There is a great political satire struggling to get out of Wild in the Sky, and it's failure to emerge is a cautionary tale to all would-be filmmakers: film is a mercurial, precarious thing, and must be crafted with the utmost attention and skill, and even then, the finished product is never completely under conscious control. The fault certainly does not lie with the stellar cast, many of whom are standouts. Yet oddly, top-billed Brandon deWilde is perhaps the least likable, or memorable character in the whole film, and this underscores one of the film's main failings, the lack of a strong protagonist with which the audience can identify.
The supporting characters, on the other hand, steal much of the thunder and screen time in very engaging, if eccentric portrayals. Dick Gautier Is perhaps the biggest presence in the film, unsurprising in that he also wrote (with Peter Marshall!) and co-produced the film; his slacker/beatnik character is hilarious, and offers trenchant skewering of the hippie/new-age movement of the day. Keenan Wynn is surprisingly strong as a blustering alcoholic general whose misappropriation of Pentagon funds makes him an easy target for anti-government actors of all stripe. Tim O'Connor plays a seriously conflicted politician who is stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of his loyalties and career objectives. Bernie Kopell is fantastic as a neurotic fellow, a juicy role he was apparently born to play. Joe Turkel, a favorite of Bert I. Gordon, is also good as a frustrated, bible-thumping underachiever. Larry Hovis is cute as a military flunkie who also happens to be a pervert, calling random women on the telephone and getting them to talk about their undergarments. Last, but definitely not least, Robert Lansing is amazing as an uptight Air Force pilot with serious psychological issues, a complicated role played expertly by a seriously under-appreciated actor.
With all this strong comedic talent, Wild seems to be headed for success, but sadly, the screenplay halts and meanders, and never quite finds that elusive pace which is essential to the successful comedy film. Part of the problem is that screenplay tries to juggle several genre conceits, and manages to drop them all eventually. There is the satire of the youth movement, a spotty critique of the out-of-control military, and even an attempt to stitch some screwball comedy on top of everything. Worse yet, our "hero," draft dodger Brandon deWilde has periodic poignant flashbacks showing his remorse at having not accomplished much of anything of note in his short life, and this sporadic attempt to get "heavy" may be what really derails the film. Plus, the main plot line - three escaped draft dodgers somehow manage to commandeer a B52 bomber, replete with nuclear armament - is sabotaged by a far less interesting subplot, about General Keenan Wynn's abortive attempts to cover up massive fraud and retain his career.
Also ill-advised is the large portion of the film which portrays the captive military men all scrunched together in the tiny bathroom of the massive bomber, resulting in tedious scenes which are not only claustrophobic, but unfunny. In its attempt to balance heavy satire and screwball comedy, in essence trying to merge Dr. Strangelove with Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, it fails miserably.
AIP picked up the independently produced film, but barely released it, first as Wild in the Sky (in a desperate effort to make audiences think the film was a sequel to its 1968 smash hit Wild in the Streets), and then as Black Jack. This second stab at a release was a woeful attempt to shoehorn this strange film into the blaxploitation market, an attempt which surely failed, as the sole black character in the film is quite peripheral. However, the film does end with the radical hippies successfully dropping an H-bomb on Fort Knox in an effort to stifle future funding of the Vietnam War, so perhaps certain parties felt the film was too political for its own good. Or maybe audience just hated the film, which honestly, is not an easy film to like.
The film's shooting title, "God Bless You, Uncle Sam," may be the most accurate label for this seriously inflammatory tract, a film which in some ways seems too radical for its own good. Even more curious, the film is "presented" by Ralph Edwards, producer of hit TV shows such as The Peoples Court and This is Your Life. But Wild in the Sky is definitely worth a look for its sheer obscurity, it's moments of comic brilliance, and for it being a shining example of that very short window of creative freedom in the early 1970s when anti-military, anti-government films (such as FTA and Another Nice Mess) could actually be made and released; compare with today, when big Hollywood blockbusters such as the Marvel comic book franchise films are nothing more than feature-length advertisements for the military-industrial complex. Commercial film has certainly deteriorated in the last 50 years, and dear, strange films like Wild in the Sky are the proof.
The supporting characters, on the other hand, steal much of the thunder and screen time in very engaging, if eccentric portrayals. Dick Gautier Is perhaps the biggest presence in the film, unsurprising in that he also wrote (with Peter Marshall!) and co-produced the film; his slacker/beatnik character is hilarious, and offers trenchant skewering of the hippie/new-age movement of the day. Keenan Wynn is surprisingly strong as a blustering alcoholic general whose misappropriation of Pentagon funds makes him an easy target for anti-government actors of all stripe. Tim O'Connor plays a seriously conflicted politician who is stuck between a rock and a hard place in terms of his loyalties and career objectives. Bernie Kopell is fantastic as a neurotic fellow, a juicy role he was apparently born to play. Joe Turkel, a favorite of Bert I. Gordon, is also good as a frustrated, bible-thumping underachiever. Larry Hovis is cute as a military flunkie who also happens to be a pervert, calling random women on the telephone and getting them to talk about their undergarments. Last, but definitely not least, Robert Lansing is amazing as an uptight Air Force pilot with serious psychological issues, a complicated role played expertly by a seriously under-appreciated actor.
With all this strong comedic talent, Wild seems to be headed for success, but sadly, the screenplay halts and meanders, and never quite finds that elusive pace which is essential to the successful comedy film. Part of the problem is that screenplay tries to juggle several genre conceits, and manages to drop them all eventually. There is the satire of the youth movement, a spotty critique of the out-of-control military, and even an attempt to stitch some screwball comedy on top of everything. Worse yet, our "hero," draft dodger Brandon deWilde has periodic poignant flashbacks showing his remorse at having not accomplished much of anything of note in his short life, and this sporadic attempt to get "heavy" may be what really derails the film. Plus, the main plot line - three escaped draft dodgers somehow manage to commandeer a B52 bomber, replete with nuclear armament - is sabotaged by a far less interesting subplot, about General Keenan Wynn's abortive attempts to cover up massive fraud and retain his career.
Also ill-advised is the large portion of the film which portrays the captive military men all scrunched together in the tiny bathroom of the massive bomber, resulting in tedious scenes which are not only claustrophobic, but unfunny. In its attempt to balance heavy satire and screwball comedy, in essence trying to merge Dr. Strangelove with Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, it fails miserably.
AIP picked up the independently produced film, but barely released it, first as Wild in the Sky (in a desperate effort to make audiences think the film was a sequel to its 1968 smash hit Wild in the Streets), and then as Black Jack. This second stab at a release was a woeful attempt to shoehorn this strange film into the blaxploitation market, an attempt which surely failed, as the sole black character in the film is quite peripheral. However, the film does end with the radical hippies successfully dropping an H-bomb on Fort Knox in an effort to stifle future funding of the Vietnam War, so perhaps certain parties felt the film was too political for its own good. Or maybe audience just hated the film, which honestly, is not an easy film to like.
The film's shooting title, "God Bless You, Uncle Sam," may be the most accurate label for this seriously inflammatory tract, a film which in some ways seems too radical for its own good. Even more curious, the film is "presented" by Ralph Edwards, producer of hit TV shows such as The Peoples Court and This is Your Life. But Wild in the Sky is definitely worth a look for its sheer obscurity, it's moments of comic brilliance, and for it being a shining example of that very short window of creative freedom in the early 1970s when anti-military, anti-government films (such as FTA and Another Nice Mess) could actually be made and released; compare with today, when big Hollywood blockbusters such as the Marvel comic book franchise films are nothing more than feature-length advertisements for the military-industrial complex. Commercial film has certainly deteriorated in the last 50 years, and dear, strange films like Wild in the Sky are the proof.