Sole Survivor (1970 film)

Sole Survivor,made for television film directed by Paul Stanley, written by Guerdon Trueblood. Starring Richard Basehart, William Shatner and Vince Edwards. Loosely based on the true discovery in 1959 of the remains a B24D Liberator bomber "Lady Be Good" in the Libyan desert, which crashed following a bombing raid on Naples in 1943.

Synopsis

In the film, the B-25 Mitchell bomber crashes after sustaining damage during action with enemy fighters. Without any order to abandon the aircraft the navigator, Hamner (Basehart), bails out and survives the crash. The aircraft flies on for another 700 miles and eventually crashes in the desert. The "survivors" remain close to the wreckage of the aircraft, passing the time by playing baseball. The 5 crew members, now ghosts who have spent the last 17 years at the site, undiscovered, and are in limbo, longing for repatriation back to their home country. The plane is finally spotted by an oil surveying aircraft, which reports the discovery back to the US Air force. Realising that they are soon about to 'have visitors' the 5 remaining crew members start about returning the plane to its state at the time of the crash, putting objects and artifacts in their original position. The surviving navigator, Hamner(Basehart), now a major general, is part of the team sent to investigate the remains of the B-25. The investigation team, start to discover the truth behind Hamner's 'bail out' of the aircraft.

"The Twilight Zone" TV Series. Episode entitled "King Nine Will Not Return" had a similar storyline and was also based the discovery of the "Lady Be Good"

[http://imdb.com/title/tt0065007/ IMDB.com Sole Survivor]

"'Release information"' IThe film was released for television on 9th January 1970.It has never been released on VHS video or DVD, though some low quality copies do exist and appear from time to time on online auction sites.

Cast of "Sole Survivor" (TV movie, 1970):
Vince Edwards as Maj. Michael Devlin
Richard Basehart as BG Russell Hamner

William Shatner as LtC Josef Gronke
Lou Antonio as Tony
Lawrence P. Casey as Gant
Dennis Cooney as Brandy
Brad David as Elmo
Patrick Wayne as Mac
Alan Caillou as Corey
Timur Bashtu as Beddo
Noah Keen as MG Schurm
Ian Abercrombie as British co-pilot
David Cannon as Capt. Patrick
John Winston as British pilot
Julie Bennett as Amanda
Bart Burns as Older Senato

Behind the Scenes:
Director: Paul Stanley
Writer: Guerdon Trueblood
Producer: Wally Burr
Executive Producer: Steve Shagan

Music: Paul Glass
Cenematography: James Crabe
Film Editing: Renn Reynolds
Art Direction: William Craig Smith
Set Decoration: Ira Bates
Costume Design: Robert B. Harris

Production Manager: Edward O. Denault
Assistant Director: Herb Willis
Sound Mixer: Bud Alper
Music Supervisor: Morton Stevens

"'Sources"'

Lady be Good. [http://www.qmfound.com/lady_be_good_b-24_bomber_recovery.htm] Sole Survivor. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065007/plotsummary]