MovieChat Forums > Fate Is the Hunter (1964) Discussion > Heartbreak...what a poor film

Heartbreak...what a poor film

posted 20 years ago by rrcunnin
9 replies | jump to latest

I have never been one to compare book to movie as one is almost always disappointed but this one is the exception. The book, Fate is the Hunter, is the finest work by one of our finest aviation writers, Ernest Gann. It is a loose autobiograph of one of the most interesting men I have ever read about. When I leared to fly 20 years ago, my instructor told me that every fledgling flyer had to read this book to get a sense of what it was like to fly in the early days of civil aviation in this country...and boy was he right. There are so many great stories in that book that I just don't understand why the creators of the movie had to come up with a phony story. I love Rod Taylor and Glenn Ford, but this movie was a great disappointment to me. I would recommend that if you did enjoy the film, please go out and buy a copy of the book. You don't have to be a pilot to fall in love with it.

[–] quinzo60 20 years ago

you couldn't be more right...

i don't understand how any of this movie came out of Gann's magnum opus, except for the big wrapup where Glenn Ford explains the meaning of fate.

and i seem to recall that Ernest got into a big brouha over this movie, since it's apparent that they didn't use any of the great stories that make up each chapter of his book that was on the best seller list for about a year. somebody could make a great miniseries if they just made a weekly show out of each of those chapters, and then tied it all together at the end like Gann does in his book.

it's kind of funny: this movie deserves all of the raves that it's gotten - by itself, it is a pretty darned good story.

but as the self-titled movie that follows such an important piece of American literature, it totally misses the mark.

[–] rrcunnin 20 years ago

I agree with you..the movie itself was interesting..but I kept waiting for some aspect of the book to emerge and so was disappointed at the end.

I recently read Gann's autobiograph which was out of print and so I really had to struggle to find it. What a incredible life this guy had....and you are rightabout his problems with the movie. He was so upset that he wanted his name removed. He had been very involved in the movies of some of his other books (Island in the Sky and The High and The Mighty). Fate is the Hunter was a major disappointment for him as well as us

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Shempcurlylarrymoe 19 years ago

I have read most of Mr. Gann's books and without a doubt he was my favorite author growing up. I have even bid on copies of his books from suppliers. Fate is the Hunter is no exception. It is a remarkable book. Its funny because I originally saw the movie before reading the book. I loved the movie, it may be a little dated now, but a great premise. I was initially disappointed when I started to read the book years later, until of course I got into it. This is one of those movies which needs to have a book written about it! I can understand Mr. Gann's disdain for the way Hollywood treated his work. It was a great screenplay in itself. I think they were hoping to cash in on Mr. Gann's previous works which had been brought to the screen. Either way I would love to have a DVD copy of this film. I think I will pull out my copy of the book. I need a good read.

[–] tramky 19 years ago

Well, this film was produced about 10 years after another one of Gann's novels was adapted for the screen: The High and The Mighty. Unfortunately, TH & TM has not aged well, but I'm not sure it is simply aging that is the problem--it was just not a very good film from the outset, even in 1954. It made a splash at the time, had a wonderful cast, and a decent story outline. But the loopy dialogue, the overwrought score, the thick melodrama, and the overblown premise made it an apt target for the 1980 spoof "Airplane!", which sends up TH & TM and other airline melodramas to greatly amusing effect.

[–] au561 19 years ago

The 1980 spoof "Airplane!", sends up the movie "Zero Hour" 1957. The plot is identical, the dialogue is too close, and the character names are the same.
The producers of Airplane even bought the rights to Zero Hour so they could rip it apart without repercussions.

[–] bazv 17 years ago

I think what is confusing people about this film is that it is actually based on the novel 'Band of Brothers ' by the same author.
I agree with other posters that 'Fate is the Hunter' is the best he ever wrote.

[–] jaydee_007-2 17 years ago

The Movie Zero Hour is based on an Aurther Haily novel called "Runway Zero Eight" which is also far better than the movie.

[–] bugswatter 17 years ago

Hi -

I did what you suggested - and was impressed by the book. The movie is a riff on the title, and should be seen in a separate light.

But I still think the movie is well worth seeing, and it's a crime that it is not available on VHS or DVD....

Bugswatter