Fate Is the Hunter
Tags: flashback

Plot synopsis:
A bird strike on one of its two engines shortly after takeoff downs a Consolidated Airlines passenger jet, killing all 53 passengers aboard and all but one of the crew. Pilot Jack Savage (Rod Taylor) is suspected of drinking and causing the crash that leaves flight attendant Martha Webster (Susanne Pleshette) the sole survivor of the flight.
Early in the investigation, it is found that the Captain shut down the aircraft’s one good engine for no apparent reason, and that he may have been drinking as little as an hour before the flight. The captain's wartime buddy, airline executive Sam C. McBane (Glenn Ford), is convinced of his friend's innocence and doggedly investigates. Flashbacks deal with both Jack's past and Sam meeting him, plus others they used to know.
Eventually, a test flight is organized as part of the investigation. Piloted by McBane, its purpose is to exactly recreate in every detail the flight of the ill-fated airliner. Every detail is replicated in sequence. After take off, flight attendant Webster brings McBane coffee, just as she did to the original flight crew. He shuts down an engine, simulating the bird strike, and the coffee cup tips over from sudden the loss of power, spilling it contents.
A short time later an emergency arises: A warning light and alarm indicates there is a serious engine fire in the remaining good engine. McBane deduces that the original pilot's coffee cup was sitting atop the instrument console, just as his had been. The spilled liquid leaked through the console's seams onto the electronics, causing a malfunction of the airliner's engines warning system. In reality the airliner still had a fully functioning jet engine that could have prevented the crash. McBane ignores the warning and goes to full power on both engines, returning safely to the airfield. A minor chance accident and the ensuing electronics fault, not pilot error, is proven to be the cause of the Consolidated airliner crash.

Review: Ford plays Sam McBane, a VP with an airline which has just lost a plane in a crash.
A film whose story is told in flashback, during the investigation of an airline accident.
Sam McBane (Glenn Ford) is an executive of Continental Airlines who is desperate to prove that his old Army-Air Corps buddy Capt.
Through them, McBane learns a lot he didn't know about the airline pilot.The plot of the movie takes off during the last 10 minutes when McBane and the only survivor of the crash, Stewardess Martha Stewart (Suzanne Pleshette, excellent in limited screen time), recreate the original fatal flight in every detail.
A friend of mine who wouldn't usually go in for this kind of fare, after viewing it with me, said "Fate of the Hunter" turned into a pretty good movie due to the last part.Glenn Ford has some good scenes, particularly during the CAB hearing and Rod Taylor is likeable in his role.This is one of my personal favorite movies and I recommend it..
A terrific movie, Glenn Ford, Rod Tayler, and Suzanne Pleshette give wonderful performances.
If you don't like the fictional airliner, well that' s fine.Get over that part of it.Here is a movie that actually talks about a rudder power switch!I can also say that the cinematography is wonderful and the opening 12 minutes and last 10 minutes is the most amazing stuff I've seen.
I enjoyed this movie, not because 53 people died in a plane crash, but because through a determined investigation the cause was found and hopefully that same mistake won't happen again.
Glenn Ford brings his usual earnestness to his role as an airline executive determined to discover the cause of the crash, which killed its pilot and his good friend (Rod Taylor).
The flashback scenes with Ford, Taylor, Jane Russell and Wally Cox are extremely well done, and Dorothy Malone gives a fine, uncredited performance.
Very few movies held my attention like that back then.Fate is the Hunter, as other users have said, is intelligent and well thought out.
The other commentors have made entirely appropriate remarks about some of the virtues of this film, but for me the true power of this film is in the story of McBane learning, in the course of the investigation, about the true character of the doomed pilot.Better late than never..
Glenn Ford stars in "Fate is the Hunter," a 1964 film directed by Ralph Nelson.
The film also stars Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Nancy Kwan, Wally Cox, Nehemiah Persoff, Mark Stevens, Constance Towers, and Max Showalter.Ford is Sam McBane, who is called in to determine the cause of a plane crash; a flight attendant, Martha Webster (Pleshette) is the sole survivor of the flight, piloted by Jack Savage (Rod Taylor).
He talks to Savage's friends, the women in his life, and finally actually reconstructs the flight in order to find the answer.Ford shows more emotion than usual and gives a strong performance - he actually dominates the film.
The Black Box. Fate Is The Hunter casts Glenn Ford as an airline executive and former pilot who is investigating the crash of an airline at his airport where a former Korean war buddy Rod Taylor was the pilot.
Most on the flight were killed, one of the survivors was stewardess Susanne Pleshette.Ford has a vested interest both professional and personal, he hired Taylor as a pilot and his judgment is called in question as well.
But Ford knew Taylor as a man cool in combat and we see Taylor after the initial crash in all sides of his character in flashback.The film is based on an Ernest K.
Gann's memoir is a rich tapestry of a flyer's life from biplane to four engine passenger airliner,while Harold Medford's screenplay is really just a pastiche of some of the story threads in the book.Having said that, Fate is the Hunter the film, stands on its own as an immensely satisfying story that takes an increasingly strong grip on the viewer and never lets go.
Rod Taylor plays airline captain Jack Savage, who's killed along with his crew and passengers in the crash of the fictional Consolidated Airlines flight 22.
Airline VP McBain, played by Glenn Ford, believes something other than pilot error was responsible for the disaster, but must battle his own colleagues and public perception of Savage in order to clear the dead pilot's name.
This is a sad, yet ultimately uplifting film, and although Gann might not have liked the result, the finished movie does manage to retain the tone and philosophy of his fabulous book..
It's one of those movies where you feel like you got a look behind the scenes of how a real investigation is handled, even though you probably didn't.Glenn Ford is great and understated -- good acting.
It also contains a lot of good oddball characters (Wally Cox, Dorothy Malone, Nancy Kwan) who do a great job.
While the investigation into the opening plane crash is a bit simplistic; this movie has great characters.
Prior to the film's titles, "Fate is the Hunter" opens with the fatal crash of an airliner only minutes after take-off.
The ensuing story revolves around an investigation into the mystery of what caused the accident.Using hearsay and circumstantial evidence, the airline management and the Civil Aeronautics Board rush to blame the crash on pilot error; well played by Rod Taylor, the aptly named Captain Jack Savage and his reputation become the target.
However, Savage's old army buddy, Sam McBane, works for the same airline company and is assigned to investigate the cause of the crash.
Suzanne Pleshette, Wally Cox, Nancy Kwan, and Dorothy Malone are among those who paint a more complex portrait of Savage that eventually leads to resolution.Despite the quaintness of flights without security checks, "Fate is the Hunter" is often engaging and holds viewer interest throughout.
Glenn Ford is so loyal to his friend that he will risk his life to prove the accident is NOT 'pilot error'.Even the angle of the pier demo project being delayed lends an important element to the plot.
Glenn Ford does his best to make his central character interesting but nearly all of the main characters in the film are middle-aged men who spend most of their screen time shouting and snarling at each other.
Glenn Ford was a big star in his day, but he does not get the credit today that he deserves for making some terrific movies.
FITH was well acted by everyone in the cast I think the chemistry between Glenn Ford and Rod Taylor was very interesting.
I believe the scene at the beginning of the film, the only contact they had not seen in flashback, was very subtle, but you begin to understand what drives Ford to pursue his investigation.
Several years ago, on a whim, I actually wrote to a famous director (who happened to have made a film with Glenn Ford when he was a child actor!) to suggest remaking FITH with an updated story.
Gann's wrote two different stories, both titled "Fate is the Hunter": a book, and a screen play.
Both stories suggest fate plays a large role in our lives, but whereas the book gives example after example after example, the movie concentrates on one incident.If you compare the book's detailed story of how co-pilot Gann and his old curmudgeon of a captain survive a mid-western ice storm in a DC-2, an airplane that is inferior in every way except one (ice handling) to the DC-3 that they had expected and had wanted to take, to the detailed story in the movie of how a new jetliner crashes because of a peculiar series of events, or if you compare the movie jetliner's crash to the crash of an Eastern Airlines DC-4 that occurred because its pilot reacted to a vibration that Gann, in an identical incident, decided to ignore, I think you'll be pleased.The DC-6 or -7 airliner that was modified in the movie to look like a prototype for a new, twin-engine jet airliner is great from a historical perspective.
(Some people think that a Convair was modified for the movie.) Gann ended his airline career flying DC-4s for Matson.
Continuing with the same basic DC-4 airframe in the movie (with fake jet engines stuck on the rear fuselage) certainly lends a Gann "air" to the film.
The jet DC-8, which was flying by the time the book and the movie were released, is very different from the DC-4/6/7 series of airplanes that Gann flew.Douglas would eventually produce another very different twin-engine jet airplane, the DC-9, but from an economical standpoint, going with the existing DC-4/6/7 design for the DC-9, which began production in the mid 1960s, sure would have made a lot of sense.
This is one of those movies that came out very well, in fact better than what could have been expected.I found the acting was good, and as the another reviewer has noticed, that first 10 minutes gives it to you right before your very eyes.
I mean, really: would a man who knows aircraft like he does have gone for the idea of a "jet" being nothing more than a de-engined Convair Metropolitan with papier-maché modifications to the empty engine nacelles?That aside, this was a heck of a good movie, and needs to be released on some home medium..
It's the story of two pilots, the other is Rod Taylor, who is less responsible and more adventurous, and as Glenn finds reason to investigate his friend's actual way of life, there are many flashbacks gradually building up a tremendous drama all dependent on the human factor.
It's a fantastic detective story of an air crash investigation, the case seems hopeless to find any explanation to, but Glenn Ford as the inveterate investigator in charge can't just drop the case at the first instance of what seems to be the final solution - there is always something more to it.I loved this film, it's perfectly on par with the "Doomsday Flight" with Edmond O'Brien 5 years later, and Glenn Ford makes a terrific performancer..
Glenn Ford shows what a great actor he is in this excellent film.
It is basically a story of a plane crash and Glenn Ford's determination to prove that his old war buddy Rod Taylor was not the cause of the crash.
Gann's book becomes interesting, somewhat unusual and gripping drama involving a doomed airliner, on a routine flight from Los Angeles to Seattle, which loses its first engine--and then, apparently, its second--and crashes just after takeoff, leaving only one survivor (a remarkably uninjured stewardess).
Glenn Ford is the investigator for the airline company who is pressured by board members into blaming the entire disaster on pilot Rod Taylor, an old military friend; Ford is uninterested in using the pilot as a scapegoat, instead putting his job on the line and searching out the actual reason the plane went down.
If only I had left it at that and left this movie half shrouded in a mystique associated with the title.Here's the basic story: a jet airliner (reasonably novel in 1964) crashes.
"It illustrates the many zany and unusual things that can happen to change our lives forever." The actual cause of this plane crash has stuck with me since I first saw the film over 30 years ago on TV.
Had this movie been titled "Airline Investigator" or "Cause and Effect" or even "How Did It Happen?", I would not have been quite so disappointed.
The book is Gann's masterpiece, chronicling the career of an airline pilot from his first solo flight to his retirement, featuring wonderful accounts of many of the events that occur during a life spent in the air.
I wanted to care about the lead character (Glenn Ford) and, through flashbacks, the pilot of the ill-fated plane (Rod Taylor).
Suzanne Pleshette fared best in a good (albeit minor) cast as the flight attendant who survived the crash and helps in the investigation.
The acting was fine, the sets and props seemed a bit dated/ineffective, but the story is a good one and work watching the solid performances of Ford, Pleshette, Kwan, Cox and several others made a most enjoyable evening.I was disappointed that the flavor of the book just did not come through in the movie.
The jet engines of the plane were poorly done, the engine going out on the plane not being noticed by the passengers was a real stretch, the haste to hold a hearing, the CAA admitting to acting in response to political/public pressure and the general portrayal of flight crews all seemed somewhat hasty, as if it was in the way of getting on with a few supporting elements for the PLOT, and to capitalize on the popularity of the book rather than making a serious movie.Anyway - A great Book, and an OK movie, just do not get the two confused as having anything to do with each other.BTW - I read Gann's "Hostage to Fortune" after watching the movie, and his comments about the movie explain and support my observations..
This is a silly story about the investigation of airliner crash.
They are finally cleared, but unfortunately, as they come for a crash landing, the plane strikes a pier and everyone dies, except Martha, the stewardess, who miraculously is spared.As the investigation proceeds, we are taken in flashbacks to the days of WWII when Sam and Jack were serving together.
The film is based on a book by Ernest Gann.Glenn Ford, a man that usually underplayed in most of his films, makes an excellent Sam McBean.
Rod Taylor, who is made to look older as Jack in the first scenes, does also a good job of this fearless pilot.
Gann wrote the book, Fate Is The Hunter, which became a classic among pilots.
It does not take long for some bright sparks to realize that, from a legal and financial viewpoint, it might be useful to put the full blame on the pilot...A good movie (part thriller, part drama) about an inquiry into the possible causes of a plane crash.
When the real cause of the accident is finally discovered, near the very end of the movie, it proves both ironical and poignant."Fate" also explores themes like gratitude and fidelity, with one man fiercely defending the reputation of a pilot (also a personal friend) he knew as brave, competent and resourceful.By now the movie has reached a certain age, but I fear that the blood sport known as "quick, find me a convenient scapegoat !" is still as popular as ever....
The pilot of the plane was Captain Jack Savage, a long- time friend of Sam's.
The only thing in common between Ernest Gann's excellent book and this movie, is the title.
It may be bad luck, when some soldiers get hit by bullets, while others don't, but that is not evidence that the victim's names were pre-written on those bullets.The main characters in the film, are phony to the core; nothing like real-life airline pilots and executives.
Sheen would be a good object lesson for anyone thinking about taking drugs for the first time (or second, or third, etc) For you aviation buffs out there trying to reverse engineer the plane in the movie...
It certainly looks as if the whimsical, Byronic airline captain Rod Taylor is responsible for this accident, which left 52 people dead, himself included, sparing only Susanne Pleshette, the flight attendant.
The airline traffic safety board convenes and, despite the strong reservations of executive Glenn Ford, an old friend of Taylor's, is headed towards the dreaded explanation of "pilot error." You see, Taylor was observed patronizing several bars the night before the flight, in the company of someone named Mickey who can't be located.
105 minutes.SYNOPSIS: One night on a lonely beach near the Los Angeles Airport, Consolidated Airlines flight 22 piloted by Captain Jack Savage (Rod Taylor) crashes and burns.
Sam McBane (Glenn Ford) Director of Flight Operations for the Airline, rushes to the scene of the accident.
Mr. Gann considered suing the production company because the film doesn't even resemble the story in the book.Being both a pilot and a film buff, I was extremely disappointed with this movie.
Nancy Kwan and Suzanne Pleshette are stunning, and Rod Taylor turned in a believable characterization of a flawed yet admirable man.Gann was not just a good aviation author, he was a great one along with Stephen Coonts and Richard Bach.
Still, as a kid in love with all things airplanes, I watched it many times and it became a favorite along with such great and small films dealing with aviation, pilots and airlines.
Many people believe the crash was caused by the pilot, who some suspect was drunk at the time.
The movie opens with one plane crashing and closes with a second nearly having the same crash.After much investigation of his friend's character, Sam Mc Bane is confident the pilot of the ill fated craft - Jack Savage was not drinking.
Imperfect, and not even remotely true to Gann's aviation classic upon which it is purportedly based, Fate is the Hunter is nonetheless a fine and compelling film.Essentially a character study and technological "whodunnit", an airline executive strives to exonerate the pilot after a deadly airliner crash.
Good movie, but not "Fate is the Hunter".
This movie's fairly good in it's own right, especially the last 15 minutes or so, but to me the only thing it has in common with the Mr. Gann's book is the title.The story line appears to be based more on his story "Band of Brothers" (same title, but nothing to do with the WW-II mini-series), where a group of friends don't believe a crash was due to pilot-error and launch an investigation into the true cause, than to "Fate is the Hunter".Actually, considering the time span the book covers, an HDTV mini-series would probably be the best way to do "Fate is the Hunter" and get it right.