Pancho Barnes (film)

Last updated
Pancho Barnes
Pancho Barnes (1988 film).jpg
GenreAction
Adventure
Drama
Written by John Michael Hayes
Story byDavid Crisholm
John Michael Hayes
Directed by Richard T. Heffron
Starring Valerie Bertinelli
Ted Wass
James Stephens
Cynthia Harris
Music by Allyn Ferguson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersBlu André
Alice Pardo
Production locationsHartlee Field Airport, Denton, Texas
Dallas
Forney, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Houston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
CinematographyWilliam Wages
EditorsMichael F. Anderson
Michael Eliot
Running time150 minutes
Production company Orion Television
Original release
Network CBS
ReleaseOctober 25, 1988 (1988-10-25)

Pancho Barnes is a 1988 American made-for-television biographical film about the pioneering female aviator, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Ted Wass, James Stephens and Cynthia Harris. The film was directed by Richard T. Heffron and premiered on CBS on October 25, 1988. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

Leaving an arranged marriage to Reverend Rankin Barnes (James Stephens), Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes (Bertinelli) takes an interest in flying light planes in the 1920s, and soon rivals Amelia Earhart (Nance Williamson), breaking world speed records.

Barnes is hired by Howard Hughes (David Kockinis) to do stunt flying for the film Hell's Angels , instigates the formation of the Associated Motion Picture Pilots, was a World War II Air Force Civilian Pilot Trainer, and establishes the Happy Bottom Riding Club as a mess hall for pilots and former servicemen. [4]

Cast

Reception

Don Shirley of the Los Angeles Times was critical, saying the film sanitized Barnes' life and persona. [5]

Awards

At the 1989 Emmys, Pancho Barnes won Outstanding Achievement in Costuming for A Miniseries or A Special and was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for A Miniseries or A Special. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Harris</span> American actor and director (born 1950)

Edward Allen Harris is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in Apollo 13 (1995), The Truman Show (1998), Pollock (2000), and The Hours (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Stanley</span> American actress (1925–2001)

Kim Stanley was an American actress, primarily in television and theatre, but with occasional film performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Berenger</span> American actor (born 1949)

Tom Berenger is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in Platoon (1986). He is also known for playing Jake Taylor in the Major League films and Thomas Beckett in the Sniper films. Other films he appeared in include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Dogs of War (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Field (1990), Sniper (1992), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996), Training Day (2001), and Inception (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Leeves</span> English actress

Jane Elizabeth Leeves is an English actress, best known for her role as Daphne Moon on the NBC sitcom Frasier (1993–2004), for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She also played Joy Scroggs on TV Land's sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valerie Bertinelli</span> American actress (born 1960)

Valerie Anne Bertinelli is an American actress and television personality. She first achieved recognition as an adolescent, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom One Day at a Time (1975–1984), for which she won two Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film. She subsequently earned adult stardom as Gloria on the religious drama series Touched by an Angel (2001–2003), and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010–2015), which brought her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In 2012, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<i>One Day at a Time</i> (1975 TV series) American television sitcom (1975–1984)

One Day at a Time is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from December 16, 1975, to May 28, 1984. It starred Bonnie Franklin as a divorced mother raising two teenage daughters, played by Mackenzie Phillips and Valerie Bertinelli, set in Indianapolis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared Harris</span> British/Irish actor

Jared Francis Harris is a British actor. His roles include Lane Pryce in the drama series Mad Men (2009–2012), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series; King George VI in the historical drama series The Crown (2016–2017); and Valery Legasov in the miniseries Chernobyl (2019), for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Madigan</span> American actress

Amy Marie Madigan is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1985 film Twice in a Lifetime. Her other film credits include Love Child (1982), Places in the Heart (1984), Field of Dreams (1989), Uncle Buck (1989), The Dark Half (1993), Pollock (2000), and Gone Baby Gone (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pancho Barnes</span> American aviator

Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes was a pioneer aviator and a founder of the first movie stunt pilots' union. In 1930, she broke Amelia Earhart's air speed record. Barnes raced in the Women's Air Derby and was a member of the Ninety-Nines. In later years, she was known as the owner of the Happy Bottom Riding Club, a bar and restaurant in the Mojave Desert, Southern California, catering to the legendary test pilots and aviators who worked nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Happy Bottom Riding Club</span> Dude ranch at Edwards Air Force Base

The Happy Bottom Riding Club (1935–1953), was a dude ranch, restaurant, and hotel operated by aviator Florence "Pancho" Barnes near Edwards Air Force Base in the Antelope Valley of California's Mojave Desert. Barnes and her club were featured in Tom Wolfe's 1979 book, The Right Stuff, and its 1983 film adaptation.

Nick T. Spark is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. Films he has written, directed or produced include Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines (2001) the Emmy award-winning The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club (2009) and Right Footed (2015). In addition to being a contributing editor to Wings and Airpower magazines, his articles have appeared in the Annals of Improbable Research, Naval History, the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society, and Proceedings. People he has interviewed include President Gerald Ford, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Secretary of State Colin Powell, disability activist Jessica Cox and numerous test pilots including Charles "Chuck" Yeager. In 2007 Spark was interviewed on National Public Radio, concerning an article he wrote about the USS Panay incident, and he appeared on PBS' History Detectives in 2011 as an expert on the Navy's World War II drone, the TDR-1.

<i>Steal the Sky</i> 1988 American TV series or program

Steal the Sky is a 1988 HBO movie directed by John D. Hancock and starring Mariel Hemingway and Ben Cross. The film is based on the true story of an Iraqi Assyrian fighter pilot Munir Redfa, who defected by flying a MiG-21 fighter jet to Israel in 1966. Steal the Sky was the first production under the HBO-Paramount co-financing agreement launched in 1987.

Our Fathers is a 2005 American drama television film directed by Dan Curtis and starring Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer, Brian Dennehy and Ellen Burstyn. The screenplay was written by Thomas Michael Donnelly, based on the 2004 non-fiction book Our Fathers: The Secret Life of the Catholic Church in an Age of Scandal by David France. It was the last film directed by Curtis, who died soon after it was finished.

The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club is a 2009 American documentary film that chronicles the life of aviation pioneer Florence Lowe "Pancho" Barnes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's Air Derby</span> American aviator

The Women's Air Derby was the first official women-only air race in the United States, taking place during the 1929 National Air Races. Humorist Will Rogers referred to it as the Powder Puff Derby, the name by which the race is most commonly known. Nineteen pilots took off from Clover Field, Santa Monica, California, on August 18, 1929. Marvel Crosson died in a crash apparently caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, but fifteen completed the race in Cleveland, Ohio, nine days later.

Clayton "Clay" Westervelt is a film director, producer, and cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California. He is the founder of Martini Crew Booking and Imaginaut Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia Erivo</span> British actress and singer (born 1987)

Cynthia Erivo is an English actress and singer. She gained recognition for starring in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple from 2015 to 2017, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, playing roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. For her portrayal of American abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet (2019), Erivo received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress; she also wrote and performed the song "Stand Up" on its soundtrack, which garnered her a nomination in the Best Original Song category.

The Triple Crown of Acting is a term used in the American entertainment industry to describe actors who have won a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, the highest awards recognized in American film, television, and theater, respectively. The term is related to other competitive areas, such as the Triple Crown of horse racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James' Episcopal Church (South Pasadena, California)</span> Church in South Pasadena, California

St. James' Episcopal Church is a parish of the Episcopal Church in South Pasadena, California, and part of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monrovia Airport, California</span> Airport in California, US, 1928 to 1952

Monrovia Airport, also called the Foothill Flying Field, was an American airport in Monrovia, California active from 1928 to 1952.

References

  1. [ dead link ]
  2. "Florence "Pancho" Barnes; the Woman, the Legacy". Mojave Desert News . Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  3. "Setting the record straight on Pancho Barnes". Theitem.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  4. "Who is Pancho Barnes…". Panchobarnes.com. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  5. "Television Review : 'Pancho Barnes' Never Gets Off the Ground". Los Angeles Times . 25 October 1988. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  6. "PANCHO BARNES". Emmys.com. Retrieved 10 January 2022.