I had been underwhelmed by my first viewing of this film but, re-acquainting myself with it now, has proved a relatively more satisfying experience. Director John Frankenheimer here tries to do for sky-diving what he had previously done for motor-car racing in GRAND PRIX (1966) - which, ironically, would virtually be the last unqualified critical and commercial success he¡¦d enjoy for over 30 years (as it happens, I've just learned that it'll be released by Warners this year as a 2-Disc Set!) - and in the accompanying Audio Commentary states that THE GYPSY MOTHS is one of his own personal favorites!
The actors are all extremely convincing - both established and upcoming stars - managing to overcome the potentially soap opera-ish situations of the script; apparently, Scott Wilson's role was originally slated for John Phillip Law (who had to be replaced when he hurt his wrist while performing a stunt for the film). This was Lancaster's fifth and final collaboration with Frankenheimer, in which he shares a fairly ridiculous sex scene with Deborah Kerr (16 years after their famous clinch on the beach in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY [1953]!); incidentally, that same year, she also appeared in the nude alongside Lancaster's old pal Kirk Douglas in Elia Kazan's THE ARRANGEMENT (1969)...and then disappeared from the screen for 16 years! As a matter of fact, for all the film's air of an old-fashioned melodrama, it's surprisingly "with-it" (Sheree North is also featured as a performing stripper Gene Hackman picks up in a bar).
Anyway, the small-town atmosphere is vividly captured (down to the irascible old coot of a band-leader, actually Lancaster's dialogue coach!) and the sky-diving sequences - highlighted by elaborate and spectacular photography - create the appropriate excitement (even if they do not take up too much of the running time). However, the existential undertones (Lancaster as a taciturn sociopath with a death-wish; Kerr, trapped in a loveless marriage, consoles herself with the boarders she takes in from time to time; Hackman, a regular church-goer for all his philandering, getting the shakes the night before the big day, etc.) are less successful. Still, the film is kept going steadily by virtue of Elmer Bernstein's evocative and memorable score...
The actors are all extremely convincing - both established and upcoming stars - managing to overcome the potentially soap opera-ish situations of the script; apparently, Scott Wilson's role was originally slated for John Phillip Law (who had to be replaced when he hurt his wrist while performing a stunt for the film). This was Lancaster's fifth and final collaboration with Frankenheimer, in which he shares a fairly ridiculous sex scene with Deborah Kerr (16 years after their famous clinch on the beach in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY [1953]!); incidentally, that same year, she also appeared in the nude alongside Lancaster's old pal Kirk Douglas in Elia Kazan's THE ARRANGEMENT (1969)...and then disappeared from the screen for 16 years! As a matter of fact, for all the film's air of an old-fashioned melodrama, it's surprisingly "with-it" (Sheree North is also featured as a performing stripper Gene Hackman picks up in a bar).
Anyway, the small-town atmosphere is vividly captured (down to the irascible old coot of a band-leader, actually Lancaster's dialogue coach!) and the sky-diving sequences - highlighted by elaborate and spectacular photography - create the appropriate excitement (even if they do not take up too much of the running time). However, the existential undertones (Lancaster as a taciturn sociopath with a death-wish; Kerr, trapped in a loveless marriage, consoles herself with the boarders she takes in from time to time; Hackman, a regular church-goer for all his philandering, getting the shakes the night before the big day, etc.) are less successful. Still, the film is kept going steadily by virtue of Elmer Bernstein's evocative and memorable score...