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Storyline
On December 6, 1941 nine B-17 bomber set off on a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii. One of the bombers, the Mary Ann, is commanded by 'Irish' Quincannon. The bombardier, Tommy McMartin, has a sister living in Hawaii and the co-pilot, Bill Williams, is sweet on her. The men are all highly professional with the exception of aerial gunner Joe Winocki, a bitter man who has every intention of leaving the army air corps. They arrive at Hickam Field on the morning of December 7, just as the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor and other military facilities. All of the men prepare to face the enemy, including Winocki whose attitude changes quickly. The bomber and its crew will participate in many missions but not all will survive. Written by
garykmcd
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Taglines:
GIANTS OF THE SKY...blazing a trail to victory!
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Did You Know?
Trivia
The aircraft used to play "Mary Ann" was a B-17B, one of 19 that had the gunners' bubbles replaced by the flush gun positions of the B-17C and B-17D. This aircraft MAY have been aircraft 38-583 or possibly 39-010. Also, aircraft "18" in the movie is 38-269. Pause the scenes where
John Ridgely has walked in front of the daytime flight line with numbers "18" and "05" in the back ground, and, as he is talking to the crew in the bombay, look through the gap between the bomb bay door and the fuselage: as you pause and forward frame-by-frame, you will see the tail of "18" just barely enough to see the numbers "8269" showing! This means that aircraft "18" is actually B-17B 38-269.
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Goofs
Throughout the movie, stock film of several different versions of the B-17 is used, often depicting the same aircraft. For example, Mary Ann is a B-17B, the earliest version of the aircraft in production, but the beach crash scene at the end of the movie uses film of a later B-17, probably a B-17C or D.
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Quotes
Colonel Blake - Commanding Officer at Manila:
Say, what kind of lunatics have we got in this Air Corps anyhow? Don't you know what's impossible?
Pursuit Pilot Tex Rader:
Thank you, sir!
Marine Sergeant J.J. Callahan:
Hey, excuse me, colonel...
Colonel Blake - Commanding Officer at Manila:
What?
Marine Sergeant J.J. Callahan:
Can't I lend a hand too?
Colonel Blake - Commanding Officer at Manila:
[
Walking away]
Tou can go straight to...
Marine Sergeant J.J. Callahan:
Help, sir? Thank you, sir!
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Connections
Referenced in
Pulp Fiction (1994)
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Soundtracks
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
(1923) (uncredited)
Written by
Irving Mills and
Duke Ellington
Played on the radio aboard the B-17 airplane
Partially sung by
George Tobias See more »
The "Got him!" dogfight in Star Wars was practically cut-by-cut from Air Force (just as Indiana Jones lifted the Big Round Boulder scene directly from an Uncle Scrooge comic, but that's another review). Air Force's Dying Pilot scene (check-listing his crew for takeoff, job by job, and they respond) is almost unendurable to any man who has worked in danger and loss with other men. The crew's field-modifying the pre-G-series B-17 to equip it with an effective tail gun, (and stripping hulks for usable parts!) helped prepared me as a boy of the 1950s for my young manhood up on the high banks of Talladega and Daytona, and for business and traffic today. I trust our current young soldiers have found their own examples for courage and resourcefulness as they defend us today.