This was Dick Powell's last directorial assignment for 20th Century Fox, as it fulfilled his contract.
The Hunters is a big, sprawling color film from 1958 about fighting the Korean War from the air. Robert Mitchum, Richard Egan, Lee Phillips, Robert Wagner, and May Britt star.
Mitchum plays Ceve Saville, an older pilot looking to fly again. He becomes commander of an air squadron led by his old WWII leader, Dutch Imil (Egan).
Ceve forms his squadron with a young, hep, hotshot pilot, Lt. Pell (Wagner), a gentler type, Corona (John Gabriel), an alcoholic, Carl Abbott (Phillips) and a more brazen type (Stacy Harris). Somehow they are successful in their missions.
Meanwhile, Ceve falls for Abbott's beautiful and unhappy wife (Britt), and she with him.
The flying sequences are wonderful, filmed over the southwest U.S., and one gets the idea of great speed. Very few models were used; it was mostly real jets. Very exciting.
The rest of the film is fairly derivative. The acting was good, with Robert Wagner injecting some verve into the proceedings with his "mans" and "daddy-os." The last mission is especially poignant and involving.
The Hunters is a big, sprawling color film from 1958 about fighting the Korean War from the air. Robert Mitchum, Richard Egan, Lee Phillips, Robert Wagner, and May Britt star.
Mitchum plays Ceve Saville, an older pilot looking to fly again. He becomes commander of an air squadron led by his old WWII leader, Dutch Imil (Egan).
Ceve forms his squadron with a young, hep, hotshot pilot, Lt. Pell (Wagner), a gentler type, Corona (John Gabriel), an alcoholic, Carl Abbott (Phillips) and a more brazen type (Stacy Harris). Somehow they are successful in their missions.
Meanwhile, Ceve falls for Abbott's beautiful and unhappy wife (Britt), and she with him.
The flying sequences are wonderful, filmed over the southwest U.S., and one gets the idea of great speed. Very few models were used; it was mostly real jets. Very exciting.
The rest of the film is fairly derivative. The acting was good, with Robert Wagner injecting some verve into the proceedings with his "mans" and "daddy-os." The last mission is especially poignant and involving.