Jet Pilot
Tags: cult, violence

Plot synopsis:
A Russian defector lands a jet fighter aircraft on an American airstrip. The base commander, Air Force Colonel Jim Shannon (John Wayne) is surprised to find that the pilot is an attractive woman, Lieutenant Anna Marladovna (Janet Leigh). When she asks for asylum, but refuses to disclose any military information, Shannon is assigned to seduce her. They fall in love. Worried about the possibility of deportation, Jim marries her without permission.
When they return from their unauthorized honeymoon, Major General Black (Jay C. Flippen) takes Jim aside and informs him that his new wife is a spy, sent to relay information back to the USSR. The Americans decide to play along, and escalate the situation.
Shannon goes home to tell Anna that she is to be imprisoned for years, then deported when she is finally released. To save her, they hatch an escape plan, steal an aircraft and fly to Soviet airspace. Their arrival is not shown, but Anna is criticized for allowing Shannon to crash the more advanced American aircraft when Russian fighters closed in, rather than fighting back. She says that she considered shooting him, then decided that he would be more valuable for his knowledge than the plane would have been.
While they are there, Shannon discovers that Anna is pregnant. Shannon is then assigned to help test new aircraft, a pretext for drugging him and pumping him for information about American aircraft. He learns much about Soviet capabilities from the questions he is asked, while only giving up outdated information in return. When Anna discovers this, she initially plans to turn him in, learns he is to be drugged into permanent insensibility, then lets her personal feelings override her sense of duty. She finds herself under suspicion, disposes of the agent sent to keep an eye on her, steals an aircraft and escapes back to the West with Shannon.

Review: Howard Hughes produced this ahead-of-its-time film in the late 1940's, but couldn't get it released until US Air Force clearance was approved in 1957.
John Wayne is his usual macho self, an American flyer, ladies man, infatuated with a Russian pilot who treats him like a spy.
A very young Janet Leigh is the pilot who falls in love with tough-guy Wayne and agrees to defect to the US as his wife.The special effects in this film are quite convincing in spite of its age.
Thought that the idea of a female Russian pilot was interesting since the movie was made long before women's lib.John Wayne and Janet Leigh are especially good together as are the usual cast of colorful characters who help pad out the storyline.
The result is a compelling story and a very romantic movie, with Wayne and Janet Leigh rocketing through the skies in their twin jets or discussing sex and politics.
Not only is Wayne at the top of his game, but Janet Leigh is particularly appealing as the shapely Russian pilot.
Unlike John Wayne's more famous movie turkey, The Conquerer, this film is so bad that it is lots of fun to watch.
It stars off with a landing on an air force base and the pilot turns out to be Janet Leigh.
John Wayne is good as usual and Janet Leigh is very sexy in this movie, just watch the first scene in John Wayne's office, you'll see what i mean..
Howard Hughes original intension was to do another Hell's Angels for the Cold War Era. Remember that film was equally famous for the aviation shots as for the debut of Jean Harlow as sex symbol.Well if sex and flying worked before, why not again.
Jet Pilot was released seven years after it was originally filmed and by then the planes really looked out of date.
Air Force Colonel John Wayne interrogates Janet about the latest in Soviet technology, but then he gets other things on his mind.
Remember this was released on top of The Conqueror and between them they put and end to Wayne's seven year reign as number one at the box office.By the way at the time this was being filmed, Howard Hughes was panting after Janet Leigh the same way he'd earlier panted after Ava Gardner.
Janet Leigh who just passed away last Sunday was a very attractive actress and was a credible young Russian pilot cum spy.
8 years after it was made.The technical point of view is also interesting : F89 Scorpion, F86 Sabre, T33 Tbird, B36 huge bomber, F94c night interceptor, B29 Superfortress as the motherplane for the X1 and last but not least, the last flight of the aircraft (Bell X1) which exceeded the speed of sound in 1947 piloted by no less than Chuck Yeager himself.Some of the aerobatics in F86 supposed to be made by the Duke were actually performed by Chuck and are worth seeing them.But 55 years after, who cares that the film was actually seen much later than originally thought : Janet Leigh and John Wayne were eight years younger : this is the bonus of the film !.
As ludicrous as the narrative and dramatics are, this movie has some of the best, even wonderful, jet-age aerial scenes ever filmed.
It's like a historical (occassionally hysterical) air museum in motion.The fact that it avoided grainy/phony stock shots, that the aerial footage was shot especially for this movie, that Chuck Yeager performed much of the stunt flying, and that there is actual original footage of the Bell X-1 in flight, makes this movie a true gem for military aviation buffs.For Paul Frees fans, his brief appearance is incredibly energetic.Oddly, the DVD is letterboxed, but the 1950 production (with a delayed 1957 release) was shot before the widescreen era, and should have been uncropped full-screen on video...
It sure looks like the Duke is having a good time in the movie, which is very tongue-in-cheek.One little distraction among many historical inaccuracies, this is supposedly 1957 and in the colorized (?)version I saw recently o n AMC, it looks like Wayne is wearing a USAAF uniform.
The plot seems as though it was made up as they went along (on a few occasions, I thought a reel must be missing) and I don't think I'm giving anything away (like there was any suspense anyway) by saying John Wayne must really love Janet Leigh to stay with her after she pistol whips him.
Ninotchka comes to mind, and in a way - a hilarious way - Janet Leigh as the (intentionally?) grounded Russian jet pilot is in the footsteps of Greta Garbo here.
So-so picture portraying an American pilot in love with a defecting Russian spy , including earth-shaking scenes and spectacular flying.
It deals with Air Force Col. Jim Shannon (John Wayne) is tasked to escort a defecting Soviet pilot Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief (cute-pie spy played by attractive Janet Leigh) who is scheming to lure Shannon to the USSR .
Amiable acting by John Wayne , in real life a staunch anti-communist, who shambles through the action with a permanent sympathetic grin , he plays a jet pilot in charge of Alaskian Air Force base who falls in love with a defecting pilot , a gorgeous Janet Leigh .
Brilliant cinematography in Cinemascope and Technicolor by Winton Hoch , John Ford 's usual cameraman , shot on location , the filming for the Russian air base was done at George Air Force Base, a World War II air base with many of its wartime structures still intact, giving the base a primitive appearance .
Sure it's bad, but it more looked a comedy than a war movie.John Wayne plays a US Air Force Colonel that is forced to escort a defecting soviet pilot (Janet Leigh) to Russia, and then all hell breaks loose, and in a funny way.
Paul Fix is the comic relief while Hans Conried did his best with the material he was given.However there was a good thing about this movie (that's why I rated it 7); the nice figther planes and the aerial shots, very ahead of its time (made in 1951, but not released until 1957)..
Unless you're willing to concede that the the movie was made as a farce, which I don't happen to believe, then the plot and acting are one cringeworthy moment after another, starting with Janet Leigh's improbably striptease after landing her Soviet fighter at a US airbase, not that there's anything wrong with her stripping, of course.
Were there other reasons for holding this film back?Whatever the reason, by the time of its release, "Jet Pilot" was clearly the first tongue-in-cheek treatment of the Cold War and Soviet Union that would reach its zenith in 1964 with "Dr. Strangelove." More than half a century later, the flying scenes in "Jet Pilot" are exciting and fun to watch.
Janet Leigh and the Duke have really good chemistry in this film which makes the romance jump off the screen.
Janet Leigh was fabulous in the film and took the spotlight in much of the film as a beautiful Russian jet pilot..
As a film, this is pretty awful: a crude piece of American patriotism with a stereotypical view of the Soviet Union shown at the height of the Cold War. In fact, the work was produced by RKO in 1950 which was owned by Howard Hughes but, by the time it was released in 1957, Hughes had sold RKO and the film was released by Universal.
It is presented as a kind of old-fashioned rom-com with John Wayne (a strong anti- communist) playing a United State Air Force colonel opposite Janet Leigh who is appallingly miscast as a Soviet defector (she makes no attempt at a Russian accent).For aviation buffs, however, the film has some interest.
However, the real motivation behind this film may have been more subtle, such as putting Janet Leigh's kissy face and contour-friendly mammary gland dimensions opposite John Wayne, to propel her into the national "silver screen" luminary spotlight.
And as smiling fate would have it, Janet's career went full bore right into the 60's, complete with "Psycho" shower scene immortality, without so much as a "leg up" from this film, which was finally released in 1957 for political red red tape reasons far in excess of any political statement this film actually makes.The most compelling question surrounding this film has to do with the V.I.P. treatment this "off course" seductive female Soviet fighter pilot receives, courtesy of the U.S. military, as John Wayne is assigned the task of escorting her on a whirlwind tour of parties, clubs and dances, ad nauseam.
That Janet Leigh, complete with jet-age bra support, has no pretensions to a Russian accent is in itself strangely disarming, setting the tone of a complex artifice that caricatures and manipulates the images and mannerisms of Cold War America.
But I wonder what it would've been considered if released back when it was written; Just as poor or rather interesting?Well I'm a movie lover, not a movie reviewer, but I can easily say this was a dog.I bet even John & Janet were rather embarrassed by this one.Still, I watched it and found myself quite taken by Janet Leigh's beauty and enchanting eyes, along with Johnny's youthful amorousity.The plot(?) is a sham, the "Commies" are treated as the usual moron's we were taught to believe them to be in every other propaganda flic, but it still serves to remind us of a time when even seduction was innocently provocative.Return to an earlier time while viewing this comedy-that-never-was, and please don't expect to walk away with a moral, or inspired.It's just a 'cute' way to blow an hour or two, and to remember what Studs Janet and John were in their day....get the popcorn popping' and leave the Kleenex on the shelf, you won't need it for this one..
It was made in 1949 when its shallow plot would have barely made political sense to movie goers; but wasn't released until 1957, four years after the US Air Force had trounced the North Koreans and Russians in aerial combat in the Korean War. Art didn't even imitate reality here.
Anything in it that doesn't directly involve us admiring Janet Leigh's goodies in tight swimsuits and dresses (including one absolutely steaming scene in the office where she strips down to a tight T-shirt and then after she's had a shower, appears in a towel), like the flimsy espionage plot, is merely a method to get around the censors of the time and put Leigh in situations where she'll have to look sexy.Or its boring footage of planes flying that only a flying enthusiast like Howard Hughes would be turned on by.Howard Hughes didn't know anything about the movies - sex sells, alright, but too much eroticism in a serious picture is a distraction.
I can watch this film just for the flying.I'd love to get my hands on all of the footage and remake it with a descent plot.Although intended to showcase American airpower in the 50's, it could be redone as cold war retro flick because the footage is still cool and beautiful.
John Wayne...this time winning the cold war Janet Leigh play..well ..Sweater Girl but does it really well she was such a beautiful woman it is easy to forgive the really terrible acting and just enjoy her hmmmmm eyes.
The movie is pure formula but not a bad spending of 90 min and even with the bad writing there are a few scenes where you can almost believe that Russian women pilots can not only fly everything yet do it without mussing up their hair and pack in a small jet at least 4 outfits including dress uniforms..
On screen romance of John Wayne and Janet Leigh steels the show.
However, John Wayne is in prime form here, and the onscreen romance between his character and Janet Leigh's works well.
Its difficult to believe that Josef Von Sternberg, the great master of atmospheric romances, the man who helmed Marlene Dietrich through all her great early 1930s films--The Blue Angel, Morocco and Shanghai Express--was supposed to have been around to direct this shambles; while fans of John Wayne who will accept almost anything The Duke appeared in may be pleased to see him outwit Russian spy Janet Leigh in really impressive Technicolor, and may be happy to see the incredibly grand jet fighter footage probably provided courtesy of Howard Hughes, those of us who want a little believability with our tales may find it difficult to accept Janet Leigh as a Russian spy with perfect Hollywood articulation, especially when wrapped up in some maroon and gold sparkly drag from what might be an old Maria Montez jungle epic; the best Russian vs.
Right-wing to the bone, John Wayne enjoyed every minute of it and it shows, but at least it is nice to see him laugh for a change, while he falls for a pilot (Janet Leigh) who has defected from the USSR.
When it is mentioned, it is as yet another Howard Hughes folly (for what it is worth, Hawks' own collaboration with the notoriously volatile producer on THE OUTLAW {1943} had proved equally disastrous if somewhat more rewarding as a film) or as one of 4 cinematic embarrassments that clouded the career of its legendary star, John Wayne – the others being the Commie-baiting BIG JIM McLAIN (1952), THE CONQUEROR (1956; with "The Duke" a most unlikely Genghis Khan!) and the flag-waving Vietnam War epic THE GREEN BERETS (1968).Though he respected Hughes and looked forward to working with scriptwriter Furthman again, Sternberg was humiliated into being asked to make a directing test before the start of shooting – having been away from film-making for almost a decade, with only a documentary short to his name in the interim and uncredited work on another troubled "Sex Western" as THE OUTLAW was i.e. the David O.
To get back to JET PILOT, the person to go through this cultural switch is young Russian aviatrix Janet Leigh: in true Hughes fashion, she was chosen for her natural attributes more than anything else but, in hindsight, she proves delightfully perky – even involving the usually stoic "Duke" into situations of sexual innuendo that, again, were a Hawksian prerogative and, where Wayne is concerned, would be featured most prominently in his relationship with Angie Dickinson in RIO BRAVO (1959).
All in all, JET PILOT (which I had first watched not too long ago on late-night Italian TV as a double-bill with the afore-mentioned THE CONQUEROR{!} – both would ultimately be released on DVD as part of Universal's 5-movie set JOHN WAYNE: AN American ICON) is reasonably enjoyable in a 'classic Hollywood' sort of way, despite being itself no such thing; making the viewing that more palatable are the notable contributions of cinematographer Winton C.
Way back in 1949, Howard Hughes signed Josef von Sternberg to direct a tatty romantic comedy by Jules Furthman about a U.S. Air Force pilot (John Wayne) who falls in love with a Russian aviator (Janet Leigh, would you believe?) and marries the girl.
Although "Jet Pilot" is a movie that does absolutely no credit to any of the people involved, either on screen or off, it's nonetheless an entertainingly gosh-awful foray into the comic strip fantasy land which Hughes obviously believed was the terrain of the United States Air Force.
He plays Air Force Col. Jim Shannon who get a surprise landing at his base by none other Janet Leigh.
In separate jets, Leigh and Wayne have landed at a Russian base.
------------HE TELLS HER TO "TURN RIGHT!!!"Well, this apparently works, because in the next scene they are at dinner, presumably in Vienna, and Janet is enjoying immensely her steak, the size of one Hoss might enjoy on "Bonanza."She then says something about how she'd like for the folks in her country (remember, she's a 1950's, Cold War-period Russkie) to become more interested in these (i.e. steaks) than guns.Immediately after this sage comment, Big John leans toward her and plants a kiss as the film ends.Movies can't be much more fun than this..
The tantalizing views of Janet Leigh make the movie well worth the time..
A defecting Soviet pilot (Leigh) is given a totally free rein (no detention, no interrogation, nothing!) and even allowed to fly modern US jet fighters, watched only by Wayne's character, who has fallen for her.
Its also hard to imagine the young Ms. Leigh, in her early 20s at the time, as a world wise Russian spy who speaks perfect English who is also an ace pilot.I'm sure that Mr. Hughes relished the flying sequences in this film as they are the best thing in it.
The scenes were shot in the American Southwest, including Edwards Air Force Base, from which I once caught a lift to Rome, New York.John Wayne is an Air Force colonel who get mixed up with Janet Leigh, a Soviet agent posing as a defector.
Janet Leigh, looking supernally beautiful and sensuous, first arrives at the Alaskan Air Force base and Wayne has to search her.
Well, not back then, in this movie, our Russian, played by Janet Leigh, speaks perfect American English!
I cannot think of another JOHN WAYNE film where a woman has looked so sexy.
But WAYNE looked kind of nasty in this film.The plane flying scenes are great to look at.
I watched the movie Jet Pilot with John Wayne and Janet Leigh and I would have to rate it at least 8 out of 10 scale.
Each bet a coin on whether Col. Shannon (John Wayne) who was flying with Lt. Anna Marladovna (Janet Leigh) would make contact (on radar) with a large cargo type plane (B-36)in 35 seconds.
John Wayne compliments Janet Leigh on her JET PILOT producer Howard Hughes-designed twin-torpedo brassiere.