Les espions s'amusent

As ludicrous as the narrative and dramatics are, this movie has some of the best, even wonderful, jet-age aerial scenes ever filmed. All in color, too!

Forget the story, discard any literary seriousness..., for genuine vintage military aircraft buffs, the flight footage alone is more than worth the price. Also has great shots of aircraft on the ground. It's like a historical (occassionally hysterical) air museum in motion.

The fact that it avoided grainy/phony stock shots, that the aerial footage was shot especially for this movie, that Chuck Yeager performed much of the stunt flying, and that there is actual original footage of the Bell X-1 in flight, makes this movie a true gem for military aviation buffs.

For Paul Frees fans, his brief appearance is incredibly energetic.

Oddly, the DVD is letterboxed, but the 1950 production (with a delayed 1957 release) was shot before the widescreen era, and should have been uncropped full-screen on video.

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