A pair of veterans from the First World War find themselves working together to put on shows for audiences in rural areas, performing increasingly hazardous aerial stunts. Susan Sarandon portrays a woman who becomes part of their group, while Margot Kidder is featured as the central character’s sometimes girlfriend. Geoffrey Lewis also appears as an inspector representing the recently established Air Commerce. "The Great Waldo Pepper," released in 1975, honors those men and women who put themselves at risk to provide entertainment through "flying circuses" during the 1920s and early 1930s. By the time this story takes place, rivalry among stunt pilots had led to progressively more perilous maneuvers and widely reported incidents, ultimately resulting in stricter safety rules and the end of barnstorming. The film combines moments of intense danger with lighter, humorous scenes. Certain sequences that some reviewers have described as 'callous' simply reflect the realities of the era depicted. Even for a woman who joined the team, she was treated like one of them, and everyone understood the dangers involved. Unexpected deaths, while sad, were an accepted part of how these performers earned their living; the show had to continue. If you’ve seen movies such as “The Blue Max,” "Flyboys," or "The Red Baron," this offers a glimpse into what happened to some of those aerial combatants after the war ended. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour and 47 minutes, and filming primarily occurred in and around Elgin, Texas (located east of Austin), and Piru, California (approximately a fifty-minute drive northwest of Los Angeles). Studio work was completed at Universal Studios. GRADE: B-/B

Source on TMDB