Die den Hals riskieren

Burt Lancaster, Gene Hackman, and Scott Wilson portray a team of professional sport parachutists barnstorming their way through small-town America.

The movie features some fine performances, particularly Lancaster's. I enjoyed the way the small town was depicted; it felt curiously familiar and yet distant at the same time. The movie holds its own, even 30 years after its initial release.

The jumping sequences are fantastic...truly the finest jump sequences ever captured on film at that time (1969). Pay particular attention to the 'cape' jumps, particularly the last one (Scott Wilson's) which gets me bug-eyed every time I see it (yes, I'm a jumper too).

Longish and slow-moving at times but well worth it.

When action scenes for "Gypsy Moths" were about to be shot, mostly at the Benton,Kansas airfield, I was 18 and living in Wichita. Due to my interest in acting, mainly in High School productions, I, along with my five brothers and sisters and Mother who was a bit of a ham herself, answered a "cattle call" for crowd scenes at Benton Airfield. Because I was Burt Lancaster's general height and build and was the same size, 42 Long, I was upgraded to Stand-in for him and ended up standing in for all the principle male characters except Gene Hackman who used his brother. There was a scene in a park in El Dorado, KS where Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster sit on a merry-go-round and talk. He then stands up and leans in rather closely to Ms. Kerr. The director wanted to change the lighting on that particular shot to compensate for Mr. Lancaster's new position. He called for the "Seconds" to take the actors' places while they fine tuned the lighting. At that moment Deborah's stand-in was over by the swings, in the process of losing the greasy chili which had been catered that night and couldn't answer the call. John Frankenheimer was upset by her failure to report and acted like he was about to fire her, but, always the gracious lady, Ms. Kerr said she was fine just sitting there and would stand in for herself. The scene required that Burt Lancaster lean in to the point that their faces are mere inches apart. There she was, the consummate professional and I, standing in for Mr. Lancaster, was face to face with an actress I had loved ever since seeing her in such films as "From Here to Eternity" and "The King and I". It's understating my uneasiness by saying I was sweating bullets and worrying about my breath. She sensed my discomfort and proceeded to ask me questions like what I aspired to be (she didn't say 'when I grew up', which was, to me, just more evidence of her class) to set me at ease. At the time I was very interested in an acting career and she said that if I ever got to Hollywood to look her up and she would get me an appointment with her agent. What amazed me about the exchange was that I realized she was serious and would very probably have taken the time out of her busy schedule to do just that. My esteem for her grew many fold that night. Although I understand she now lives in Switzerland, I have often thought that even though I am in my 50's and gave up the thought of acting professionally years ago, it would be great if she still lived in Hollywood and I was able contact her. I would remind her of what she said 36 years ago and ask when she would be able to take me to see her agent. At 85 years old, I wouldn't be surprised if she said, "Give me a couple of minutes and we'll go over right now." Deborah Kerr, I still love you and I always will.

Although this film wasn't a career high for either of these great performers it did demonstrate that there was majic between them. If you check Kerr's biography, this film isn't list on her film chronology. In fact, it is hardly mention on any other site other than IMDb's. I think it was because she appeared nude. She was 48 when this film was released. I think she is one of the greatest beauties that ever graced the screen.

As a very young boy in El Dorado, Kansas, I marveled when the film crews came to town from Hollywood to shoot this film, what is considered John Frankenheimer's `lost classic.' The story is sub-par: three barnstormers stop at a small Kansas town to put on a show and get involved in a less-than-intriguing soap opera with the occupants of a house where they are staying. What makes the movie work for me is the reoccurrence of so many memorable images from the town where I grew up, but for outsiders, the essence of small-town Kansas life is captured so purely you'll be transported to the peacefulness of a world where the arrival of daredevil skydivers is a Big Event.

Most interesting to note in this film are the back-stories. Scott Wilson was called in to replace an injured John Philip Law, who was originally cast as the young daredevil. Gene Hackman was still a fledgling, relatively unknown, and yet he managed to steal most of the scenes from the established Burt Lancaster. For the locals, this film still lingers in the memory. The Victorian home where the barnstormers stay still stands, and the screened in porch on the house's north side--built exclusively for this film by the visiting film crew--is still referred to by locals as the `MGM porch.' The fight song that the marching band plays throughout this film is still the fight song of the Butler County Grizzlies, the athletic team of the local community college. And even today, old-timers wonder whether or not that was really Deborah Kerr in the buff … or if a body double was used. Either way, you'll get a real feel for this community, an interesting first look at up-and-comers Gene Hackman and Bonnie Bedalia, and a fascinating series of sky-diving sequences that set the tone for many such scenes to come.

Being an aviation enthusiast, but not a jumper - I was drawn to this movie. Burt Lancaster plays "Mike Rettig" in the sort of role he is best at, plenty of action, with an eye for a pretty face. The pretty face in this case being Deborah Kerr. Miss Kerr was approaching 50 years of age when this movie was made, but was able to been seen close-up and naked with Burt Lancaster in what what must be one of the few (if the only) scenes where Miss Kerr reveals all. A far cry from the many Nuns she has played in her career. Compare her in this with "Heaven knows, Mr Allison" with Robert Mitchum. Gene Hackman provides good support as the reckless carefree "Joe Browdy", seeking out the local haunts for loose women. William Windom brilliantly plays Kerr's isolated and betrayed husband. A good film that happily TCM repeats regularly - thank goodness!