The Night They Took Miss Beautiful

Last updated
The Night They Took Miss Beautiful
The Night They Took Miss Beautiful.jpg
Television poster
GenreMystery
Written by Lou LaRose (story)
George Lefferts
Directed by Robert Michael Lewis
Starring Chuck Connors
Sheree North
Theme music composer Walter Murphy
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers Don Kirshner
Merrill Grant
Producer George Lefferts
CinematographyJules Brenner
EditorsLes Green
Robert L. Swanson
Running time100 minutes
Production companiesDon Kirshner Productions
La Rose Productions Ltd.
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseOctober 24, 1977 (1977-10-24)

The Night They Took Miss Beautiful is a 1977 American made-for-television drama film appearing on the NBC network that was produced by Don Kirshner. The film features a large number of stars in a story about "skyjacking beauty queens" on a Consolidated PBY Catalina. The passengers include five beauty pageant contestants, their entourage, and a secret agent carrying a vial of a secret and highly fatal biological warfare toxin that if opened can cause a pandemic. [1]

Contents

Plot

Following a Miss Universe-style contest in Miami, Florida, the five semi-finalists are flown to Nassau, Bahamas in a flying boat along with the American contestant's stage mother; the group's escort, Kate Malloy (Stella Stevens); Miss Beautiful Master of Ceremonies Marv Barker (Phil Silvers) and a deadheading pilot, Paul Fabiani (Gary Collins).

At the airport, no one notices two men in flight mechanic's coveralls board the aircraft and conceal themselves. The two, members of a Symbionese Liberation Army-type revolutionary terrorist group, hijack the aircraft, killing the co-pilot when he attempts to send a warning over the radio. The surviving pilot lowers the aircraft to 200 feet to avoid radar and lands on a small uninhabited island that has World War II-vintage buildings. What the two terrorists do not know is that a deadly contagious nerve agent is aboard.

Awaiting the kidnapped passengers is Layla Burden (Sheree North), de facto leader of the terrorists who will kill the captives one by one until a $5 million ransom is paid.

Back at the small Miami airport the flying boat left from, security manager Mike O'Toole (Chuck Connors) meets two government agents, who are not from the Federal Bureau of Investigation but from an unnamed government agency with higher authority. The two agents are accompanied by several soldiers wearing American combat uniforms without insignia carrying automatic weapons.

Mike is shocked that the government agents not only have no intention of paying the ransom, but will instead get a fix on their position from the next radio transmission of their demands and launch an airstrike to kill the lot of them, including the hostages. Mike concludes that the captive's only hope rests with him.

Cast

Production

The Night They Took Miss Beautiful featured a Consolidated PBY Catalina, a flying boat that dates back to the 1930s and 1940s. It was used as a patrol, reconnaissance and night bomber during World War II.

Reception

The Night They Took Miss Beautiful was not critically reviewed, but People in its "Picks and Pans" review was succinct: "Terrorists hold a planeload of beauty pageant finalists for ransom in this TV movie starring Phil Silvers, Stella Stevens, Sheree North and Chuck Connors. Better they should keep them." [2]

In a later 2007 DVD release, The Night They Took Miss Beautiful was bundled with The Woman Hunter , a 1972 made-for-television mystery film. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flying boat</span> Aircraft equipped with a boat hull for operation from water

A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated PBY Catalina</span> American 1930s flying boat

The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina, is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In US Army service it was designated the OA-10, in Canadian service as the Canso and it later received the NATO reporting name Mop. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other nations. The last military PBYs served until the 1980s. As of 2021, 86 years after its first flight, the aircraft continues to fly as a waterbomber in aerial firefighting operations in some parts of the world.

John Alexander Cruickshank, is a Scottish former banker, former Royal Air Force officer, and a Second World War recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Cruickshank was awarded the VC for sinking a German U-boat and then, despite serious injuries, safely landing his aircraft. He is the last living recipient to have been awarded the VC during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin PBM Mariner</span> American patrol bomber flying boat

The Martin PBM Mariner is a twin-engine American patrol bomber flying boat of World War II and the early Cold War era. It was designed to complement the Consolidated PBY Catalina and PB2Y Coronado in service. A total of 1,366 PBMs were built, with the first example flying on February 18, 1939, and the type entering service in September 1940, with the last of the type being retired in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narsarsuaq Airport</span> Airport located in Narsarsuaq, Kujalleq, Greenland

Narsarsuaq Airport is an airport located in Narsarsuaq, a settlement in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland. Along with Kangerlussuaq Airport, it is one of two airports in Greenland capable of serving large airliners. It is also the only international airport in southern Greenland. The settlement it serves is small, with the airport primarily functioning as a transfer point for passengers heading for the helicopter hubs of Air Greenland in Qaqortoq and Nanortalik. The airport is to be closed in 2025 when Qaqortoq Airport is scheduled to open.

The Easter Sunday Raid was an air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean raid by carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 5 April 1942. The Japanese objective was to destroy the Ceylon-based British Eastern Fleet in harbour. The British preemptively dispersed shipping from the harbours before the attacks due to advance warning from intelligence in March 1942, and air reconnaissance during the raid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Green Gordon</span> American politician

Nathan Green Gordon was an American lawyer, politician, and decorated naval aviator. A Democrat, he served as the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas for ten terms, from 1947 to 1967. As a United States Navy officer in World War II, he received the U.S. military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for rescuing the crews of several downed airplanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A-1 lifeboat</span> Powered lifeboat for air drop deployment

The A-1 lifeboat was a powered lifeboat that was made to be dropped by fixed-wing aircraft into water to aid in air-sea rescue operations. The sturdy airborne lifeboat was to be carried by a heavy bomber specially modified to handle the external load of the lifeboat. The A-1 lifeboat was intended to be dropped by parachute during Dumbo missions to land within reach of the survivors of an accident on the ocean, specifically airmen survivors of an emergency water landing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumbo (air-sea rescue)</span>

Dumbo was the code name used by the United States Navy during the 1940s and 1950s to signify search and rescue missions, conducted in conjunction with military operations, by long-range aircraft flying over the ocean. The purpose of Dumbo missions was to rescue downed American aviators as well as seamen in distress. Dumbo aircraft were originally land-based heavy bomber aircraft converted to carry an airborne lifeboat to be dropped in the water near survivors. The name "Dumbo" came from Walt Disney's flying elephant, the main character of the animated film Dumbo, appearing in October 1941.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 526A</span> 1952 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 526A, a Douglas DC-4, took off from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport, Puerto Rico, at 12:11 PM AST on April 11, 1952 on a flight to Idlewild International Airport, New York City with 64 passengers and five crew members on board. Due to inadequate maintenance, engine no. 3 failed after takeoff, followed shortly by engine no. 4. Nine minutes after takeoff, the aircraft ditched in rough seas 11.3 miles NW of San Juan Airport, broke apart and sank after three minutes. Panicking passengers refused to leave the sinking wreck. 52 passengers were killed, and 17 passengers and crew members were rescued by the USCG. After this accident it was recommended to implement pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights.

High Barbaree is a 1947 American drama war film directed by Jack Conway. It stars Van Johnson and June Allyson, in the third of their six screen pairings. The screenplay based on the novel High Barbaree (1945) by authors Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VPB-63</span> Military unit

VPB-63 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 63 (VP-63) on 19 September 1942, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 63 (VPB-63) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 2 July 1945.

VPB-92 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 92 (VP-92) on 26 December 1941, redesignated as Patrol Bombing Squadron 92 (VPB-91) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 28 May 1945. It operated the PBY-5A Catalina throughout its operational history.

VP-3 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 16-F (VP-16F) on 2 January 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 16 (VP-16) on 1 October 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 41 (VP-41) on 1 July 1939, redesignated Bombing Squadron 136 (VB-136) on 1 March 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 136 (VPB-136) on 1 October 1944, redesignated Patrol Squadron 136 (VP-136) on 15 May 1946, redesignated Medium Patrol Squadron (landplane) 3 (VP-ML-3) on 15 November 1946, redesignated Patrol Squadron 3 (VP-3) on 1 September 1948, and was disestablished on 1 November 1955. It was the second squadron to be designated VP-3, the first VP-3 was redesignated VP-32 on 1 July 1939.

VPB-44 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 44 (VP-44) on 3 June 1941, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 44 (VPB-44) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 20 June 1945.

VPB-121 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 19 (VP-19) on 1 October 1937, redesignated Patrol Squadron 43 (VP-43) on 1 July 1939, redesignated Patrol Squadron 81 (VP-81) on 1 July 1941, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 121 (VPB-121) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 1 June 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated PBY Catalina in Australian service</span> Type of aircraft

Developed as a naval patrol aircraft, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was a widely exported flying boat during World War II. Over the course of the conflict it served with a number of different nations in a variety of roles. In the Royal Australian Air Force, PBYs and PB2Bs served as multi role bombers and scouts, the type eventually earning great renown among Australian aircrews. The motto of the Catalina squadrons was "The First and Furthest."

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Taylor 2015, p. 98.
  2. ↑ "Picks and Pans Review: The Night They Took Miss Beautiful." People, September 3, 1979.
  3. ↑ "The Woman Hunter / The Night They Took Miss Beautiful." Tower Video. Retrieved: November 30, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Taylor, Tadhg. Masters of the Shoot-'Em-Up: Conversations With Directors, Actors and Writers of Vintage Action Movies and Television Shows. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2015. ISBN   978-0-7864-9406-4.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.