{"id":3074,"date":"2011-06-20T11:52:18","date_gmt":"2011-06-20T15:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3074"},"modified":"2014-08-17T01:42:40","modified_gmt":"2014-08-17T05:42:40","slug":"dvd-fate-is-the-hunter-1964","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=3074","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Fate is the Hunter (1964)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FateIsTheHunter_BR\"<\/a>Film: Very Good\/ BR Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: May 13, 2014<\/p>\n

Genre: Drama \/ Aviation<\/p>\n

Synopsis: An airline executive mounts his own investigation to vindicate the friend who piloted a doomed commercial plane.<\/p>\n

Special Features: 2014 Audio Commentary track with actress Nancy Kwan and producer Nick Redman between isolated music & effects cues \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000, via\u00a0Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> only.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Author Ernest K. Gann wasn\u2019t happy with his own screen adaptation of his 1961 novel, so he rescinded his involvement with the script, feeling the film conversion just wasn\u2019t working in the end, and leaving any criticism to playwright and co-screenwriter Harold Medford, whose own film involvement included the post-WWII thriller Berlin Express<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>(1948), and the horror shocker Phantom of the Rue Morgue<\/strong> (1954).<\/p>\n

Strangely, whether Fate<\/strong> was well or only mildly well received during its theatrical run, it cemented the standard post-traumatic event procedural docu-drama (what a mouthful), and feels remarkably contemporary, if not familiar.<\/p>\n

Like No Highway in the Sky<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(1952), an earlier film about a potential air disaster, Fate<\/strong> begins with a docu-drama style, almost showcasing the minutia of a flight takeoff as well as the post-crash investigation, and it\u2019s that latter sequence \u2013 where wreckage is assembled and refitted into the skeletal remains, as well as testing the surviving jet engine for performance flaws \u2013 that will give present day viewers a sense of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu.<\/p>\n

The reasons for the procedural details are logical: it gives the drama powerful authenticity when commercial flying had become democratically affordable (thereby affecting all classes of passengers in the event of a disaster); it provides sobering contrast towards the film\u2019s melodramatic elements; and it\u2019s in line with the film\u2019s main thread of former pilot \/ airline chief Sam McBane (Glenn Ford) running his own investigation to counter the company\u2019s awfully easy decision to blame the crash of their plane on pilot error.<\/p>\n

McBane\u2019s reasons are a mix of professionalism \u2013 going for unbiased truth \u2013 and personal: he wants to not only clear the name of his friend Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), pilot of the doomed craft, but eradicate his doubts that Jack\u2019s well-known, cocksure style of flying wasn\u2019t the reason 50+ people died unnecessarily.<\/p>\n

The Gann \/ Medford script also goes for a flashback structure ignited by McBane\u2019s own memories, or those of the friends, lovers, and colleagues he questions – if not to break up the procedural coldness, then inject some humanism and humour into an already dour tale where all the characters are affected by some form of post-traumatic stress disorder; they\u2019re all in shock, in mourning, or denial, and they collectively need to close the book on the crash to move forward. It\u2019s basically Citizen Kane<\/strong>, transposed to an air crash drama, and while it opens up the character of Jack (dead within the first 10 minutes), it also injects a lot of melodrama that is sometimes at odds with the film\u2019s otherwise hard docu-drama tone.<\/p>\n

Taylor\u2019s performance is more caricature than an earnest portrayal of an ex-war pilot with superb instincts; not unlike John Wayne in The High and the Mighty<\/strong>, he too whistles a song, although at least in Fate<\/strong> the use of \u201cBlue Moon\u201d isn\u2019t designed to sell a hit single. (That seems to have been allotted to composer Jerry Goldsmith, whose main title instrumental, released as a 45, is one of his strangest; neither gloomy, dramatic or dreamy, but hovering into exotica with mixed voices, and completely at odds with the background footage of the ruined jet.)<\/p>\n

Humour comes from Jack\u2019s wild days as a womanizer during the war, going as far as stealing a chance dinner with USO ambassadoress Jane Russell (playing herself) from McBane, and grinning conceitedly when McBane and his injured crew discover Jack alive and well after piloting the transport plane he was supposed to abandon.<\/p>\n

Romance is split between McBane\u2019s own pained (and later strained) relationship with Jack (theirs was a partnership with plenty of dramatic vicissitudes), and Jack\u2019s two women: former finacee & socialite Lisa Bond (uncredited Dorothy Malone), and marine biologist Sally Fraser (Nancy Kwan), whom Jack loved and with whom he clearly wanted to settle down.<\/p>\n

The success of Taylor characterization of Jack depends on whether one accepts his broad performance style or feels the final result is a patented jerk, but certainly as a procedural drama, Fate<\/strong> is an important work in the realm of aviation dramas. Like a disaster flick, it begins with the banal \u2013 strangers innocently converging towards a single location that will house their doom \u2013 but its suspense is tied to the drama of justice and vindication, and director Ralph Nelson does a commendable job in having Jack, his combative investigations team, and the plane\u2019s lone survivor \u2013 stewardess Martha Webster (Suzanne Pleshette) \u2013 board the same plane and attempt to replicate the entire departure of the doomed flight.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sharp, nail-biting sequence because Nelson duplicates angles and shots, and the actors repeat the gestures of their dead colleagues. Added grimness comes from the \u2018dead weight\u2019 sacks used to mimic the passenger weight, and having Martha retrace her steps prior to the first signs of mechanical failure.<\/p>\n

More so than No Highway in the Sky<\/strong>, Fate<\/strong>\u2019s message is to remind the public and corporationsthat pilots are professionals, and shouldn\u2019t be sacrificed when the initial evidence from a tragic disaster fails to yield any mechanical flaws. The media that hounds McBane is just as nasty and soulless as present day, post-disaster feeding frenzies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2014 Blu-ray<\/strong><\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s original 2011 DVD contained a sparkling transfer of this gorgeous black & white CinemaScope production, and the main extras included a theatrical trailer (a really terrible, over-hyped and misleading campaign that demeans the film\u2019s message), and an isolated music and effects mix, with Goldsmith\u2019s sparse score popping into stereo during the Main and End Titles.<\/p>\n

For the 2014 Blu-ray, the HD transfer is no less luminescent, although some print wear in the first few minutes is perhaps a bit more evident. The uncompressed mono mix is very clean, with the sound effects for the planes in both present-day and flashback sequences benefiting from the headroom.<\/p>\n

Producer Nick Redman reunites with co-star Nancy Kwan in a second commentary (after their longer chat for\u00a0Flower Drum Song<\/strong>) for this BR, and their discussion takes place between the music cues on the isolated music & effects mix. Instead of a heavy, fact-loaded commentary, what ultimately forms is an informal chat with the occasional detailed anecdote of the film and some of her co-stars (plus composer Jerry Goldsmith). Kwan’s character doesn’t appear until roughly 50 mins. into the movie, so while the first sections of the commentary address specifics of the film, with the exception of some thoughts on producer Ray Stark, the focus in the track’s final third drifts a bit, but Kwan’s fans will certainly appreciate this rare occasion to hear the underrated actress revisit personal reflections on her unique career.<\/p>\n

(Certainly one irony that will be evident to viewers is the pair discussing the recent disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370<\/a>, and the film’s continuing relevance of an industry in constant need of reassessing accidents and mysterious circumstances to limit future tragedies. )<\/p>\n

Julie Kirgo\u2019s liner notes provide a concise overview of the film, but perhaps missing is a third commentator addressing the airline disaster genre itself, since\u00a0Fate<\/strong> is part of a a significant disaster film sub-genre which peaked during the seventies; unlike subsequent entries, Fate remains unique for being a straight-faced procedural, and it’s to Gann’s credit that so much of the film maintains its docu-drama realism.<\/p>\n

Whereas Ford and Taylor play more classic archetypes, most of the supporting actors are spot-on in their performances, and perhaps the most surprising successes come from Wally Cox as one of Jack\u2019s wartime crewmen; prolific character actor Nehemiah Persoff as McBane\u2019s career-hungry rival (excelling in a rare supporting role); and Mark Stevens as a burnt-out pilot in what’s perhaps the most touching character and scene in the film.<\/p>\n

After a brief attempt to broaden his appeal in dramas such as the heavy-handed Morituri<\/strong> (1965) and The Bedford Incident<\/strong> (1965), Cox retuned to almost exclusive comedic roles in TV, whereas Taylor, who had previously co-starred with Pleshette in Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s The Birds <\/strong>(1963) played a pilot again in the wartime buddy comedy The Hell with Heroes<\/strong> (1968).<\/p>\n

Filmed Ernest K. Gann aerial dramas & disaster tales include Island<\/strong> in the Sky <\/strong>(1953), The High and the Mighty <\/strong>(1954), Fate is the Hunter<\/strong> (1964), and The Aviator <\/strong>(1985).<\/p>\n

Those curious about the type of plane used in the film will find some details in the Wikipedia entry (see below).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2011; revised 2014 by Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Editor’s Blog<\/a> —\u00a0IMDB <\/a>— Wikipedia Link<\/a> —\u00a0Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Film: Very Good\/ BR Transfer: Excellent\/ BR Extras: Very Good Label: Twilight Time\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: May 13, 2014 Genre: Drama \/ Aviation Synopsis: An airline executive mounts his own investigation to vindicate the friend who piloted a doomed commercial plane. Special Features: 2014 Audio Commentary track with actress Nancy Kwan and producer Nick Redman […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[539,540,548,545,547,546],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-NA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9464,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions\/9464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}