Themes: Wanderlust, Haunted By the Past, Redemption
Main Cast: Robert Redford, Bo Svenson, Bo Brundin, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Lewis
Release Year: 1975
Country: US
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Robert Redford plays Waldo Pepper, a former World War I pilot who exaggerates his accomplishments in order to impress the rabble. After a brief rivalry with air-show entrepreneur Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson), Pepper teams with Axel to barnstorm all over the Midwest; later, after a series of unexpected (and calamitous) events, Pepper gets a job as a movie stunt pilot. On the set, he meets the film's technical advisor: former German ace Ernst Kessler (Bo Brundin), a man whom Pepper has been claiming falsely to have fought during the war, thereby advancing his own reputation. He is as disillusioned with civilian life as Pepper is, and ignoring the entreaties of the film's director, stages a genuine dogfight (sans live ammo) with his old "opponent." The Great Waldo Pepper represented the third filmic collaboration between star Robert Redford and director George Roy Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
The last in a string of period films directed by George Roy Hill, The Great Waldo Pepper is a high-flying adventure-drama set in the days after World War I. Many expected the film to be the third consecutive blockbuster for Hill and lead Robert Redford -- following their successes Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting -- but Pepper failed to find much of an audience, perhaps because it was released the same summer as Jaws. Nevertheless, the film features some wonderful aerial barnstorming sequences, reminiscent of the airborne dramas of Howard Hughes or Howard Hawks. Shot on location in Texas by the great Robert Surtees, Pepper is perhaps most successful at capturing the feel of 1920s rural America. The script by Butch Cassidy writer William Goldman has some trouble juggling all the humor, adventure, and drama, but it doesn't detract from the film's overall impact. With his subsequent scripts for Marathon Man and All the President's Men, Goldman became one of the most highly regarded screenwriters of the decade. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Edward Herrmann - Ezra Stiles; Roderick Cook - Director Werfel; Kelly Jean Peters - Patsy; Margot Kidder - Maude; Scott Newman - Duke; Joe Billings - Policeman; Philip Bruns - Dillhoefer; Lawrence Casey - German Star; James Harrell - Farmer; Jack Manning - Director Spanish Set; Greg Martin - Assistant Director; John A. Zee - Director Western Set; John Reilly - Western Star
Credit
Henry Bumstead - Art Director, Edith Head - Costume Designer, Ray Gosnell - First Assistant Director, George Roy Hill - Director, William H. Reynolds - Editor, Peter Berkos - Editor, Henry Mancini - Composer (Music Score), Gary D. Liddiard - Makeup, Robert Surtees - Cinematographer, Robert L. Crawford - Producer, George Roy Hill - Producer, James W. Payne - Set Designer, Ronald Pierce - Sound/Sound Designer, Howard Curtis - Stunts, Thomas Mooney - Stunts, Frank Price - Stunts, Frank Tallman - Stunts, Art Scholl - Stunts, James S. Appleby - Stunts, Wayne Berg - Stunts, Mike Dewey - Stunts, John Kazian - Stunts, Audrey Saunders - Stunts, Ralph Wiggins - Stunts, William Goldman - Screenwriter
Waldo Pepper (Robert Redford) feels he has missed out on the glory of aerial combat in World War I after being made a flight instructor. When the fighting ends, Waldo has taken up barnstorming to make a living. He soon tangles with rival barnstormer Axel Olsson (Bo Svenson). Enemies at first, Waldo & Axel become friends and try out various forms of stunts. One stunt goes wrong and Waldo is nearly killed after slamming into a barn. Waldo goes back home to Kansas to recuperate with an earlier lover Maude (Margot Kidder) and her family. Maude's brother Ezra (Edward Hermann) is an old friend of Waldo's and promises to build Waldo a high performance monoplane as soon as Waldo is well enough to fly it. In the meantime Waldo recuperates and joins back up with Axel and the two eventually wind up flying for a traveling air show owned by Dillhoefer (Philip Bruns). In an effort to attract bigger crowds, Dillhoefer introduces several young ladies into the show, including Mary Beth (Susan Sarandon) and Patsy (Kelly Jean Peters). As the show moves from town to town, and the crew practices new stunts, they experience problems, errors, and crashes. As a result of the death of Mary Beth during a wing walking stunt, Waldo is grounded by an inspector of the newly formed Air Commerce division of the Federal government, a man from Waldo's past during the war named Newt (Geoffrey Lewis). Waldo ultimately loses his pilot's license, but this doesn't stop him from flying for very long.
Under an alias, Waldo gets a job as a stunt pilot in a Hollywood film depicting the air battles of the Great War. Famous German air ace Ernst Kessler (Bo Brundin) has also been hired by the producers, as a consultant and to fly a Fokker Dr. I replica. The disillusioned, bitter and heavy drinking depiction of Kessler is based on the real German ace and stunt flier Ernst Udet. During filming of a famous wartime duel, though their fighters are unarmed, Waldo and Kessler begin dogfighting in deadly earnest, using their airplanes as weapons, each repeatedly colliding with the other. Eventually, they both realize that their planes are too damaged to land. Instead of fighting, each salutes the other, and flies his own way. The last shot of the film is of a page in an album. One of the pictures is of Waldo. Underneath the picture is a caption: "Waldo Pepper. 1895-1931".
Production
Frank Tallman flew the air sequences using actual airplanes - not models. Tiger Moth biplanes were used for the crash scenes.
