In 1910, the Brit, Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley), announces that there will be a race from London to Paris. So, amateur pilots from various nations arrive in order to try to claim the prize--flying the very slow and flimsy planes of the day. Much of the film simply consists of the things leading up to the race itself--and the race doesn't even begin until 97 minutes into the movie! The film is meant to be a comedy. Some of it is quite funny (such as Gert Fröbe making march music as he walks about trying to be a VERY German officer) and much of it is very broad (the chase scene with the runaway plane). During all this, Terry-Thomas plays a Dick Dartardly or Professor Fate sort of jerk--cheating and sabotaging his way towards the prize. For me, the best thing about the film are the wonderful old planes they recreated for the film--and with such slow planes, the mid-air sequences were exciting to watch. But as for the humor and plot, they were only mildly diverting.
My advice is to skip this film and watch a similar but MUCH better film that came out only about two weeks after this film. "The Great Race" was simply funnier and the plot worked much better--whereas "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" was very uneven and episodic. Not bad--but not great either.
By the way, if you do watch it, look for the scene where Terry-Thomas' plan is stuck on a train. If you look behind him, you'll see a VERY modern power plant--and it appears to be a nuclear one...in 1910 France!!
My advice is to skip this film and watch a similar but MUCH better film that came out only about two weeks after this film. "The Great Race" was simply funnier and the plot worked much better--whereas "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" was very uneven and episodic. Not bad--but not great either.
By the way, if you do watch it, look for the scene where Terry-Thomas' plan is stuck on a train. If you look behind him, you'll see a VERY modern power plant--and it appears to be a nuclear one...in 1910 France!!