MovieChat Forums > The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) Discussion > what happened to Waldo? (possible spoile...

what happened to Waldo? (possible spoiler!)

posted 18 years ago by pat-553
17 replies | jump to latest

As the end credits begin to roll, we see a picture of Waldo with the note "1895-1931". The end of the movie has always been a bit ambiguous to me; are we to conclude that Waldo couldn't land the plane he was flying against Kesler b/c of the damage to the wheels and so died in a crash right then and there? To me it didn't seem as if enough time had elapsed to make it up to 1931 at that point. For example, Axel was supposedly 32 on the day he made his stunt free-fall from the burning plane. Having been a pilot in WW I, he would have had to have been flying combat missions at age 14-17 in order to have made it to age 32 by the year 1931.

I saw this movie again last night after MANY years and was reminded that this ambiguity bugged me even as a boy, when I first saw the film at age 10.

[–] MisterBerns 18 years ago

Well...the United States didn't enter the war until the end of 1917. That would have made Waldo 22 years old. The war didn't end until November 1918, so Waldo could have been there as a rookie 23-year-old airman.

"I wish my lawn were Emo--it would cut itself"

[–] macdonca 15 years ago

Months are not known. We can assume its early 1931. Olson says he is 32 and started flying at 20. Say Olson is 32 AND 11 months. puts his year of birth at early 1898 started flying early 1918. Made it to Europe for the last six months of the war. Would make him 32(almost 33) when filming the movie in 1931.

[–] gtathefanboy 15 years ago

He's 36 when he dies. He was born in 1895.

The only thing I feel after shooting someone is recoil.

[–] macdonca 15 years ago

Re-read my post dummy. I clearly stated Axel Olssen said he was 32 during filming of the movie in 1931. Debunking the previous posters theory that Olssen would have been 14 during WWI if the film was being filmed in 1931.

[–] ianprl 17 years ago

I thought this was a great ending for a great movie.

It was OK to be ambiguous as the details of his death did not matter. He disappeared into a cloud. Perhaps he crashed in a distant vally and was never found (like Steve Fossett recently).

To me, the point was, he did not need to live any longer because he had fulfilled his destiny, which was achieve a heroic victory in air combat. Circumstances had denied him his chance to do so during the great war. His feckless personality was totally unsuited to ordinary life.

I only hoped that Ernst Kessler survived to tell the story of his final salute, to enhance his legend.

[–] maxdoherty 17 years ago

I'm pretty sure Waldo dies but more for your latter reason.

I think the reason he has to die is that the world is changing and neither he or Kessler have a place in it any more. Earlier in the film waldo has a rant about "building highways in the sky". The air was where Waldo was free and the authorities were taking that away.

[–] DesertViking 17 years ago

The opening shot bears the subtitle "NEBRASKA, 1926." Five years do not pass between the opening and the ending of the film, so I do not believe Waldo died immediately following the dogfight with Kessler. He probably landed his plane in a pond, as Axel Olsson did earlier in the film. Maybe he died when he was shot by a jealous husband, or by diving out of a second-story bedroom window to avoid being shot by a jealous husband.

[–] Heddwyn 16 years ago

I think you are on to something. I too imagined he survived a crash one more time, but walked away from it, and then bummed around eventually meeting a woman in Fresno, where he settled down to a new life only to be hit by a car as he crossed a downtown street on his way to meet her.

[–] bottemus 16 years ago

Well, wasn't he supposed to be arrested if he made it to the ground? I think he died then and there..

[–] rickfay317 15 years ago

I'd like to think that he did survive that last flight and here's why. He knew he could no longer fly as Waldo Pepper and he had been using an assumed name to fly in the film (George Brown). I'm thinking he flew away from the film, crash landed somewhere, and resumed his flying under another name somewhere else, maybe Alaska or in Europe, and it was his name, thus himself, that dies in 1931, but he continues on elsewhere.

[–] ae36 11 years ago

Exactly, Rickfay-- that is what I took from the ending.

Of course, it WAS an ambiguious ending; there really is no right or wrong answer.

I like to think that Waldo did exactly what you describe.

AE36

[–] Techto (1388) 2 months ago

Yeah, I also thought he might have faked his death and assumed a new name so he could fly again.

[–] Jimbo-174 14 years ago

It was ambiguous, but from the little we know, I don't think he was going to make it.

Before they took off, they looked at each other and took off their parachutes. That could have been because of bravado or foolishness. But another possible reason is because they knew they would not need them, because they did not plan to return.

[–] jbartelone 13 years ago

I'm looking for information on the actual Waldo Pepper case and the famous dogfight between Kessler and he. In actual fact, were the planes and bodies ever found? I have not seen the movie for a long time, but the ending has always haunted me.

Joe

[–] bengt-ove 13 years ago

I saw this film twice when it came out, just loving it. I have seen it twice now after a long time. Not on any of my viewings did I get the feeling that Waldo Pepper dies then and there, though Kessler does. I always get the feeling that he survived, went on stunt-flying under a new name for a few years more until he crasches to his death.

I'm unsure of the time-frame, but I always get the feeling that they are still in the silent movie era when the film ends. People who know their car models should be able to give us a hint.

[–] shoobe01-1 12 years ago

Concur with these thoughts. It's clearly not 1931 when the last dogfight happens, so it seems to be to be playing with the "I'll get him when he comes down" line. There is no magical law enforcement everywhere, so he flys as far as his gas will take him, then crashes lightly. We've already seen survival (if injury as well) from a no-gear crash. He could go to another country even, maybe South America, where they won't have regulations.

Interesting that Kessler doesn't get an album (it's an album, not a wall) photo. Ernst *Udet* in the beginning gets one, where he dies 1941 and that seemed similar to me, but no Kessler. Hmm...

[–] Blueghost 13 years ago

It wasn't ambiguous. His landing gear was screwed up because of the aerial combat. There's no way he could have safely landed. That's why the film dissolves to a shot of his picture on the wall at the end. It's because like a lot of other good pilots, he's "bought the farm" and been immortalized with his photo hanging in a bar.

In other words; the man is dead.

He died trying to land.