The Gypsy Moths on DVD

The late John Frankenheimer knew how to do an action scene, and The Gypsy Moths gives him the opportunity to wow his audience with some incredible skydiving stunt work.

The story follows a team of skydivers, the Gypsy Moths, who travel the country putting on spectacular daredevil jump shows. Burt Lancaster plays Mike Rettig, leader of the trio that also includes Gene Hackman as Joe Browdy and Scott Wilson as Malcolm Webson. The film opens with a breathtaking jump (Frankenheimer used real, though amateur, divers for these scenes) that sets the scene and the mood beautifully, and if it doesn’t take your breath away you must be made of stone.

Then the actual narrative begins, a story that transcends the action genre and gives us both thrills and substantive drama.

The Gypsy Moths show up in a small Kansas town, which also turns out to where Webson used to live. They’re taken in by a couple related to Webson, rather than having to stay at a hotel, and from this decision stems most of the non-skydiving-related drama - and it’s interesting stuff.

Lancaster ends up having an affair with the woman of the house (Deborah Kerr), who’s trapped in a loveless marriage to William Windom, while his partners strike out in search of some excitement of their own. But the real excitement is up in the air, as Hackman and Wilson try to convince Lancaster to cool his jets a bit and pull the ripcord farther from the ground than he’s been wont to do.

He won’t listen, of course, and near the film’s climax he brings new meaning to the expression “jumping to a conclusion” via a spectacular solo jump that has apparently bitten skydivers before.

The Gypsy Moths is a fabulous effort by all involved. It features some terrific performances by the major actors (Hackman in particular), wonderful action, and a good script that keeps up the interest level. Frankenheimer’s direction is sure and it all combines to create a good drama that, at times, also becomes a real edge-of-the-seat gripper.

The DVD’s pretty good, too. It’s presented in anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and the picture quality is very good. It isn’t up to the “reference quality” standards of some DVD’s (Superbit titles, for example), but that’s okay; the colors are bright, the edges sharp, and it looks really good on a widescreen TV.

Audio is Dolby Digital mono and it’s also very good - especially during the skydiving sequences where director Frankenheimer puts you in the middle of the jump with the wind whistling through your hair. It really gets you feeling involved.

Extras include a feature length commentary by the late director, who opines that Gypsy Moths is one of the favorites of his many outstanding directorial efforts. He gives some pretty neat insight not only into the film, but into the studio’s corporate climate of the time.

You also get the trailer, and a very good behind the scenes feature that covers the outstanding work done by the stunt skydiving team. There are also short interviews with Frankenheimer, Lancaster, and Kerr.

The Gypsy Moths, from MGM Home Video
107 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital mono
Starring Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Gene Hackman, Scott Wilson,
Produced by Hal Landers and Bobby Roberts
Written by William Hanley, Directed by John Frankenheimer

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