''Wild in the Sky'' is a 1972 American

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

directed by William T. Naud and starring

Georg Stanford Brown Georg Stanford Brown (born June 24, 1943) is an American actor and director, perhaps best known as one of the stars of the ABC police television series '' The Rookies'' from 1972 to 1976. On the show, Brown played the character of Officer Terry ...

Brandon De Wilde Andre Brandon deWilde (April 9, 1942 – July 6, 1972) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn, he debuted on Broadway at the age of seven and became a national phenomenon by the time he comp ...

(in his final film role), Keenan Wynn, Tim O'Connor, and

Dick Gautier Richard Gautier (October 30, 1931 – January 13, 2017) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and caricaturist. He was known for his television roles as Hymie the Robot in the television series '' Get Smart'', and Robin Hood in the TV comedy ...

. The film was released as ''Black Jack'' in New York in December 1973. The film was released by

American International Pictures American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fi ...

in March 1972.

Plot

Three draft age boys are caught with marijuana during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

era. The judge hates "Hippies" so sentences them to prison. The driver of the bus taking them to prison must go to the bathroom, so he stops at a remote and poorly maintained wayside to use its outhouse. The outhouse floor is rotted and the driver plunges through and is killed by the fall. The driver hadn't set the parking brake on the prison bus, so the bus rolls down the highway and falls into and down a canyon with the three boys chained on board. They survive, and after some minor trouble free themselves from the wrecked bus. They then find their driver, dead. They realize that the bus fell into an

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

base where troops are gathering for transport to the war overseas. They plot to steal uniforms, board a troop transport plane, and get off in the Philippines – figuring that since they are not on any passenger list they will make a clean get-away. The three boys know nothing about air force planes and board a B 52 bomber instead of a troop passenger plane. The bomber crew quickly realize that the three new guys know nothing about working on a bomber crew. Having been found out, the three boys take over the bomber, planning to take the hijacked bomber to Cuba. When they find out that the B52 is carrying an atomic bomb, they realize that the United States will destroy the aircraft rather than let them escape to Cuba with a

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

, and give up that plan. All the bomber crew except the pilot decide to escape and parachute out, abandoning the plane. The movie ends with a view of the bomber flying aimlessly over the United States.

Cast

as Lynch *

Brandon deWilde Andre Brandon deWilde (April 9, 1942 – July 6, 1972) was an American theater, film, and television actor. Born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn, he debuted on Broadway at the age of seven and became a national phenomenon by the time he com ...

as Josh * Keenan Wynn as Gen. Harry Gobohare * Tim O'Connor as Sen. Bob Recker *

as Diver (as Richard Gautier) *

Robert Lansing Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wi ...

as Major Reason * James Daly as The President * Michael Fox * Larry Hovis as Capt. Breen *

Bernie Kopell Bernard Morton Kopell (born June 21, 1933) is an American character actor known for his roles as Siegfried in ''Get Smart'' from 1966 to 1969 and as Dr. Adam Bricker ("Doc") on ''The Love Boat'' from 1977 to 1986. Early beginnings Kopell was bo ...

as Penrat *Karl Lucas *Emby Mellay *Chet Stratton *

Dub Taylor Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994),Dub Taylor, 87, Actor in Westerns, The New York Times, October 5, 1994, Section B, Page 12 was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extens ...

as Officer Roddenberry *

Joe Turkel Joseph Turkel (July 15, 1927 – June 27, 2022) was an American character actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s. He is known for his roles in Stanley Kubrick's films '' The Killing'', ''Paths ...

as Corazza *Phil Vandervort as Woody

References

External links

* 1970s action comedy films American action comedy films 1972 films American International Pictures films 1972 comedy films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{1970s-comedy-film-stub