Whoa...this was not the sort of film I'd assumed it would be! While I knew that the film would be about skydiving, I didn't think it would have some of the adult content that it did. While seeing Sheree North naked was a bit of a surprise, she was playing a stripper. However, when moments later I saw Deborah Kerr(!!) and Burt Lancaster naked, I knew that this was NOT what I had expected! This was clearly the late 60s when it came to its sensibilities and in a way it was a shame, as I am sure audiences of the time were a bit hesitant to see films like this or send Junior to see it! This was NOT the Deborah Kerr of "Black Narcissus"!! As for Lancaster, with "The Swimmer" and some other adult roles to his credit already, seeing his butt didn't surprise me very much...but Ms. Kerr?! The angelic and sweet Ms. Kerr?!

As for the movie, while it was not a great film or a must-see, there is a lot to admire. Most importantly, the camera work is very, very impressive--particularly for 1969. Having a cameraman following the skydivers as they jumped wasn't easy. Because of this, the 'making of' film "The Sky Divers" is a great addition to the DVD as it talked about and showed the many technical problems posed by such a demanding shoot.

The plot is not particularly action-packed (despite all the skydiving) but is more like a tale of three very tired men...men who go from city to city putting on jumping expositions to make a buck. It's obvious they aren't getting rich this way and perhaps they hate it in a way, but it's their life. This turned out to be an interesting case study--although it was not particularly easy to connect with any of them. And, at times, it was easy to dislike or be confused by the characters. For example, why did Kerr cheat on her husband? And, for that matter, why did the husband (William Wyndom) go through his role like he was a zombie? Overall, an interesting film but one I don't strongly recommend--especially since, although John Frankenheimer loved this film (probably because he was proud of the technical aspects),it's not among his best work.

By the way, near the beginning of the film, you see some folks talking with the three leads about parking for the upcoming parachute jumping exhibition. Oddly, one of the men in the scene is asleep and the magazine he's been reading is blanked out--like they do on MTV when videos show people with pot leaves on their clothes. Why did they do this AND why does this appear on the DVD? Was it this way originally in theatrical release? I was so curious that I tried listening to the commentary track but it said nothing. I assume the magazine was a Playboy or something but I still wonder why the DVD has it blanked out...especially since you DO see a high amount of nudity throughout the film (for the time it was made).

As George Peppard said in The A-Team he did all that he did with the A Team for 'the jazz'. The Gypsy Moths is a film about 3 parachute jumpers who entertain in small town red state America in the late sixties. One is a young man Scott Wilson and he's brought the show back to his small Kansas town of Bridgewater. His two fellow jumpers are Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman and these guys are at varying degrees of having their fill of 'the jazz'. Especially Lancaster, not too many notes left in his horn to blow any jazz.

But all three feel they have an image to maintain especially in Wilson's home town. They all get invited to a home cooked meal at the house where William Windom, wife Deborah Kerr, and daughter Bonnie Bedelia live. There's some unusual history with Wilson and that family and all three are drawn into this unhappy family's domestic dispute.

Burt Lancaster who was one of the most vitally alive men on the big screen is great as that vitally alive parachute jumper who jumps out of airplanes for people's entertainment. Alive only when he's in the air and even that's coming to an end. But he's one who wants to be in control of his own destiny and will be to the very end.

Gene Hackman has his doubts and fears and gets them exorcised he feels at the midnight mass of the Catholic Church of wherever he's performing. Otherwise he's the original good time man who's in the business because it makes him money and gets him women. Lancaster and Hackman both have qualities that Wilson should emulate and distance himself from.

This was the 6th and final collaboration between director John Frankenheimer and Burt Lancaster and all six of their films mark some of the best films of the Sixties. Gene Hackman was continuing to break out after his rave reviews from Bonnie And Clyde. And Deborah Kerr ignites some of that old From Here To Eternity chemistry with Lancaster as she realizes he might be her chance at happiness.

The aerial and jump sequences are photographed beyond reproach. Those spectacular stunts and the men who do them stand in sharp contrast to some empty lives they lead.

Definitely for fans Lancaster, Kerr, and Hackman.

THE GYPSY MOTHS is a surprisingly lacklustre relationship drama from director John Frankenheimer, who can usually be relied upon to deliver something intense and exciting. This one's about a trio of sky divers who prepare for a show and romance three different women in turn. The film boasts an excellent cast, involving as it does two seasoned professionals in Burt Lancester and Deborah Kerr, alongside three up-and-comers in the form of Scott Wilson, Gene Hackman and Bonnie Bedelia. The skydiving scenes are as exciting as you'd hope for the ending packs a real punch, but until that point this feels very unfocused, dialogue-heavy, and uninvolving. A relaxed attitude to sex and nudity is apparent but other than seeing some favourite actors doing their thing, there's little reason to tune in.