The Legend of Pancho Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club

Viewers who saw The Right Stuff (1983) may recall the character of Florence “Pancho” Barnes, the colorful, tough-talking owner of the “Happy Bottom Riding Club,” who dispensed drinks and advice to test pilots in California's high desert. Although she might have seemed a caricature, the character was based on a real woman whose unconventional story is told in this documentary directed by USC professor Amanda Pope and narrated by Tom Skerritt. A feminist rebel from a wealthy, well-connected family, Barnes came of age during aviation's barnstorming era, when pilots flew without radar and other modern safety instruments. Married, Barnes nevertheless spurned family life and lived only to fly, competing in “powder puff” derbies and eventually becoming Hollywood's first female stunt pilot in the 1920s and ‘30s. After losing much of her money in the Depression, Barnes moved to the desert and opened up a ranch and bar that became a gathering place for pilots and Hollywood celebrities, attracting such notables as Jimmy Doolittle, Howard Hughes, and Chuck Yeager. Eventually, the Air Force confiscated Barnes' property after a mysterious fire burned down some of the buildings (some claimed she housed prostitutes), and Barnes was relegated to a footnote in history. Kathy Bates gives voice to Barnes in the film, recreating a foul-mouthed but good-hearted woman who was fiercely proud of her pilots and her own role in aviation history. Boasting rare footage and interviews with Yeager, Buzz Aldrin, and others, the film is presented in both the 57-minute and extended 64-minute versions, with DVD extras including audio commentary by producer/writer Nick T. Spark and director Pope, additional scenes, an audio interview with Barnes, and a DVD-ROM accessible study guide. Recommended. Aud: P. (S. Rees)