Dive Bomber (1941)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Frank Wead (story)
Frank Wead (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

WINGS TO THE WIND...EYES TO THE SKIES! (original print media ad - all caps)

Plot:

A military surgeon teams with a ranking navy flyer to develop a high-altitude suit which will protect pilots from blacking out when they go into a steep dive.

Plot Keywords:

Blackout | Military | Flight Surgeon | Altitude Sickness | Flight School

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Lt. Douglas S. 'Doug' Lee, MD
Fred MacMurray	...	Lt. Cmdr. Joe Blake, squadron commander
Ralph Bellamy	...	Lt. Cmdr. Lance Rogers, MD, Flight Surgeon
Alexis Smith	...	Mrs. Linda Fisher
Robert Armstrong	...	Art Lyons - aviation designer
Regis Toomey	...	Lt. Tim Griffin
Allen Jenkins	...	Corpsman 2nd Class 'Lucky' James
Craig Stevens	...	Pilot Trainee Anthony
Herbert Anderson	...	Lt. Markham MD - assigned to Norfolk
Moroni Olsen	...	Senior Surgeon at San Diego
Dennie Moore	...	Ex-wife of Lucky James
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Lt. Swede Larson
Cliff Nazarro	...	Corpsman - Lucky's fast-talking buddy

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #7199) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Cabrillo National Monument, Point Loma, San Diego, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

According to unproven and heavily disputed allegations in Charles Higham's biography "Errol Flynn: The Untold Story", and an April 2000 "New Statesman" article, "The Missing Errol Flynn File," Errol Flynn functioned as a German agent during the time he was in San Diego and Hawaii during the shooting of this picture, and his Pearl Harbor pictures were passed along to Fascist agents.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The airfield used in the beginning of the movie was never identified, nor does it look like Ford Island which is used by the Navy. Eva Field was a Marine airfield near Pearl Harbor which it could have been. There are several Army airfields that it could also have been used.

Quotes:

Lt. Cmdr. Joe Blake, squadron commander: [Nastily] Don't use your surgical touch on me, Doctor. I wanna collect my old age pension!
Lt. Douglas S. 'Doug' Lee, MD: Don't worry, you'll be a burden on the taxpayer for many years.
Lt. Cmdr. Joe Blake, squadron commander: You're no better at flying than you are with a knife.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dive Bomber: Keep 'Em in the Air (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

We Watch the Skyways

Great scenery, annoying plot

This film is beautifully shot with incredible Technicolor photography of pre-WW 2 Navy aircraft in all their glory. (Note- Navy planes were purposely painted in bright colors to facilitate rescue at sea.)

Unfortunately there are a lot of annoying factors to the plot such as Allen Jenkins' alleged comic relief and some pretty unbelievable dialogue. Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray spend a lot of time on manly stiff-upper-lip dialogue that is unbelievably stilted. There is a lot of real aviation medicine mixed in with some bogus movie baloney (the pressure suit they come up with is kind of a steal from round-the-world pilot Wiley Post). Navy pilots never used anything like that suit or the pressure belt in that time period. The film was actually shot at NAS North Island on Coronado island with the cooperation of the Navy.

If you want to see the kind of planes the Navy was flying in the late 30's, though, there is no better film. Look for the Consolidated Coronado 4-engine flying boat in one scene- a flying dinosaur!