The Great Waldo Pepper (1975 George Roy Hill)

Mad about flying and planes, that Hill, wrote the story, Goldman screenwrote it. Loved the beginning: the kid, mad about planes (Hill?), fetches gas all day for the pilot in exchange for a ride, then when he comes to collect.. 'Sorry, I don't take up unaccompanied kids...' But Redford's just teasing, he takes him up. So he's a nice guy. Then he's having dinner with the whole family, tells the pivotal story about Kessler.. and this turns out to be made up! So he's not such a nice guy any more...

Goldman thinks it all went wrong with the (admittedly) sudden death of Susan Sarandon, but I'm not so sure. If anything, you could argue that it's having the two deaths in a row, and the way Bo Svenson goes is particularly shocking. But the aerial scenes are incredible, the flying and the photography and the stunts are fabulous - there's no back projection in this film.

It's shot in Todd AO-35 by Bruce Surtees with a lot of depth of field. Frank Tallman supervised the terrifying aerial scenes, William Reynolds edited, Mancini wrote a sort of brass band score.

These guys (and gals) were nuts... That's what we're left with. (I guess the modern equivalent is the stunt team involved.)

Rest of cast: Bo Brundin (Kessler), Geoffrey Lewis (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and many others besides), Edward Herrmann, Kelly Jean Peters, Margot Kidder.