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Originally Posted by belcherman
Can someone talk me into, or out of, picking up Fate is the Hunter?
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Fate is the Hunter was a blind buy for me three years ago based on its cast. I then let it sit on my shelf for months before actually watching it..... at the time I was flying a lot for work and wasn't keen on watching a movie about an aircraft accident....lol. I wrote a review of it here three years ago that I have reworked a bit below with further thoughts on it since then.
Fate is the Hunter is the autopsy of an air crash. The special effects are good by the standards of the day. The opening sequence is frightening. What begins as a routine flight.... checking in the passengers, introducing the audience to pilot Jack Savage (played by Rod Taylor,
The Time Machine) and the flight crew, as well as the manager of flight operations Sam McBane (played by Glenn Ford)...... ends in terror as the pilot struggles to land the plane after a series of mechanical problems knock out both engines. The opening credits blaze onto the screen moments later, and the effect is electrifying. The story then becomes an investigation of what happened. The airline and news media want to blame Savage when it begins to look like mechanical problems may not have been the cause of the crash. Glenn Ford's McBane is Savage's longtime buddy from when they flew transport aircraft together in the Army Air Corps during WWII. McBane works to piece together enough evidence to save the reputation of his friend.
The cinematography is superb, displaying that luscious black and white Cinemascope picture quality that I really enjoy watching. With its well written dialogue and frequently hard-hitting scenes,
Fate is the Hunter is part melodrama and part
cinema verite that draws the viewer in and doesn't let go. Flashback sequences are effective and serve the purpose of establishing connections between the different characters. The script and staging are intelligent, implying much about the core of the story by showing us details on its periphery. There is a lot to be said for the emotional impact of a child's broken doll found at the site of the crash by a desperate mother. It is a brief scene, but is as devastating as anything ever put on film.
Some may find elements of the story quaint by today's standards. This is an early 1960s film and should be taken on its own merits. I found the events to be compelling and the mystery believable. Many of the safety aspects of commercial aircraft we take for granted today only exist because of events portrayed in this film. In the early 1960s, passenger air travel was still a work in progress in terms of safety systems and more automated flight controls. I get a real kick out of watching these old films with their "Pan-Am" look to air travel, pretty air-hostesses, pilots who were invariably veterans of WWII and Korea, and passengers who actually dressed up to board an airplane as if flying was a special event deserving a bit of style and elegance. Even walking across the tarmac from the terminal to board a flight using rollaway staircases is somehow much more inviting than using a modern jetway.
Fate is the Hunter is a who's-who of early 60s stars, including in supporting roles Jane Russell (as herself), Constance Towers (star of Samuel Fuller's
The Naked Kiss and
Shock Corridor), and the wonderful Suzanne Pleshette. Pleshette is particularly good here as a stewardess suffering from physical and mental trauma from her ordeal aboard the fated aircraft. Nancy Kwan is also memorable and gives an endearing performance that makes it easy to understand the feelings Taylor's character develops for her. She gives Glenn Ford a perspective on fate - as a physical entity in our lives - that provides comfort to them both, although Ford with his focus on facts and numbers is at first reluctant to accept such a concept.
Nancy Kwan is the subject of the other main reason to get this Blu-ray: the heartfelt documentary
To Whom it May Concern: Ka Shen's Journey, included as an extra. This is a really well done docu-film. At almost two hours, it is a tour of Hong Kong and Hollywood from the past seventy years, told through the interesting life of Nancy Kwan, beginning with her parents (her mother was a beautiful blond Scottish model and her father a Hong Kong businessman), the Japanese invasion that affected her childhood, and her personal triumphs to become a ballet dancer and actress. Considering you also get a great commentary with Kwan and Nick Redman, I rate
Fate is the Hunter as outstanding and one of the most shelf-worthy and value-packed releases from Twilight Time.
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TT and SAE are under no obligation to rotate new titles into this bundle when some drop off. It is not a guaranteed continuous deal. They may add some later, or not, or they may end it altogether at some point. This bundle deal has ended and restarted once already.
,I'm way behind on my to watch pile, I just can't keep up.
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