MovieChat Forums > Catch Me If You Can (2002) Discussion > Pan Am captains did not look like teenag...

Pan Am captains did not look like teenagers.

posted 8 years ago by movies789
12 replies | jump to latest

It's been years since I've seen this movie, but I seem to recall a scene where DiCaprio approaches a ticket counter, dressed as a Pan Am captain, to get a ticket or boarding pass to fly "dead-head" as a passenger.

My father was a Pan Am captain, and Pan Am (and most or all U.S. airlines) promoted strictly on a seniority system. Depending on whether they were hired before or during the huge post-WWII influx of pilots from the ranks of discharged military flyers, pilots were lucky to attain captain rank by their late forties. (Mandatory retirement age was age 60.) No matter how great pilots might have been, they were rigidly locked-in by their seniority-list, and could only be promoted from first officer to captain as fast as the man in front of him on the list.

If someone as young-looking as DiCaprio had approached a ticket counter (even a different airline's) posing as a Pan Am captain, he'd have been spotted as a fraud immediately, and the police would have been called. Even if he had been passed through by a brand new counter agent, there is no airline pilot on the planet that would have failed to spot the fraud and call it in before take-off.

[–] dance-gavin-dance 8 years ago

If I remember correctly he wasn't a captain, he was just a co-pilot.

[–] movies789 8 years ago

Check the IMDb photos posted. There are four* that clearly show his uniform having four sleeve-stripes, scrambled eggs on his cap, and a star above the globe on his wings - all features of a captain's uniform. (One wardrobe goof: DiCaprio's uniform jackets were double-breasted, but actual Pan Am pilots' uniform jackets were strictly single-breasted.)

I've kept my Dad's full uniform, by the way; it brings back memories of Pan Am's glory days.

(*Plus one photo of him with three first officer's stripes, but with captain's wings, and two photos with four stripes, but on a different airline's uniform.)

[–] kobrakai1 8 years ago

Well the REAL Frank this story is based on did it. So.....your complaint is kind of null and void.

Also "You're a little young to be a pilot."
"Oh I'm just a co-pilot sir."
He also points out that he's either new to the job or in training (I can't recall his exact words. It was when he was being fitted for a uniform)
Whether or not his uniform was that of a captain is neither here or there (perhaps a mistake with the wardrobe department) he never once claimed he was a captain.

[–] Fiery_Boycs 8 years ago

If you believe the pile of garbage that passes for a book. The REAL Frank this story is based on has distanced himself from much of the content.

he never once claimed he was a captain.

Wearing the uniform makes this ... kind of null and void.

He also points out that he's either new to the job or in training

An airline pilot in training?

108 193 23 8114 246* 47.73 22 42

[–] kobrakai1 8 years ago

Like I said the captains uniform was most likely just a mistake that the costume department made and not a mistake the character himself made.

[–] [email protected] (1631) 3 years ago

If it was all BS like working for the FBI for 40 years after being incarcerated and wanted in different countries, as well as having a son in the FBI as well, then wouldn't the FBI have called him out on it?

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 3 years ago

He never worked for the FBI as an employee. That was made up for the movie.
His security company has done some contract work for them though.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

I read that there is apparently no independent witness to his supposed impersonations of a pilot, doctor, and lawyer. There is only his word for it that these things actually happened. I would be doubtful myself about accepti h is account as reliable.

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 3 years ago

In real life, Abagnale did not look like a teenager. At 15 he was over six foot tall and had a mature look to him. That's why a lot of people say it was ironic to pick Leonardo DeCaprio to portray him, since he looks young for his age.

It should also be noted that Abagnale traditionally portrayed himself as copilot because he recognized that most Captains were much older than himself. No one ever accused him of being stupid.

[–] bigbadwolf666 (4707) 3 years ago

Still looked awfully young for his age and then from that to banging stewards to becoming Doctor to Becoming Lawyer.
Might as well call it pretend fantasy.

[–] redban (5202) 3 years ago

Nah, he wasn’t a captain. He was a co-pilot / deadhead or something like that

[–] liscarkat (16530) 3 years ago

The movie is at odds with reality because the actual guy was a teenager who looked like a grown man, but the actor playing him was a grown man who looked like a teenager. Weird, nonsensical casting.