Wichita's Shirley Knight in "Flight From Ashiya" (1964)

Starring Wichita's, Shirley Knight

"Flight From Ashiya" - a.k.a. "Ashiya Kara no hiko" (1964) is a film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service, flying from Ashiya Air Base, Japan. In this American-Japanese co-production film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a life raft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas. The film was based on the 1956 novel, "Rescue!" by Elliott Arnold (reprinted as "Flight From Ashiya" in 1959). The movie was released in Japan as "Ashiya Kara no hiko."

Plot:
Featuring an all-star cast, including Richard Widmark as Stevenson Col. Stevenson, George Chakiris as Lt. Gregg, Yul Brynner as Sgt. Takashima and on-location shooting in Japan, where the story is set, three US Air Force rescue pilots must overcome their personal problems and differences to embark upon a dangerous mission to save raft-bound Japanese survivors from a murderous storm-tossed sea. As they head for their location, the film flashes back to chronicle the pasts of each pilot to make clear their mixed feelings about their upcoming assignment.

Cast:
Yul Brynner as MSgt. Mike Takashima
Richard Widmark as Lt. Col. Glenn Stevenson
George Chakiris as 2nd Lt. John Gregg
Suzy Parker as Lucille Caroll
Shirley Knight as Caroline Gordon / Stevenson
Danièle Gaubert as Leila
Eiko Taki as Tomiko
Joe Di Reda as SSgt. Randy Smith
Tom Korzeniowski as Sgt. Garrison
Mitsuhiro Sugiyama as Charlie
E.S. Ince as Capt. Walter Mound
Andrew Hughes as Dr. Horton
William Ross as Capt. Jerry Cooper
June Shelley (credited as June Elliott)

Notes:
Principal photography on "Flight From Ashiya" began on August 27, 1962, with a 12-week shooting schedule. Most of the sequences took place in Japan with air base exteriors filmed at the Tachikawa Air Base, home to the USAF 39th Air Rescue Squadron. Two of the squadron's twin–radial engine Grumman HU-16 Albatross amphibious flying boats were supplied to the production.

Film star, George Chakiris (2nd Lt. John Gregg) remembered, "I turned Flight From Ashiya down three times, and for some reason I couldn’t explain why I did not want to make that movie. I didn’t think it was right for me, but I couldn’t explain why. So I finally went to the head of the William Morris Agency and he gave me three reasons why I should make this movie. He said 'It’s important to keep making movies. Look at the billing you’re getting. Look at your money you’re getting.' He didn’t say 'Maybe this is a career move.' He wasn’t thinking that way, either. He thought it was important to be seen and the money was good. But if you’re thinking of a career and properties you want to associate yourself with, none of that was happening and I didn’t know how to make it happen. I don’t say that with any real regret, but it was something I had to learn."

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