Illeana Douglas on THE GYPSY MOTHS

John Frankenheimer’s film about a band of highflying skydivers was marketed as an action film when much of the film is grounded along with the daredevils. The box office reflected moviegoers disappointment but the cast, including Lancaster, Deborah Kerr and Gene Hackman, is unusually strong and Frankenheimer himself regarded it as one of his best films.
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[@wcomley]

Hi Illeana, Wow what a great review!! I have to tell you I was thirteen in the summer of 1968 the war in Vietnam was raging and here in Kansas John Frankenheimer was making a movie!!! I was one of many fortunate kids that got hired as an extra in the movie... We were a group of neighborhood kids from Wichita that were asked if we wanted to be in a move? Well why not? Our boss was hired by the production company MGM to provide the concessions used in the scenes of the movie. I carried a Coca Cola crate full of soda around selling refreshments. The time out in the sun was hard on everyone including the stars. We got to meet most of them including Burt Lancaster, Gene Hackman, Scott Wilson and many others. Believe it or not they were very approachable! John Frankenheimer was a directors director he was good and expected the best out of the extras. In between shots he would tell us exactly what he wanted in a response about what was going to happen and if it wasn't what he wanted we did it again... Hackman helped in some of the responses if Frankenheimer was up in the Jetranger directing the camera shots. He had the latest in steadicam equipment in the aircraft. The time out in Benton Kansas at the air park was a blast and I had my super 8mm camera and recorded what I could. It was a fun time for a kid from Kansas and have a part in a one of John's favorite motion pictures....

[@kentmccune5266]

Thanks for the memories. I was in the movie too at 6 yrs old. I still have freckles from being in the sun most of that summer.

[@danielkellyuk]

This is why I love Trailers from Hell. An interesting sounding movie with three actors I really like, and I've never even heard of it! Thanks for shining a light on all these forgotten gems.

[@gotellbossc4t-vb9hz]

Nice composition of Illeana. I like seeing unused props, incomplete flooring and junk in most of the frame when she is talking in a sepia, black and white frame! Facepalm.

[@RWSCOTT]

I love Illeana, especially her TFH takes on male psychodrama & appreciate all the recommendations.

[@GreasyFilms-qc1xo]

More Illeana on TFH!

[@greenman6141]

Of all the people doing these trailers from hell, only John Sayles is in the same league as Illeana Douglas. She is so insightful and articulate. Far far too smart to be an actor. Have you ever tried listening to the actor commentaries on DVDs? It's a form of torture. Not with her. I bet working on films and having to spend time with actors bored her to death.

[@drweetabix]

Those shots seeing all that junk lying about are a pointless distraction. It wasted the video.

[@chakwong]

Elmer Bernstein’s score was one of his best, yet forgotten. No sign of it in Spotify.

[@frankiehoskyn3948]

Gene Hackman's performance is the best thing about the film 🎬🎥🤔

[@michael.prescott4016]

music sounds like true grit

[@ludovicoc7046]

TFH: What's with the off-axis, off-color camera angle on Illeana?? It's distracting and unnecessary.

[@grahamwilliams6419]

This brings back memories for me, I was 13 years old when I started skydiving, I am 71 now. Our small skydiving club would jump at winter and summer festivals and we even did exebition jumping at Expo 67 in Montreal. We all loved this movie because it represented us ...

[@Deepurplerain]

Great discovey that film,Frankenheimer can't be labelled,that's his grandeur,miss Douglas spoils analyze too much beware if you expect to watch the film,check this AFTER the viewing, nice parallel with William Inge Frankenheimer worked with in 62, with another sensitive melancolic film called All fall down.

[@Pomeray8]

Underrated Frankenheimer

[@jcarson7574]

These are great little videos, good way to pass some time. BTW always loved this movie Illeana. kzbin.info/www/bejne/laOcdmSpmKiijsU

[@BLUEsurf63]

Love this movie...

[@johnmarshall4442]

Patty Plenty......

[@lylegorch5956]

I've got to see this one again. The author of the novel, James Drought, was a fascinating writer whose novels were quite popular on campuses in the 60s.

[@701CPD]

The film follows Drought's novel fairly closely, with the movie skydiver's late-1960s parachutes and equipment updated from the 1955 novel's bargain-basement surplus gear.

[@tectorgorch8698]

@@701CPD Nice to get a reply. I no longer get notifications from YT, except for an occasional comment I might have left years (literally) ago.

[@jesseclarkworley556]

I am #whitegoldtwinturbo presents #jesseclarkworley at KZbin boss #oldrow I love this video with illeana douglass . And horror films in general. My dad is a photographer and so is my uncle ...and have been since the late 1960s . . . So I take filmmaking seriously .

[@roguedolphin]

This is a great film I really enjoyed it after seeing your review here and catching it. Very under-rated.

[@khayes1995]

I saw it when I was 8 years old I saw it with my parents and the strip club scenes made me so embarrassed I ran up the isle and sat in the back of the theater by myself. 😱

[@only257]

Awesome 😎

[@vicaldama9314]

She had the best taste!

[@stpnwlf9]

This was shot in my home town when I was just a small boy. I never actually watched it until years later. As a kid, lots of my friends and family were in the film as extras. Later, seeing it as an adult, it was a strange sensation realizing this movie was more of a character study than an action film, which how I always remembered it.

[@stevenreynolds2327]

Me to, I was 9 and remember watching the filming.

[@aaronpayton2119]

I live in Augusta KS. I understand this was shot in Butler county, correct?

[@stpnwlf9]

@@aaronpayton2119 there were a lot of scenes shot in El Dorado. The actual flying and skydiving scenes were shot at the Benton Airport.

[@ajdc88]

but it’s like you died and woke up in Jew heaven.