The Blue Max

I realized when watching this that I’d actually seen The Blue Max (1966) twice on its original run. It wasn’t that I liked it that much — its basic appeal for 12-year-old boys was probably almost seeing Ursula Andress topless — but I had a father and a best friend who were both gaga over this sort of war movie. I was sort of along for the ride, but I don’t recall complaining very much. I wonder what they would make of The Blue Max today? (Not sure if I ever really knew how they liked it 47 years ago.) I can’t say I’d thought about the movie in years myself, but I was surprised to see that it’s as much — or more — a pretty hackneyed story about social climbing as it is a war movie. It’s all about poor boy George Peppard (as blandly blonde and boring as ever) trying to make his way into the German aristocracy by becoming a decorated (the coveted medal of the title) ace fighter pilot. (Perhaps Peppard’s plebian status is why he’s the only person in the film who doesn’t have or affect a German accent. Had he made it into the upper classes, could he, too, have an accent?) It’s not terribly compelling stuff — and since this is a big “important” movie, you know it can’t end well. What it mostly has going for it (aside from impressive production values) is the aerial footage of all those vintage airplanes in all its widescreen glory. And — if you can overlook the process work used in the close-ups of the flyers — it’s pretty darned impressive. Now, whether that’s enough to sell the film, only you know.

The Hendersonville Film Society will show The Blue Max Sunday, Oct. 13, at 2 p.m., in the Smoky Mountain Theater at Lake Pointe Landing Retirement Community (behind Epic Cinemas), 333 Thompson St., Hendersonville.