Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Ken Annakin directs. Christopher Challis behind the camera. Ron Goodwin scores. Anne V. Coates cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.
• 261 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Dialogue crosses 5 languages: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese.
• 4Part of the "Those Magnificent Men in Their...Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
• 5Directed by Ken Annakin, shot by Christopher Challis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Ron Goodwin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Anne V. Coates shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Stuart Whitman and Sarah Miles and James Fox carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "20th Century-Fox Presents The Motion Picture That Sets Comedy Ahead 100 Years!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0059797 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 10 themes, including "aviation", "eiffel tower, paris", "air race", "prize".
• 12Released under 17 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Christopher Challis

Original score

Ron Goodwin

Editing

Anne V. Coates

Production design

Thomas N. Morahan

Runtime

138 min · 2h 18m

Status

Released

Budget

$5,600,000

Box office

$29,950,000

Return

535% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

G

IMDB

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes (1965) ↗

Part of

Those Magnificent Men in Their...Collection

Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British period comedy film. Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies - The film is a sequel to the 1965 hit.

• 
  Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes

  1965 · this one
• 
  Monte Carlo or Bust!

  1969

Also by

Ken Annakin

• 
  The Wonderful World of Disney

  1954 · ★ 7.9
• 
  The Longest Day

  1962 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Landfall

  1949 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Vote for Huggett

  1949 · ★ 7.2
• 
  Fenlands

  1946 · ★ 7.0
• 
  Murder at the Mardi Gras

  1978 · ★ 7.0

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

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  ▶
  Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965) B&W Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES Trailer

  Trailer
• 

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  Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines Trailer [HD]

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• RaeElaine2015-03-07

  So STRANGE that I get to write a first review of this movie. This movie, short handed to TMMTFM, is so much fun to watch, and on a DVD (or Blue Ray), you can pause it while you fetch your O2 bottle so that you do not turn blue. I will leave it up to proper aeroplanists as to whether or not this is good flying instruction. However, as a former unit Safety Officer, spotting safety hazards can be a real sport. I think I counted six at my last use/view. Researching material on the internet can be a real diversion. Although TMMTFM is about airplanes, automotive buffs can get a fix on some splendid specimens, that were before my time.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2026-04-02
  ★ 7/10

  I remember this was always on STV when I was a child, and so with all the adverts it ran to over three hours and so I’m not sure I’ve ever got to the end of it until now. Now that I have, I found it quite an enjoyable romp in the style of David’s Niven’s “Around the World…” from 1956. “Lord Rawnsley” (Robert Morley) is worried that British preeminence in the aviation race might, well, not actually exist. With French, German, Italian, Japanese and yes, even the old colonials across the pond taking the lead, he determines that something has to be done. A prize of £10,000 ($50,000) is to be offered to someone who can fly from London to Paris. Nowadays that takes about as long as it takes to neck a glass of wine, but here we are talking about it probably taking fifty times that amount of time as the great and the good of international aeronautics gather together. Aside from now showing us a splendid array of contraptions that looked no more aerodynamic than Windsor Castle, it also introduces us to the romantic shenanigans that are going to underpin much of the rivalry. You see, “Patricia” (Sarah Miles) is the daughter of their sponsoring peer and she is unofficially affianced to the dapper but pretty hapless “Mays” (James Fox) - assuming, that is, that he can find a spare evening between his card games, his snooker and his flying. His goose might be about to be cooked, though, as the arrival of the charming American “Orvil” (Stuart Whitman) risks sweeping the perfectly savvy girl off her feet. With each of them constantly threatening to thrash the other, that leaves room for the Machiavellian schemer “Sir Percy” (Terry-Thomas) to wander the aerodrome sabotaging at will so that his is the only plane that might win. With temperatures rising and tempers flaring, it’s time for the actual race - who’s going to get the cheque? This features an all star cast that looks like it is enjoying itself as the slapstick and the engineering take off quite entertainingly. A slew of familiar faces each have their moment in the sun, or in the air, and it doesn’t miss out on stoking some international incidents and poking fun at some stereotypes along the way. There is some aerial photography that isn’t so terribly convincing sixty years later but with Terry-Thomas at his most dastardly and Gert Frobe knowing just how to deflate his own balloon, there’s plenty here to raise a smile.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  20th Century Fox

  US

Key crew

• ProducerStan Margulies
• EditorAnne V. Coates
• CastingStuart Lyons
• EditorGordon Stone
• Production DesignThomas N. Morahan
• Costume DesignerOsbert Lancaster
• Focus PullerMike Fox
• Focus PullerJohn M. Jordan
• Assistant DirectorClive Reed
• AnimationTony White

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• aviation
• eiffel tower, paris
• air race
• prize
• reproduction
• vintage aircraft
• stereotype
• multinational
• 1910s
• benny hill

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1965-06-16G

Also known as

International titles

• Quei temerari sulle macchine volantiIT
• Ces merveilleux fous volants dans leur drôles de machinesFR
• 飞行器里的好小伙，或我是怎样花25小时11分从伦敦飞到巴黎CN
• 这些在飞行器里的了不起的男人们；可是，我怎么才能花25小时11分钟的时间从伦敦飞往巴黎呢CN
• Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying MachinesZA
• Azok a csodálatos férfiak, az ő repülő masináikkalHU
• 我是怎样花25小时11分从伦敦飞到巴黎CN
• Los intrépidos y sus máquinas voladorasAR
• Disse dristige menn i de farlige flyNO
• Disse prægtige mænd i deres flyvende maskiner, eller hvordan jeg fløj fra London til Paris på 25 timer og 11 minutterDK
• Nuo mainiot miehet lentävissä koneissaanFI
• Dessa fantastiska män i sina flygande maskinerSE
• Die Knotsgekke Kerels in Hun Vliegende KrattenNL
• Эти великолепные люди на своих летательных аппаратах, или «Как я летел из Лондона в Париж за 25 часов 11 минут»RU
• Esses Maravilhosos Homens e suas Máquinas VoadorasBR