IMDb Title ?????????? - Boeing, Boeing (1966) Discussion

[–] albertfoster 16 years ago

"Boeing (707) Boeing (707)" appears at the beggining of the movie.
A better question would be, How come "Boeing (707) Boeing (707)" has never appeared on any print or poster?
I imagine it is because "Boeing, Boeing" is just a tad more catchy.

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[–] slokes 16 years ago

<<I imagine it is because "Boeing, Boeing" is just a tad more catchy.>> albertfoster

That and it sounds like bedsprings, which is relevant to the plot!

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[–] cassie_janice414 16 years ago

NO, The reason it's called Boeing Boeing more popularly than with the 707 is because the play is called Boeing Boeing, and that's what its' based on.

Bedsprings go "boing boing" not Boeing Boeing

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[–] slokes 16 years ago

Okay, Cassie, but Albertfoster's question still stands. Why not leave the title as is rather than insert the superfluous "707" part?

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[–] spica123 16 years ago

Maybe some bit of legal business with the Boeing Corporation???

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[–] JavierBoredom 15 years ago

The film's opening titles read as follows:

BOEING (707) BOEING (707)
Co-Starring
DANY SAVAL (38-22-33)
CHRISTIAN SCHMIDTMER (40-26-38)
SUZANNA LEIGH (34-23-34)
and
THELMA RITTER (?-?-?)

The parenthetical numbers are apparently intended to be a hilarious joke likening the body measurements of airplanes to the body measurements of women. (Probably thought up by the same person who created the film's original tagline: "The Big Comedy of Nineteen-Sexty-Sex!") IMDb seems to have missed the joke. The full name of the film (and the play on which it is based) is, of course, simply BOEING BOEING.

Regarding a possible "boing boing" double meaning: Jerry Lewis makes such a joke in the film. (And I found this online: "Although Boeing comes from the last name of William Boeing, the founder of the company, a common urban legend is that the name is derived from the sound of a sudden erection.") Double meaning definitely intentional.

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[–] scotbpens 15 years ago

"The parenthetical numbers are apparently intended to be a hilarious joke likening the body measurements of airplanes to the body measurements of women."

Yeah, that’s pretty much it, except that “707” isn’t a measurement. Boeing’s first commercial jet airliner was designated the 707. The parenthetical "707"s in the movie’s opening titles are obviously part of a joke. The original French play and the various film adaptations were all called Boeing Boeing.

But IMDb has this silly policy of listing all movies by their original title as they appeared on-screen, joke or no joke.

Another interesting point about the film's opening titles: the names of co-stars Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis are set on a revolving circle which is superimposed on a shot of a jet engine intake. This was apparently done so that neither star could claim top billing over the other. Actors and their egos!

All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] richard-865 15 years ago

I could be totally wrong, but as a kid back in the 60's, I used to collect newspaper clippings of Jerry Lewis' films as they were released or re-released, including the ads for local theaters. I really do think that the newspaper ads for this movie caled it "Boeing (707) Boeing (707)". I even remember going out and buying a model of a Boeing 707 because I enjoyed the film so much. (A couple of years later, I probably would have preferred a model of Christiane Schmidtmer - or better yet, the real thing!!!).

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[–] geoh777 14 years ago

The Boeing 707 was a big, big deal when it came out. Perhaps the studios wanted to maximize people's recognition of what Boeing Boeing was referring to.

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[–] jimbo97-1 10 years ago

I agree. BOEING BOEING should be the listed title. I've never seen reference to the 707 included in any other reference to this movie.

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