death dive. Some of the formation flying was first rate. I'll bet filming was a hoot.

Plane spotting was cool too. Several Standard J-1s and Curtis J-4's. Sweet Bucker Jungmeister, and of course the Sopwith Camel and Fokker dogfight at the end. Wikipedia says all the crashes were filmed with Tiger Moths, I guess because there were plenty of them.

Favorite stunt: flying down main street with the lady on the wing.

I missed my time in history.