Friday, March 17, 2000

Crazy aerial stunts fly in 'The Great Waldo Pepper'

Coming off the phenomenal successes of "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" and "The Sting," director George Roy Hill was hoping for more Newman-Redford magic in a film called "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975). But before shooting began in late 1973 on locations around San Antonio, Newman dropped out, replaced by a young unknown named Edward Herrmann. (More about him later.)
   "Pepper" is set in the early days of aviation, when fearless barnstormers dropped out of the skies all over the Midwest to offer rides or perform stunts at county fairs.
   The title character (played by Redford) is just such a man, an ex-WW I pilot reduced to coming up with increasingly dangerous flying stunts to compete with up-and-comers. One silly trick has Pepper strapping a terrified (and very young) Susan Sarandon to the wing and letting the wind blow her dress off.
   Pepper's best friend is a brash young flyer named Ezra Stiles (Herrmann), who's determined to accomplish a stunt called an outside loop. When he meets a fiery end at an exhibition, Pepper goes crazy with grief and begins buzzing the crowd to make them disperse from the crash site.
   Banned from flying for his involvement in the stunt, Pepper has to assume other identities to stay on the barnstorming circuit, where he eventually comes wing to wing with the fearless German ace he almost shot down in the war.
   This isn't a great film, but it is highly entertaining, skillfully made and the flying scenes are beautifully photographed. Redford, still a golden matinee idol in those days, has nice screen rapport with Sarandon and another young actress, Margot Kidder, who a year or so later would become famous as Lois Lane in the first "Superman" flick.
   Herrmann came to "Pepper" having completed filming on the then-unreleased films "The Paper Chase," "The Great Gatsby" (also starring Redford) and "Day of the Dolphin" (starring George C. Scott). Just a year or so later, still in his early 30s, Herrmann would win an Emmy for the "Eleanor & Franklin" miniseries (he played FDR) and a Tony for starring opposite Ruth Gordon in "Mrs. Warren's Profession." He went on to star in the short-lived TV series "Beacon Hill. Just last year he won another Emmy for a guest-starring role as a murderous law professor on "The Practice."
   Despite a long list of film, TV and stage credits, Herrmann is probably best known now as the avuncular ad pitchman for Dodge trucks.
   Other trivia notes on "Pepper":