Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.0

Jet Pilot Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 20, 2022

Josef von Sternberg's "Jet Pilot" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Comrade Marladovna

It is very easy to understand why at one point John Wayne considered Jet Pilot the worst film he had appeared in. Whatever Howard Hughes’ initial plans for this film might have been, it is so badly mismanaged that it does not even work as a parody. What about Josef von Sternberg? Why did he agree to replace Peter Godfrey? Did Hughes just make him a financial offer he could not refuse? Or did he do it because he feared Hughes’ influence and ability to destroy the careers and reputations of people that questioned his creative instincts? It was probably a combination of both. Jet Pilot had an astronomical budget and Hughes always got what he wanted, so Sternberg most likely received a very nice check that kept him quiet while he was behind the camera.

The plot is so ridiculous that it actually makes Billy Wilder’s Five Graves to Cairo look like a brilliant documentary. Russian pilot Lt. Anna Marladovna (Janet Leigh) casually enters American airspace and soon after is allowed to land her bomber. While speaking perfect English with an American accent, Marladovna declares that she has escaped the commies and wishes to be a ‘refugee’ in America, but to be absolutely certain that she tells the truth General Black (Jay. C. Flippen) asks Jim Shannon (Wayne), his most experienced pilot, to keep an eye on her. It is an assignment that instantly awakens the frisky bachelor in Shannon and he enthusiastically goes to work. Not too long after that, Marladovna and Shannon get married.

But Marladovna turns out to be a commie spy on a mission to steal top secret aircraft plans from the Americans, so when General Black and FBI agent Rivers (Richard Rober) uncover her true intentions, they decide to send her right back to where she came from with a dud. Marladovna and Shannon are then allowed to ‘steal’ a U.S. bomber and defect to a military base somewhere in the U.S.S.R. where General Sokolov (Roland Winters) welcomes them with open arms. As Shannon struggles to get used to Soviet reality, however, Marladovna accidentally discovers that her bosses are planning to permanently erase his memory, so together they hatch a bold plan to return to America.

To write that Jules Furthman’s screenplay immediately insults the intelligence of the viewer is like declaring that a root canal procedure may cause only some minor discomfort, which of course makes the impressive list of actors that agreed to do Jet Pilot seriously puzzling. Again, Hughes’ money almost certainly convinced a lot of them to swallow their pride, but how is it possible that at least some of them did not intervene to get the end product to look more authentic? If, as reported, Hughes wanted Jet Pilot to be only a big promo piece for a bunch of bombers, why did he even seek Furthman’s services in the first place? Any amateur writer could have scripted the ridiculous situations Wayne and Leigh are forced to endure immediately after the opening credits disappear.

The few somewhat entertaining scenes are the ones where Wayne flirts with Leigh and does a bit of good old-fashioned improvising. The best one is at the very end of the film where Wayne and Leigh are seen in an upscale restaurant supposedly somewhere in Palm Springs, each enjoying a good steak. While Wayne looks lovingly at her, Leigh utters a typically undercooked statement addressing her people and how the world would be a safer place if they knew what a good steak tastes like. Leigh then tries to kiss Wayne, but right before their lips connect, he says “wipe off your chin”. Leigh is caught off guard, so her genuine reaction is priceless.

Jet Pilot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratios of 1.85:1 and 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jet Pilot arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Unfortunately, this master is every bit as mediocre as the one the major licensed to Indicator/Powerhouse Films for the recent Region-B release of Hellfighters.

I viewed the 1.85:1 presentation, but tested the 1.37:1 presentation as well. Believe it or not, the latter makes some of the visuals a bit easier to tolerate simply by 'tightening' them up a bit. Sadly, there are so many different age-related imperfections and traces of digital tweaks that more often than not large portions of the film actually do not look like film. For example, it is very easy to tell that the grain is collapsed by some sort of a digital adjustment, which is why delineation and depth range from mediocre to poor. Clarity is occasionally satisfactory, but contrast anomalies and other issues have destabilized the native dynamic range of the visuals. Also, there are obvious registration issues that produce awkward color pulsations and even odd halo-like effects. So, when all of these issues are grouped together it is hardly surprising that the visuals routinely look very, very flat, at times even smeary. Finally, there are plenty of dirt spots, specks, scratches, and even rather large blemishes that pop up throughout the entire film. My score is 2.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Jet Pilot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I did not encounter any serious technical anomalies to report in our review. However, while the dialog is clear and very easy to follow, plenty of the footage with the bombers sounds pretty thin. The upper register is very clean, but my guess is that if one day the film is fully restored in 4K and the audio redone from scratch, there will be meaningful optimizations that address the thin areas. This being said, you don't have to be concerned about the quality of the existing track. It is still very, very good.

Jet Pilot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Jet Pilot. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Jet Pilot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Just like The Outlaw, Jet Pilot was a big vanity project for Howard Hughes that turned out to be a big turkey. John Wayne had every right to consider it the worst film he had appeared in because it is ridiculous in so many different ways that it does not even work as a parody. Some of the footage with the bombers is mildly entertaining, plus there are a couple of short hilarious scenes where Wayne clearly flirts with Janet Leigh, but this isn't enough to declare that Jet Pilot is suitable even for very late-night viewing. On the other hand, Jet Pilot probably deserves to be described as a historic relic, so it is good to have it on Blu-ray.