Air Force (1943)

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writer:

Dudley Nichols (original screenplay)

Stars:

John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Ridgely	...	Pilot
Gig Young	...	Co-Pilot
Arthur Kennedy	...	Bombardier
Charles Drake	...	Navigator
Harry Carey	...	Crew Chief
George Tobias	...	Asst. Crew Chief
Ward Wood	...	Radio Operator
Ray Montgomery	...	Asst. Radio Operator
John Garfield	...	Aerial Gunner
James Brown	...	Pursuit Pilot - Passenger
Stanley Ridges	...	Major Mallory
Willard Robertson	...	Colonel at Hickam Field
Moroni Olsen	...	Col. Blake
Edward Brophy	...	Marine Sgt. J.J. Callahan (as Edward S. Brophy)
Richard Lane	...	Maj. W.G. Roberts

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.

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Plot Keywords:

philippines | japanese | attack | pearl harbor | hawaii | 

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Taglines:

The name of their love was Mary Ann.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

In die japanische Sonne

Filming Locations:

Santa Barbara, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the scene on Wake Island where a marine hands the dog to Assistant Crew Chief Weinberg (George Tobias), a voice can be heard telling the dog to give Weinberg a kiss. The voice was from the dog's owner and trainer, Frank Weatherwax. The dog, named Rommy, had appeared in numerous other movies including Reap the Wild Wind, George Washington Slept Here and Without Love.

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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

Sgt. Joe Winocki: [overhearing the Pearl Harbor attack on the radio] Hey, Peterson, who you got tuned in, Orson Welles?

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Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

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Soundtracks

"I Get a Kick Out of You"
(1934) (uncredited)
Written by Cole Porter
Background music before the briefing in Australia

User Reviews

Another one for airplane buffs

For modern viewers, this is truly a movie for airplane buffs. How many movies can you find with early B-17s flying? I have always appreciated this movie for that purpose. Those early birds without tail guns and power turrets were all gone by wars end. This movie was made during the dark days of WWII for America and the 'D' models were still fairly new and in use stateside as training aircraft. Thankfully the producers just went to real Army Air Fields and used existing equipment. That is wonderful visual documentation for history buffs! Many 'props' were real! The Air Corps thermos bottles and the Air Crew bandoleers for pistol ammunition were great to see documented.

This was a wartime movie made in a period where we had suffered lots of defeats and few victories. The young men being sent off to war had grown up being taught not to kill their fellow humans. Most of the early war 'propaganda' films went to lengths to 'dehumanize' the enemy so that a young American entering combat would not be conflicted. This happens in all wars but is more obvious to us today due to the amount of films made during WWII. Regarding the talk of 'fifth column' work at Pearl Harbor, I believe some have missed the point of the propaganda. We have become so aware of the race issue that we miss the point made in the film. It was not so much to single out the Japanese ancestry citizens of Hawaii as to make the American people think that it wasn't our military's fault that we were caught by surprise. The theme in that scene and later on Wake Island proffered that 'our boys don't lose in an even fight'. It was to establish confidence in our military and equipment. The idea was to tell the U.S. civilian population that we couldn't lose unless stabbed in the back. Actually, much of our equipment of the time was inferior to our opponents. We also had mostly 'green' troops whereas the Japanese had a lot of combat experienced pilots and troops. It was a tough fight all the way through and our veterans deserve full credit for winning.

This movie is entertaining and a great one for airplane/history buffs who know what is 'right' and what isn't correct. Politically it is dated and must be taken in context. It is still fun to watch and worth your time.