JOHN FRANKENHEIMER

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB. 

USA, 1969.  John Frankenheimer Productions Inc., Edward Lewis Productions.  Screenplay by William Hanley, based on the novel by James Drought.  Cinematography by Philip H. Lathrop.  Produced by Hal Landers, Bobby Roberts.  Music by Elmer Bernstein.  Production Design by George W. Davis, Cary Odell.  Costume Design by Bill Thomas.  Film Editing by Henry Berman.

Three skydivers tour the country mesmerizing small-town folks with their impressive and sometimes dangerous stunts. When they reach the town where one of their party (Scott Wilson) was born, they find themselves staying at the home of his estranged aunt (Deborah Kerr) and uncle and reconnecting with his past. Burt Lancaster plays the leader of the troupe who inspires a new passion in Kerr’s bored life as a rich housewife, while Gene Hackman plays the spitfire member of the clan who keeps the business together with his drive to make more money. The aerial photography is fantastic, particularly in the last third when the group puts on its big show, but otherwise the story is fairly routine and not particularly distracting.