Canal Zone (1942)

A conceited, reckless society playboy, Harley Ames, arrives at Ginger Bar, a former banana-shipping depot on the edge of the Panama Canal, that has been converted to a training-and-relay ... See full summary »

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Blaine Miller (story), Jean DuPont Miller (story),

Stars:

Chester Morris, Harriet Hilliard, John Hubbard

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Chester Morris	...	'Hardtack' Hamilton
Harriet Hilliard	...	Susan Merrill
John Hubbard	...	Harley Ames
Larry Parks	...	Recruit Kincaid
Forrest Tucker	...	Recruit Madigan
Eddie Laughton	...	Recruit Hughes
Lloyd Bridges	...	Recruit Baldwin (insurance man)
George McKay	...	'Mack' MacNamara
Stanley Andrews	...	Cmdr. Merrill
John Tyrrell	...	'Red' Connors, mechanic
Stanley Brown	...	Pilot Jones
John Shay	...	Co-Pilot Henshaw

Storyline

A conceited, reckless society playboy, Harley Ames, arrives at Ginger Bar, a former banana-shipping depot on the edge of the Panama Canal, that has been converted to a training-and-relay station for U. S. Army bombers being flown back-and-forth to Africa for further training of the pilots. Although he is a capable pilot, Ames immediately incurs the enmity of the training-officer, "Hardtack" Hamilton, because he is reckless and also because he is making a play for Susan Merril, the field-commander's daughter with whom "Tack" is in love. Because of a broken date by Susan, Ames gets drunk and, the next day, crashes his ship on combat training killing another pilot in the process. Now, he must redeem himself. Maybe he'd get a chance if "Tack" and another pilot would have a crash in the jungle.

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Plot Keywords:

pilot | training | u.s. army | canal | panama canal | 

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Taglines:

Adventure blazing from the air, jungle and sea! (original ad)

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Heróis sem Glória

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

79 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Chester Morris Makes This One

This WWII story of melting pot recruits -- in this case, bomber pilots -- has all the usual wisecracks, including the one about Brooklyn -- is perfectly ordinary. Chester Morris, who is usually good, is particularly good in this one with his usual straightforward performance. This is the sort of movie that made John Wayne and Randolph Scott superstars, but Morris was a little too old, lacked momentum in his career -- he had already spent too many years in B pictures -- and so never escaped. He would shortly go into the Boston Blackie series and while he would work steadily and well through his death -- right up through his role in THE GREAT WHITE HOPE in 1970 -- his career would not provide many high spots.

Still, if you haven't seen too many movies of this sort, you might enjoy this as much as I did.