Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines; Or, How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes is a 1965 British epic period comedy film that satirizes the early years of aviation. Directed and co-written by Ken Annakin, the film stars an international ensemble cast, including Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, Robert Morley, Terry-Thomas, James Fox, Red Skelton, Benny Hill, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Gert Fröbe and Alberto Sordi.
Based on a screenplay entitled Flying Crazy, the fictional account is set in 1910, when English press magnate Lord Rawnsley offers £10,000 () to the winner of the Daily Post air race from London to Paris to prove that Britain is "number one in the air".
Plot
A brief narration outlines man's first attempts to fly since the Stone Age inspired by a bird's flight, seen with footage from the silent film era, and man being represented by a "test pilot" (Red Skelton) encountering periodic misfortune in his attempts.
In 1910, just seven years after the first heavier-than-air flight, aircraft are fragile and unreliable contraptions, piloted by "intrepid birdmen". Pompous British newspaper magnate Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) forbids his would-be aviatrix daughter, ardent suffragette Patricia (Sarah Miles), to fly. Aviator Richard Mays (James Fox), a young army officer and (at least in his own eyes) Patricia's fiancé, conceives the idea of an air race from London to Paris to advance the cause of British aviation and his career. With Patricia's support, he persuades Lord Rawnsley to sponsor the race as a publicity stunt for his newspaper.
Rawnsley, who takes full credit for the idea, announces the event to the press, and invitations are sent to leading aviators all over the world. Dozens of participants arrive at the airfield at the "Brookley" Motor Racing Track, where the fliers make practice runs in the days prior to the race. During this time, a wildly mixed international assembly of aviators begins rubbing shoulders with each other, most of them conforming to national stereotypes: The by-the-book Prussian officer Colonel Manfred von Holstein (Gert Fröbe), who becomes the victim of Frenchman Pierre Dubois' (Jean-Pierre Cassel) various pranks; the impetuous Italian Count Emilio Ponticelli (Alberto Sordi), who buys various aircraft from designer Harry Popperwell (Tony Hancock) and wrecks them in test flights; the unscrupulous British baronet Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), aided by his bullied servant, Courtney (Eric Sykes); and the rugged American cowboy Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman) who falls for Patricia, forming a love triangle with her and Mays.
As the teams test their aircraft in the days before the race, Newton gets caught in the rigging of Sir Percy's plane, which crashes in the nearby sewage farm. Newton later stops the German's aircraft after its tail breaks off and runs out of control. This leads to Patricia falling for him even more and Mays to become more jealous. At a celebration in Brighton, Mays confronts Newton, sparking a fierce rivalry between them for Patricia's hand, just before Japan's official contestant, naval officer Yamamoto, arrives at the airfield.
As Yamamoto is officially greeted, Patricia convinces Newton to take her flying and they race back to the airfield, followed by Mays and her father, who are intent on stopping them. Not long after taking off, one of the struts on Newton's plane breaks, and Patricia has to fly the plane while Newton repairs it with his belt. When Newton lands, Lord Rawnsley throws him out of the race. Patricia apologizes to Newton, and Rawnsley gives in after she threatens to start an international incident. Meanwhile, Holstein, insulted by the French team's mockery, challenges Dubois to a duel. Dubois agrees, and opts for gas balloons and blunderbusses as his weapons of choice. Both balloons and their pilots end up in the filthy waters of the adjacent sewage farm.
At the party the night before the race, Sir Percy sabotages Yamamoto and Newton's planes, and Rumpelstoss, the German pilot, is incapacitated by a laxative meant for Yamamoto. As the competitors take off the next day, with Holstein standing in for Rumpelstoss, Yamamoto's aircraft crashes and he remains pinned in the wreck as a fireman is hesitant to give him a knife to cut himself free due to fears that he will commit seppuku. Fuel blockages and other technical mishaps additionally hamper the fliers, until most of them safely arrive at Dover, their checkpoint before the final flight across the English Channel.