The Pilot (1981)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Author Bob Davis adapts from his novel for his screenplay, but he tries to put too much in his flat script while concomitantly neglecting to explain several of the plot elements which are presented here but not defined as they are in the book.Cliff Robertson was a rather stoic actor, but pilots can be pretty stoic sometimes, so this trait is probably a plus for the film. Robertson was also a pilot in real life, but that is an ultimately negligible factor. Diane Baker as the alcoholic pilot's mistress is given nothing to do and Frank Converse (how did this guy ever get an acting career?) is nothing as the panicky co-pilot. Dana Andrews appears in what amounts to be a cameo, Gordon MacRae is a loud-mouthed administrator, and Ed Binns is the captain-turned-secret agent who spies on Robertson.Not bad, could have been better. Unique subject matter; interesting with the potentiality of being true-to-life, much more than Denzel Washington's addict pilot in 'Flight' (2012).

Gordon MacRae who'll be remembered by most for his fluffy roles in musical comedies, always wanted to try his hand at drama and finally got the opportunity with the role of Captain Joe Barnes, the chief of flight operations for Northern American Airlines, who finds out that one of his pilots is an alcoholic and he doesn't want to believe it. They are good friends who share a love for old-fashioned seat-of-the-pants flying, both having been crop dusting pilots in the good old days. It's a problem that can't be swept under the rug, however, and Dana Andrews, as the airline president, must deal with it. Cliff Robertson stars as that pilot who gets away with flying under the influence until he get caught and is forced to face up to his problem. I covered the making of this movie in the April/May, 1979 issue of "On The Set Magazine." Now having seen the final cut, I'm of the opinion that some of its best clips wound up on the cutting room floor. It actually turned out better than anyone ever expected, however, considering its plethora of early problems. The screenplay was co-written between Cliff Robertson and Robert P. Davis who authored the novel on which it was based. Davis started out as the director and found it wasn't as easy as he'd thought it would be. Robertson jumped in to bail him out and save what was left of the project. "The Pilot" was hailed as the return to the silver screen for an old musical star named Gordon MacRae, whose first words to me were, "I'm one helluva good actor, Warren." I guess he did Okay, all things considered. I found it interesting that many of the stars I interviewed over the several weeks of hopping from airport to airport openly discussed their own bout with alcoholism. Robertson, the main star, also directed. Tony Rogers replaced Frank Converse as the co-pilot about halfway into the filming. Rogers is probably best remembered as Sir Dinadan in "Camelot." When the movie wrapped no one seemed very confident that it would make it to the big screen. One of its most exciting scenes was the aborted take-off, which was also one of the toughest to set up due to the logistics involved. While apologizing to us for all the delays Robertson told us at his press conference, "Now you can sit down and write that the engine erupts in a ball of flames, followed by billowing black smoke, followed by people screaming, followed by people jumping out of an airplane and that may take you a couple of hours to write and maybe another thirty minutes to type up, but when you try to execute all that it involves many, many, people and many, many man-hours." We of the press all appreciated that explanation. I'm sure that all who knew and worked with Cliff Robertson will remember him as a fine actor and, perhaps, even a finer gentleman.

Super movie. Aviation and alcoholism; rich movie topics done well. Haven't seen in 20 years. But I remember very well. It seems the CAT-III approach to SanFran was close to accurate for 1978. That's probably due to Cliff Robertson's knowledge of all things with wings. He also ended up directing the second half of the movie. Who with flying in their blood could resist the shots of the old DC-8 in flight? The pilot's resistance to recovery is also on the bullseye. As well as his high level of functioning while under the influence.

While the photography is beautiful, the premise of an airline pilot who drinks in the "blue room" during flights is a bit absurd. The low altitude flying scene of the venerable DC-8 over the deserts of the western U.S. is memorable, and accompanied by a superb musical score.