Hi all, I saw this film when I was a kid, and nobody I know seems to remember it. I don't know what it was called, but basically, it started off with a US bomber in trouble, one member of the crew bales out, the rest crash land in the desert. It turns out all the crew who crashlanded die, and the rest of the film is them as ghosts, hanging around the plane. The survivor who baled out traces the plane years later, and when they find the bodies the ghosts disappear, but there's one body they can't find, whose remains there on his own at the end of the film. I haven't seen it since I was about 10. Ring any bells with anyone else? Cheers SteveB
Steve...........Yes I remember the film.............although can't for the life of me remember what it was called...................I also saw a documentary regarding the plane & the fate of the crew which the film was based on.........From memory I believe the plane crashed in the Libyan desert, having flown in completely the wrong direction.
I remeber it and I am sure it was on tele just recently, but alas I can not remeber what it was called. Arm.
This isn't going to help,but i can vividely remember the film you mention and i have seen it more than once.BUT i can't remember the title,i'm sat here trying to remember the opening titles and i still can't remember,sorry. Steven
Originally posted by BAYERNWALD@Apr 19 2004, 05:30 AM Can't remember the name of the movie, but is it based on the story of the "Lady-Be-Good" ? B. Am i right in assuming "Lady Be Good" was a Liberator ?? Steven
Originally posted by STEVEN@Apr 19 2004, 05:36 AM Am i right in assuming "Lady Be Good" was a Liberator ?? Yes. B24 Liberator No.64 of the 376th Bomb Group based at Soluk, Libya. It's crew were 1/Lt.W.J.Hatton, 2/Lt R.F.Toner, 2/Lt D.P.Hays, 2/Lt J.S.Woravka, TS H.S.Ripslinger, TS R.E.Lamotte, S.Sgt G.E.Shelley, S.Sgt V.L.Moore and S.Sgt S.R.Adams. It was returning from a bombing attack on airfields around Naples and, due to instrument damage, the crew thought they were over the Meditteranean when they crash landed in the desert. B.
Thats an incredible photo considering the time it's spent in the desert. Which is correct by the way.If it was taken 17 years after the crash,surely the photo dates from 1960,if it is taken in 1950,then it's 7 years since it crashed. If the film was based on this plane and it's crew,did one of then really survive and which of the crew members was it ?? Steven
Originally posted by STEVEN@Apr 19 2004, 08:53 AM Which is correct by the way.If it was taken 17 years after the crash,surely the photo dates from 1960,if it is taken in 1950,then it's 7 years since it crashed. If the film was based on this plane and it's crew,did one of then really survive and which of the crew members was it ?? Sorry. The photo was taken in 1960 shortly after the wreckage was found (at last!). As far as is known, there were no survivors but it's also unknown how many survived the crash. Evidence was found that most of the crew wandered off into the desert, leaving some flying boots arranged in the shape of an arrow to indicate their direction, though some stayed behind for a while longer. No single airman bailed out and survived (though some did and re-grouped at the plane). B. (I can't remember the bit about a survivor in the film! )
As i said earlier the plane is in remarkable condition whether it's 7 or 17 years in the desert,but then the incredibly dry atmosphere would be a lot kinder (if thats the right expression !!) to the aircraft than a temperate climate.Unfortunately the same can't be said for the crew. Must have been terrible,finally relising they weren't going to be recused,then walking off into the desert to a certain death.Is it known if any of the crew left anything behind in the form of a Journal or a Diary ?? Thanks Steven
Originally posted by STEVEN@Apr 19 2004, 10:15 AM .Is it known if any of the crew left anything behind in the form of a Journal or a Diary ?? No diary that I know of, but apparently ,along with several personal items,there were some flasks containing coffee that was still drinkable in 1960!!! Makes me wonder whether the writer of the film ,on hearing of the discovery of Liberator no.64, just used a little artistic license and added a survivor. B.
Thanks for the responses. Glad it's not only me that remembers it. If I remember, the survivor in the film returns with the search team to the desert to help them locate the plane. Cheers SteveB
Got it......... .................The film was called 'Sole Survivor'........Bayernwald is right it was loosely (very very loosely as there was no survivors in reality) based on the disappearance of the Lady-be-good. It used the general plot of the aircraft going missing over the desert when the crew thought they were over the sea – as is thought to be the case in the Lady-be-good story & that the wreckage was found by an oil company – again as is claimed in the Lady-be-good story – the rest of the film is shall we say is full of artistic licence…………….I don’t know whether the makers ever claimed it was based on the Lady-be-good, but they certainly plagiarised parts of the story
Originally posted by BAYERNWALD@Apr 19 2004, 02:55 PM along with several personal items,there were some flasks containing coffee that was still drinkable in 1960!!! I dread to think how they knew this,surely someone didn't taste it ?? Steven
Originally posted by STEVEN+Apr 20 2004, 03:33 AM-->(STEVEN @ Apr 20 2004, 03:33 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'> <!--QuoteBegin-BAYERNWALD@Apr 19 2004, 02:55 PM along with several personal items,there were some flasks containing coffee that was still drinkable in 1960!!! I dread to think how they knew this,surely someone didn't taste it ?? Steven [/b]They did!!!! B.
I remember watching the film as a child but haven't seen it since. I think William Shatner was in it so maybe it was a made-for-TV-movie? That would help to explain why it hasn't been seen since. Cheers Adam
Apparently, they did find a diary of sorts that devolved into gibberish as the writer succumbed to heat exhaustion, blindness and all the other side-effects of exposure in the desert. There is still one member of the "Lady-Be-Good"'s crew unaccounted for. The "History Channel" had a programme on the story that they repeat occasionally.
Here's the tale.. Plot Summary for Sole Survivor (1970) (TV) A B-25 bomber is discovered in the middle of the Libian [sic] desert and an Air Force investigation team is called in to examine it. The team quickly discovers that it has not been touched since crashing a quarter century earlier. They also discover the plane's navigator survived and is now an Air Force general. The problem? He said the plane went down in the mediterrainian after the captain ordered the crew to bail out. This story has an interesting supernatural twist. "As their remains are discovered, each of the airmen finally moves on. When the positions relative to the aircraft are revealed, the extent of their bravery is too." If I remember rightly... one was left, as he was buried under the wreckage ans wasn't found by the salvage crew? And wasn't this done first as a 'Twilight Zone', or is that my memory playing tricks?
Originally posted by Staffsyeoman@May 16 2004, 09:01 PM If I remember rightly... one was left, as he was buried under the wreckage ans wasn't found by the salvage crew? And wasn't this done first as a 'Twilight Zone', or is that my memory playing tricks? Staffs..............That's my recollection too
