The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)

            My brother Jason recommended I treat this movie as a movie about the making of a war movie. I had remembered it fondly as a teenager and was happy to revisit it. It was directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. It was a passion project for him. As a child he loved WWI aces and a famous barnstormer named Charles “Speed” Holman.  Holman set a record of 1,433 consecutive loops during a five-hour flight.  Hill himself had been a pilot and flew transports for the Marines in the South Pacific in WWII. In the Korean War, he flew night fighters. He reached the rank of major.

            The movie is set in the 1920’s in the waning days of barnstorming. Robert Redford plays Waldo Pepper. He makes a living giving country folk rides in his biplane and then joins a barnstorming troupe. After getting in trouble with new safety regulations, he becomes a stunt pilot for a “Hell’s Angels” type movie. There he meets a famous German ace (Bo Brundin).  (He was modeled after Ernst Udet who had 62 victories in WWI and then became a stunt flyer for airshows and the movies.) The movie concludes with a dogfight between the two.  It is arguably the best dogfight ever put on film.

            “Waldo Pepper” is a must-see for aviation movie fans. The aerial scenes are some of the best ever filmed. And we are not just talking about great stunt flying, we are also talking about great stunt work like wing-walking. The planes are awesome with the final duel between a replica Sopwith Camel and a replica Fokker triplane.  The sounds that are matched to the aircraft are realistic. 

             The acting is fine, with surprisingly the best performance by Brundin. The cast includes Bo Svenson, Susan Sarandon, and Edward Herrmann. Redford is his usual charming self. He’ll remind you of Tom Cruise in “Top Gun”.  Coincidentally, this movie boosted recruitment for barnstorming.  That’s a joke. 

             What keeps the movie from being great is it is not sure what it wants to be. It starts as a whimsical comedy and then has a major tonal shift midway through when a major character is sacrificed.   From that point on it becomes a psychological drama revolving around the old trope of men who can’t let go of their glory days.  What’s odd about this is Waldo did not even fly in the war.  He wants the adrenaline that guys like Kessler got.  And he wants to experience the mano-a-mano of a dogfight.  And he doesn’t want to wait for WWII.  Neither do we. 

               “The Great Waldo Pepper”  is not a war movie and it could have used a deeper dive into the filming of a WWI aviation film, but it is an entertaining film if you can overlook the flaws.  It is an excellent homage to barnstormers and stunt men.  You’ll be amazed how far pilots would go in the 1920s to earn a little money and entertain crowds.

GRADE  =  B