The Flight of the Phoenix Page #4

Synopsis: A cargo plane goes down in a sandstorm in the Sahara with less than a dozen men on board. One of the passengers is an airplane designer who comes up with the idea of ripping off the undamaged wing and using it as the basis for an airplane they will build to escape before their food and water run out.
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Director(s): Robert Aldrich
Production: 20th Century Fox Film Corporation
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.6
Rotten Tomatoes:
90%
NOT RATED
Year:
1965
142 min
1,624 Views


You think I couldn't handle

a crummy job like that?

All I had to do was hold onto

this lousy job for another six months.

I could have gone back

to the States as a chief.

But, no. Oh, no.

You had to spoil it for me.

- Well, you still could go back.

- Yeah, to what?

They ain't gonna let no headcase

run a drilling operation.

Nobody's describing you

as a headcase, Mr. Cobb.

That's what I came to tell you.

Now, you really must try

to understand that fatigue mentale...

...I mean, mental exhaustion...

...can happen to anyone.

But it doesn't last.

Well, I don't understand

all those fancy words.

I don't think those guys

that do the hiring do either.

Possibly not, but it will pass.

It will pass, I assure you.

CROW:
I tell you now, mate,

we're better off right here...

...than traipsing

off on that bloody desert.

Do you think you can look

after Chucho?

I'm gonna go along

with Captain Harris.

- Well, well, yeah. But...

CROW:
What's the matter with you?

I thought you were saving him

for some snotty-nosed Mexican kid.

Sure, but don't be jealous, Ratbags.

Maybe one day I find

a present for you too.

What's this "jaloose"?

Can't you learn to speak English?

Hey, why would you want

to go walking off into that?

- Didn't you see enough of that in Jebel?

- Who knows, Mike?

Maybe after a few days walking

we'll be better off than you are.

[MONKEY CHATTERS]

It's all right, Chucho.

It's all right, Chucho.

- I will be back. It's all right, Chucho.

- Easy, easy, easy.

[SPEAKS IN SPANISH]

You must be bloody daft, mate.

Anyway, maybe Capitn Harris

can teach me to speak...

...real good English

like you, my little Ratbags.

Stupid sod.

WATSON:

Thank you.

- Good, you all set?

- Yes, sir.

Welcome aboard.

I'm not as confident

that we won't make it as you...

...but I'd be grateful if you'd send up

some smoke at midday...

...for three days.

To help keep our bearings.

- Three days?

- Yes, we won't need it after that.

Ah.

Well, captain, we all wish you every...

Well, you know how all of us feel so...

Yes, well, come along.

It will be getting dark soon.

We might get lost.

Hey, Babozo, slow down.

- Remember you got flat feet.

- Adis, little Ratbags.

WATSON:

He's gone! He's gone!

He's gone.

Cobb's gone.

I don't understand. Can they see

him from up there or can't they?

Of course not, he's just

looking at the view.

Haven't you been up there? Lovely.

There's a big lake on the other side.

They got speedboats, everything.

Frank, he's got six hours' start on you.

How far could he get without water?

He didn't even stop to take

a canteen. And it's my fault.

- I should have watched him.

- Even if you find him, what can you do?

What can we do? You'll be just

as badly off as Harris would be.

I'm gonna bring him back, Lew.

DORFMANN:

You will see we have all we need:

Welding torches, steel cable,

all the tools we need.

For example, this here,

it all looks quite adequate.

- Why were they being returned?

- You know what engineers are like.

They just love shiny new tools, especially

if someone else is paying for them.

The prototype I have in mind would

have to fly at the first attempt.

To achieve that, Mr. Moran, requires

a pilot of quite outstanding capabilities.

Granted, this may not be the best

possible advertisement...

...but Frank Towns is one of the few

really great pilots left in this world.

- Oh, really?

- Yes, oh, really!

He flew in planes that were n-nothing

more than bits and pieces...

...before you went to school.

That's what is wrong. He's remembered

everything and learned nothing.

However, since he apparently finds it

necessary to run off into the desert...

...in pursuit of a lunatic who could be

of no practical value to this project...

...the question is entirely academic.

Don't you think so, Mr. Moran?

I agree. Entirely academic.

Get away! Get out of here!

Get out of here!

Get out! Get out!

- What's the matter?

- It's three minutes after 12.

Don't you want to start

the signals for Captain Harris?

And your Captain Towns?

[MONKEY CHATTERING]

Get out if it, you stinker!

It's Frank!

BELLAMY:
Hey, skipper!

MORAN:
Someone get some water.

I'll get it.

MORAN:

Frank!

CROW:

What happened to Cobb?

You all right?

We're stuck here, Lew.

You know that, don't you?

Frank, I talked to Dorfmann again.

L... l...

I realize that he... That he,

you know, irritates you.

But I do think he knows more

than we give him credit for.

Well, what's he dreamed up now?

Well, maybe he hasn't a leg to stand on,

I don't kn-kn-know.

But you're the only person

who's qualified to tell him so...

...and all I'm asking you

to do is to... Is to talk to him.

Well, just talk to him.

All right, I'll talk to him, Lew.

If it makes you happy, I'll talk to him.

DORFMANN:

There's no component problem.

The port boom is undamaged and

so are all the portside components.

If we remove the starboard wing

and attach it to the port boom...

...and perform a similar operation

on the tail plane...

...you'll see that we'll have

the basis of an entirely new...

...and aerodynamically sound structure.

- Is that understood?

- Oh, absolutely.

We need only to clear the port engine

of the sand that choked it in flight.

The Coffman starter is serviceable...

...and we should have no difficulty

starting up the engine.

If we don't waste too much fuel

on signals to Captain Harris...

...who's unlikely to be in any condition

to benefit from them...

...we shall have enough of that as well.

Most of the hydraulic fluid

has leaked away...

...but I worked out direct rod and

cable controls, so that is no problem.

All right, now, what are you going

to use for an undercarriage?

Our last landing rendered

the undercarriage unserviceable.

There is enough H-section

in the cargo monorail...

...and hull longerons to make up

the skid cradle for takeoff.

Skid cradle?

Well, skis, Mr. Moran. Skis.

To take off, we shall have

to move the final structure...

...to the valley beyond that far dune.

The surface there should be adequate.

Now, as to whether it will fly...

...as far as the general design factors

are concerned, there are no problems.

The center of gravity will allow us

to distribute the payload...

...that means ourselves, on both wings.

Now, wait a minute.

Are you suggesting we string people

on top of that wing...

...like sacks of potatoes?

They'll be behind fairings.

Never mind fairings!

We got an injured man in there.

The doctor says

he can't even be moved.

You're suggesting we tack

him onto this thing...

...and bounce him around

like a wrangler in a rodeo?

That is not what I had in mind,

Mr. Towns.

With the material

and personnel available...

...this project would require

at least 12 days.

How long did you say Mr. Scarnati

might be expected to live? Six days?

Perhaps less.

See, the problem does not even arise.

Mr. Scarnati will remain here.

Why, you really are a miserable...

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Lukas Heller

Lukas Heller (21 July 1930 – 2 November 1988) was a German-born screenwriter. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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