The War Lover low flying scenes

I always thought that Don Bullock has watched this movie WAAAAY too much!

Possibly. Here’s Sally B pulling up out of the valley at Biggin….. =8-0

A good question…

I was sent them a few years ago with no provenance. They could well be from an earlier thread as they were forwarded by another forum regular… 😉

…..Out of interest, where did those photos come from Steve?

I used a screen capture for the colour low beat up pictures. They did come from the film, “1000 Plane Raid”, and I first posted them in the ‘How low can you go’ thread.

I have a shot in my files of ‘Piccadilly Lilly’ on the set of ‘The 1000 Plane Raid’ at Santa Maria, and it was wearing different markings (Triangle A fin marking) from the Memphis Belle colours shown in low’n’slow’s photos, so I suspect that this was not from ‘The 1000 Plane Raid’. Out of interest, where did those photos come from Steve?

Words are superfluous……

I’m not sure that’s Bovingdon

Words are superfluous……

This seems to be a different flypast. Bovingdon has no trees so close to the tower, as I recall. Indications are that it is from ‘Thousand plane raid’.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/54645/thousand-plane-raid-the/

”Don Lykins and Ed Maloney from the Air Museum flew N3713G (44-83684) for the low-level buzz job at Santa Maria, California, for the 1000 Plane Raid sequence. Tallman was involved with that production with the Tallmantz B-17G, N83525, and Aircraft Specialties with N17W (42-29782).”

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=39339

However, in the league table of B.17 fly-bys, it’s right up there !

I’ve been looking for a readable copy of “Everything But The Flak” for some time ~ both here and in the USA. Copies can be found ~ but I’m not prepared to pay over 100 USD for a dog eared paperback.

I just checked on availabilty on Kindle and whilst it’s not currently available ~ with one click you can register an interest for the publisher to create an ebook version 🙂

Maybe one day …..

Reccomend “Everything but the Flak” by Martin Caidin, story of the delivery flight-seems that everything thing that could go wrong did. Very hard book to find, though. The baling out scene was enacted by a para club, one of whose members died unfortunately.

Words are superfluous……

Such a shame that it would all be done by computers now, oh to have been there during that scene. Thanks for all the information folks.

Not surprised about the noses being repainted, as they go past you can see on several where the previous nose art has been painted over.

Might watch it again while it is still on the Beeb

See:
http://www.pbase.com/easystreet/notes_on_the_filming

Ahh thanks for this.
So it looks like my memory got the helicopter accident element with John Crewdson correct!
Any advances on the other bits?

. As the low level bomber thunders across the field, a camera mounted in the bombardier position picks up a number of RAF aircraft parked near the tower, and a large RAF transport on a nearby taxiway, an indication that Bovingdon was, indeed, still active when the filming was underway.

Also note the American Dodge ambulance is marked “U.S. Air Force” on its back doors…and was probably painted blue instead of the wartime green.

See:
http://www.pbase.com/easystreet/notes_on_the_filming

Columbia Studios turned to John Crewdson and his company, Film Aviation Services, to locate and operate the aircraft to be used in the film.

Quite a number of years ago, I had the opportunity to meet with his daughter, who I believed lived somewhere in Cambs and was named Emma.
I seem to remember that she said her father had been killed in a helicopter accident (possibly in a snowy mountainous area, but I cannot be sure it was quite some time ago).
I also got the impression that she either was born after he died or not long before?

Words are superfluous……

War Lover

There was also the B17 fuselage that sat outside the old Terminal at Croydon for some time after the film was finished,what happend to that.

As I wrote somewhere….
Columbia Pictures filmed The War Lover at Bovingdon in 1962, arrangements having been made to utilize the airfield as the supposedly ficticious Bomb Groups base.
Two American film stars were signed, with Steve McQueen taking the title role as Capt Buzz Rickson and Robert Wagner playing his stable copilot Lt Ed Bolland, along with and Shirley Ann Fields to add glamour interest. Columbia Studios turned to John Crewdson and his company, Film Aviation Services, to locate and operate the aircraft to be used in the film.
Once the three B-17s were gathered – 44-83883 (N5229V), 44-83877 (N5232V) and 44-83563 (N9563Z) – preparations were made ferry them across the North Atlantic to Bovingdon by October 10 1961 to meet the film schedule. Turrets and other wartime equipment were located at surplus yards around the US and reinstalled to bring the aircraft back to the appearance of wartime Fortresses. Turrets were then removed and loaded as cargo for the ferry flight. Preparations completed, one silver and two Navy blue B-17s left Tucson AZ on 17 September, with one B-17 commanded by Greg Board, another by Crewdson, and the third by veteran pilot Don Hackett. The three B-17s processed through Gatwick on 8 October, and then proceeded to Bovingdon in time to meet the film schedule. Crewdson and his crew went through the airplanes, reinstalling all the combat gear and repainting the aircraft in an AAF camouflage scheme with markings of the 324th Bomb Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group – a scheme deliberately chosen to ‘match in’ with flying sequences taken from William Wylers 1943 Memphis Belle movie.
Operational scenes showing aircraft taxiing, taking off, and landing, plus scenes on the hardstands involving the principal actors, were all filmed at Bovingdon. The highlight of the film is the low level beat up of Bovingdon by Crewdson, flying solo. From a go-around manoeuvre from an aborted landing approach, low level in this case meant the props were ticking away a scant foot or two above the ground as the B-17 bore down on the airfield tower, and then banked between some hangars as it came around for another pass. As the low level bomber thunders across the field, a camera mounted in the bombardier position picks up a number of RAF aircraft parked near the tower, and a large RAF transport on a nearby taxiway, an indication that Bovingdon was, indeed, still active when the filming was underway.
Principal filming at Bovingdon was completed in November, and then the aircraft were moved to Manston to film the over-channel scenes that brought the film to its conclusion. After the editing and production was completed, the film was released in October 1962.

I always thought that Don Bullock has watched this movie WAAAAY too much!

Image Credit: David M. Kay

Just been watching The War Lover on Iplayer, how much of the footage was made for the film and how much is stock footage. Plus about halfway through the B17 beats up the airfield, did they really do this as it is very low and very impressive if real.

It was real, and the beat up at Bovingdon was by John Crewdson.

Some footage from ’12 O’clock high’ is stitched in, such as the Fortress landing on a badly placed tent and others sequences, I think.

The final cliff section was filmed in Kent, and also cost the life of parachutist Mike Reilly, who was drowned during a water-landing.

Do take a peek at the shot published about 2/3 the way down this page

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=114038&page=7

Moggy