Copyright August 1958 by 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. New York opening at the Paramount: 26 August 1958. U.S. release: September 1958. U.K. release: 2 November 1958. Australian release: 16 October 1958. Sydney opening at the Regent. 9,679 feet. 108 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Air Force major promises his girlfriend that he will look after her pilot husband in the Korean War.
NOTES: Filmed with the co-operation of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force.
COMMENT: Nobody realized it at the time, but "The Hunters" was to be Dick Powell's final movie. He then went into the TV series "Dick Powell Theater" (that's really stepping from the ultra-big screen to the ultra small). He died of cancer in his Hollywood home on the night of 2 January 1963. He was 58.
One can forgive a silly, trite, conventional, Z-grade, dime-a-dozen story like "The Hunters" when at least it plays true to the viewer and doesn't raise expectations and issues which it hasn't the slightest intention of pursuing. This is the sort of cop-out script that wastes the talents of Bob Mitchum and May Britt here. If the story was just meant to serve as a peg on which to hang some high- flying action, why is there so much story and comparatively so little action? The only person to emerge with any credit from this film is surprisingly enough Robert Wagner who is reasonably effective in a standard war pictures role -- the one about the guy whose lack of team spirit causes... but who...
Mitchum and Britt are wasted. This rubbish is right about the level of Richard Egan who is as ridiculous as the script here. Powell's direction is thoroughly routine on the ground. Admittedly there is some excitement in the aerial combat scenes -- but this is mainly thanks to CinemaScope.
SYNOPSIS: Air Force major promises his girlfriend that he will look after her pilot husband in the Korean War.
NOTES: Filmed with the co-operation of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force.
COMMENT: Nobody realized it at the time, but "The Hunters" was to be Dick Powell's final movie. He then went into the TV series "Dick Powell Theater" (that's really stepping from the ultra-big screen to the ultra small). He died of cancer in his Hollywood home on the night of 2 January 1963. He was 58.
One can forgive a silly, trite, conventional, Z-grade, dime-a-dozen story like "The Hunters" when at least it plays true to the viewer and doesn't raise expectations and issues which it hasn't the slightest intention of pursuing. This is the sort of cop-out script that wastes the talents of Bob Mitchum and May Britt here. If the story was just meant to serve as a peg on which to hang some high- flying action, why is there so much story and comparatively so little action? The only person to emerge with any credit from this film is surprisingly enough Robert Wagner who is reasonably effective in a standard war pictures role -- the one about the guy whose lack of team spirit causes... but who...
Mitchum and Britt are wasted. This rubbish is right about the level of Richard Egan who is as ridiculous as the script here. Powell's direction is thoroughly routine on the ground. Admittedly there is some excitement in the aerial combat scenes -- but this is mainly thanks to CinemaScope.