The Gypsy Moths (1969)

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Better Late Then Never

An Exercise In Nonsense

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I've always enjoyed the films of Lancaster, Wilson, Hackman and Kerr. I saw that this movie was going to air on TCM so I recorded it and watched it today... First thing I noticed was the blurred out magazine on the guys lap at the root beer stand 2 minutes into the movie, what the hell was that all about ??? Why blur it out ?The movie takes place in a small Kansas town where these three barnstorming skydivers pull into to put on a 'thrilling' show over the 4th of July holiday. The scenes show the cast members sweating it out in the hot Kansas sun, yet throughout the film we see folks dressed in suits and long sleeved shirts, wearing jackets and other things that just don't seem to fit.One of the jumpers (Wilson) has relatives (William Windom and Deborah Kerr) in this town so they are invited to stay there with a girl tenant who goes to school there (portrayed by Bonnie Bedilia). This is summer, so there is no schooling session and the town looks too small to have a college so it made me wonder what the girl was there for. So after only being there for a few minutes things are heating up between Kerr and Lancaster, for no apparent reason really... Lancaster gives a speech at the local ladies club which Kerr attends and she is there, at the end, alone with Burt, to ask why he has contempt for them and everyone else. Wow, what dialogue, it just floats in from thin air and makes little sense either. The skydivers have a dinner with the couple later and explain the extreme danger and thrills of jumping. And Lancaster leers across the table at Kerr while the husband does nothing...Then it is time to take in the local strip club with the twirling tassels and the horny waitress... Really tasteless stuff actually, does nothing for the film and seems to have been added for the sole reason to have nudity in the film. Makes no sense again...Later Lancaster and Kerr take a long walk in the evening while Windom watches his wife from an upstairs window walk off with a complete stranger. Kerr seems to walk, talk and act in a slow motion effect in this film, she never smiles and stands in rooms in the house looking totally depressed. It takes her a full minute to shut some doors in the parlor so her and Burt can screw on the couch... and now we get a nude scene with Kerr, a very bad nude scene with Kerr, a scene that again was added for the sole reason to have a nude scene... And where in the hell was Windom while this is going on ??? I kept waiting for Wilson to drive off looking for the Clutter's place.Next a fight scene between Wilson and Hackman that is altogether pointless, and then on to the big Sunday skydiving extravaganza at the local airfield... Finally after an hour of crap we get to see some more skydiving, which of course means the lead actors in front of a movie of the sky while they are hung by cables to fool us into thinking they are really jumping out of airplanes... The stuntmen take over at this point and do some 'stunts' that I wouldn't pay a dollar to see. They jump, land on the ground, go back up, jump etc etc... Now who would sit around for the half hour between jumps in a hot Kansas sun to see this ??? The whole point of the movie is whether Lancaster will do the 'cape' stunt in the act on Sunday... The 'cape' stunt is just like it sounds, you wear a cape and jump and spread it out to resemble flying, I guess, it is never really explained and looks as ridiculous as it sounds. But the actors drum it up as something that takes great skill and is absolutely the most dangerous part of their show... So Burt puts on the suit, jumps from the plane and rather than open his parachute he plows into the ground at a thousand miles an hour... I mean it was filmed so badly with the crowd reactions I had to laugh at the stupidity... Why didn't he open his chute ??? Suicide ? That is never represented... Accident ? After the jump they test the chute and it opens fine... So I guess it just follows the rest of the film and makes no sense...One other distraction in the film is the high school band practicing for a parade that never happens. We are treated to at least three scenes with the band director looking like a complete lunatic trying to get the band ready for the big day, just utter and complete nonsense... In the end we watch as the remaining crew of Hackman and Wilson decide to perform the idiotic 'cape' routine the very next day as a tribute or remembrance of Lancaster buying the farm the previous day... The whole town shows up again and pays to see one jump with the stupid cape and Wilson pulls it off and the crowd goes wild and gathers around him. Another unexplained part of the movie is every time a chute opens, you hear a 'pop', like a gunshot going off, and just as loud as a gunshot would be... At the end of this horrible movie before Wilson jumps off the plane, he pulls a wire on a device on his shoes which triggers a smoke trail and produces the same noise... Yet when we hear it earlier we never see any smoke trails at all... Watch this movie for a lesson on how not to make a movie....

Actor & director combo Burt Lancaster and John Frankenheimer team for this appealing film that explores the lives of three sky divers, played by Lancaster, Gene Hackman, and Scott Wilson. They come to a small Midwest town named Bridgeville where they stun the locals with their aerial feats. Meanwhile, they affect the lives of some of the local woman. Mike Rettig (Lancaster) finds himself falling for Elizabeth Brandon (Deborah Kerr), who happens to be the aunt of Malcolm Webson (Wilson).Fundamentally, this is a good story (scripted by William Hanley, based on the novel by James Drought) well told, and it's punctuated by absolutely dazzling sky diving footage. Some viewers may wish there was more of this type of thing in the movie and less romance. The film flirts with melodrama (such as a back story involving Elizabeth) but Frankenheimer and the actors help keep it on an even keel.It's the cast that makes this worth watching. The majority of the performances are agreeably subtle, with the exception of Hackman, who's playing the extrovert of the group anyway. Lancaster and Kerr have a very alluring sex scene; both actors look incredibly good. Hackman strikes up a relationship with a hottie waitress (Sheree North) while Wilson is attracted to the college student (Bonnie Bedelia) who's boarding with the Brandons. North absolutely sears the screen. William Windom is good as Kerrs' husband whose aloof nature is a factor in her being turned on by Lancaster.Frankenheimer gets great use out of the real Midwestern locations (this was filmed in various parts of Kansas); the movie is definitely a real slice of Americana. Overall it's endearing enough and exciting enough to make it an okay view; it's ultimately rather predictable, but it remains watchable throughout.Seven out of 10.

Does anyone remember the topless dancer Patty Wright? Today she has crossed over into adult films and goes by the name of Patty Plenty. It is definitely Patty because it was me. I was nearly 20 when the movie came out. John Frankenheimer joined me into SAG and I still pay my dues as Patty Lynn Wright. I went on to be a Las Vegas Showgirl for many years. The movie was filmed mostly around Wichita Kansas where I grew up as a child. I have been a member of Screen Actors Guild for many years. I live now in both Malibu and Hawaii. I hope that I hear from someone that does remember some of the cast that did not get credited. I do have many films but they are rated adult in nature. John was a wonderful man and made as we all know many great films.

I had been underwhelmed by my first viewing of this film but, re-acquainting myself with it now, has proved a relatively more satisfying experience. Director John Frankenheimer here tries to do for sky-diving what he had previously done for motor-car racing in GRAND PRIX (1966) - which, ironically, would virtually be the last unqualified critical and commercial success he¡¦d enjoy for over 30 years (as it happens, I've just learned that it'll be released by Warners this year as a 2-Disc Set!) - and in the accompanying Audio Commentary states that THE GYPSY MOTHS is one of his own personal favorites! The actors are all extremely convincing - both established and upcoming stars - managing to overcome the potentially soap opera-ish situations of the script; apparently, Scott Wilson's role was originally slated for John Phillip Law (who had to be replaced when he hurt his wrist while performing a stunt for the film). This was Lancaster's fifth and final collaboration with Frankenheimer, in which he shares a fairly ridiculous sex scene with Deborah Kerr (16 years after their famous clinch on the beach in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY [1953]!); incidentally, that same year, she also appeared in the nude alongside Lancaster's old pal Kirk Douglas in Elia Kazan's THE ARRANGEMENT (1969)...and then disappeared from the screen for 16 years! As a matter of fact, for all the film's air of an old-fashioned melodrama, it's surprisingly "with-it" (Sheree North is also featured as a performing stripper Gene Hackman picks up in a bar).Anyway, the small-town atmosphere is vividly captured (down to the irascible old coot of a band-leader, actually Lancaster's dialogue coach!) and the sky-diving sequences - highlighted by elaborate and spectacular photography - create the appropriate excitement (even if they do not take up too much of the running time). However, the existential undertones (Lancaster as a taciturn sociopath with a death-wish; Kerr, trapped in a loveless marriage, consoles herself with the boarders she takes in from time to time; Hackman, a regular church-goer for all his philandering, getting the shakes the night before the big day, etc.) are less successful. Still, the film is kept going steadily by virtue of Elmer Bernstein's evocative and memorable score...