D.B. Cooper’s skyjacking in 1971 made him a determine of nice intrigue, and the thriller of his destiny after the crime endures many years later.
The movie The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper
strays removed from the precise particulars of the case, flopping each commercially and with critics.
To salvage the chaotic movie shoot, Common opted to play up the celeb angle of the skyjacker by way of a million-dollar reward for ideas resulting in his arrest, which was not claimed.
$200,000 is not what we might name an enormous take by theft requirements at this time, nevertheless it was fairly a fortune in 1971 when a skyjacker fleeced the sum from a regional American airline. Occurring on the peak of the age of airliner-related crime, this one gangster took maintain of the imaginations of the Pacific Northwest, buying folks hero standing, and outsmarting a number of state and federal our bodies in an unprecedented crime.
Leaping from the backdoor of the Northwest Orient Airways airplane, the world descended on the backcountry of Washington State to catch him. However they had been horribly disillusioned when the path grew ice-cold instantly. Cooper, as he gave his title, evaded the legislation for many years, that’s, if he survived in any respect.
D.B. Cooper’s scheme might need been meticulous, however his biopic was a disaster from starting to finish, eventual director Roger Spottiswoode discovering himself thrust in the course of a movie already deep within the gap a few million. By no means underestimate a great promotional plan, as a result of, within the case of The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper, that was all they’d. When the FBI and the best sleuths fail, who higher to nab D.B. Cooper than a bunch of fits from Common’s advertising and marketing group?
There are a couple of methods to win over the hearts of Individuals, and one of many least probably is hijacking a Boeing 727 with a faux bomb whereas carrying a clip-on tie from J.C. Penney. The legendary Flight 305 to Seattle takes a detour into humor because the movie recklessly speculates on the lifetime of the skyjacker after he safely touched down. What opens as a wide ranging heist film devolves right into a romantic street movie, then a goofy comedy. In case you needed a hard-hitting, ’70s-style, crime epic, boy, are you watching the incorrect film. True crime this ain’t.
The Story of D.B. Cooper
PolyGram Photos
Decked out in a boring swimsuit and carrying solely an unusual briefcase excellent for a discrete businessman on his weekly commute to a gathering, this explicit rider did not stand out. Nevertheless, he wasn’t out for frequent-flyer miles. His authorized title stays unknown, however you may name him D.B. We do not know why individuals name him that, however the title caught.
His destiny as soon as he plunged out of the fuselage the day earlier than Thanksgiving is a matter of legend. Numerous bits of proof within the type of decomposing 20 greenback payments (that denomination requested by the hijacker) have turned up over the many years, however these leads have by no means conclusively confirmed legit, and Cooper’s exact touchdown location and total plan of escape have by no means been ascertained. Fittingly, the topic has come up through the years in media, principally in documentaries rehashing the identical particulars, however did play a big position within the aughts comedy With no Paddle:
Cooper’s cool demeanor and supposedly excellent crime appealed to Individuals’ love of a strong theft. The earliest try to money in on the cult standing of Mr. Cooper was the novel Free Fall by writer J.D. Reed, later used as supply materials for the 1981 movie The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper. By the way, the case was a blur of misreported details and conflated eyewitness accounts from the beginning.
The moniker “D.B.” was added by the press in an obvious typo, or possibly it sounded higher in newsrooms. Who is aware of? The FBI designated him “Dan Cooper,” the title he used when shopping for the ticket. Early information bulletins on the incident, as seen in clips of CBS’s protection, additionally referred to him as “D.A. Cooper.” To anticipate accuracy from this movie is asking an excessive amount of, and you may’t blame them when nobody else received it proper both.
Regardless of trendy curiosity within the thriller, his motives, and numerous treasure hunts to pinpoint the ultimate resting place of that stolen money, we aren’t any nearer to monitoring down Cooper than we had been in 1971, or 1981 for that matter. That hasn’t stopped individuals from attempting.
The Excellent Advertising and marketing Gimmick
New York Journal
Robert Duvall’s filmography is so jammed with attention-grabbing performances that it is simple to lose observe of the forgettable roles sandwiched among the many filler. Misplaced between his career-defining turns in Apocalypse Now in 1979, and Tender Mercies in 1983 — which lastly received him an Oscar — he determined to take a stab at a comedy caper. Duvall headlined, Deal with Williams — a revered however largely unknown actor — secured the position because the titular character, and Kathryn Harrold was solid because the love curiosity.
To face out, the US distributor Common got here up with a intelligent angle to advertise the heist journey. For one million bucks, viewers may drop a dime on the skyjacker and resolve the aeronautical crime of the century. Commercials ran throughout the nation, Cooper’s grinning face (or quite Deal with Williams’) flashed throughout newspapers and magazines with the disclaimer that no legislation enforcement official nor their prolonged household had been eligible for the prize cash. As a bit of useful recommendation, Common’s advertising and marketing group acknowledged the next nugatory reminder:
“That can assist you in your search, we propose you see the brand new movement image, ‘The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper,’ now enjoying at a theatre close to you.”
The movie is simply liable to derail would-be non-public detectives. Director Spottiswoode’s closing product has nearly nothing to do with the case, elaborating on the true identification of the prison popularly often called D.B. Cooper. Within the movie, Cooper is a Vietnam vet named J.R. Meade. Duvall performs an insurance coverage investigator out to nab him in the usual cops & robbers setup. The centerpiece of the movie, the white-water rafting scene, is of particular observe. It value thousands and thousands to shoot and would lose the unique director his job because the movie burned by way of a large chunk of the funds in a matter of days. The remaining performs out like a Smokey and the Bandit knock-off, which was painfully prevalent on the time.
Hollywood isn’t any stranger to producing hilarious and entertaining street journey movies, together with these final cross-country motion pictures.
Was D.B. Cooper Ever Discovered?
PolyGram Photos
The movie was a licensed trainwreck earlier than it hit theaters, as totally different writers wanted to be introduced in to shine up the script, everybody on set battling the urge to beat the dwelling hell out of one another. Spottiswoode was a stop-gap resolution, recruited to lastly convey the troubled manufacturing to display, wrapping up the unfastened ends left by departing administrators John Frankenheimer and Buzz Kulik, each of whom went uncredited within the closing movie.
In line with Ron Shelton, who had acted as a script physician within the latter phases of the cobbled-together street film, the producers had a hair set off when it got here to firing administrators, speeding to get it out to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the crime. In 2015, Shelton opened up concerning the shoot to Jim Hemphill at Filmmaker Journal about its disastrous legacy and defined how the movie is now extra memorable for its last-ditch advertising and marketing Hail Mary and behind-the-scenes drama than the ultimate product:
“They fired Robert Mulligan, an excellent director, as a result of he took seven days to shoot a whitewater rapids chase – which, by the best way, was the one good factor within the film – and introduced in one other director who couldn’t determine what to do with it. In the meantime, Williams and Duvall had been stepping into fisticuffs…it was a large number. They shut it down and needed to attempt to determine learn how to make the film releasable.”
Of the numerous surprises the trailer of the Disney+ sequence Loki has, one is a 49-year-old mind-boggling occasion that truly occurred. 
The publicity stunt makes extra sense if you happen to notice how little religion PolyGram and Common had on this factor, Shelton recalling rewriting scenes that had already been filmed. In a saturated style, no person actually needed to look at one other Cannonball Run clone. Who really would have paid the million-buck reward is unclear, however that is what tax write-offs are for. The movie is estimated to have misplaced roughly ten million on the field workplace, a colossal dud by 1981 requirements or trendy ones.
Not surprisingly, the movie didn’t present the FBI with helpful ideas, already as much as their necks in crank calls from nuts losing their time. Did the movie encourage anybody to interrupt their silence and clear up the case? No. However it might need helped form the D.B. Cooper lore. A person got here forth in February 2024 asserting that his Vietnam vet/skydiver dad was Cooper, echoing the plot of this movie. Based mostly on the obscurity of this movie, that is most likely a coincidence.
However unhealthy information you probably have a tip about that crime. Common-MCA’s promotional marketing campaign expired on December 1, 1981. The FBI ceased their manhunt for the person known as “Cooper” in 2016.
The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper is on the market to stream on Prime Video and Tubi.
