Howard Hughes and the Cold War Aviation Film Jet Pilot (1957)

Abstract

Some historians argue that heaps of weaponry along with stealth and deception stand as emblems of the Cold War. But sexual intimacy, conspicuous consumption, and aviation technology also inserted themselves into the perfect safetly of American domestic bliss. This paper will analyze how the eccentric Cold War romantic comedy Jet Pilot (1957) so associated with the compulsiveness of Howard Hughes, produced and written by Jules Furthman, directed ( partially) by Josef von Sternburg and starring John Wayne and Janet Leigh, reflects all these themes making it the paradigmatic Cold Film that remains a camp classic from the American popular cultyre of the 1950s.

Keywords

• Film, Cold War, 1950s, history, American popular culture