IMDb > A Guy Named Joe (1943)

A Guy Named Joe (1943) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.9/10   806 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 5% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Chandler Sprague (story) and
David Boehm (story) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for A Guy Named Joe on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
March 1944 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
A GUY - A GAL - A PAL - It's Swell!
Plot:
A sentimental, patriotic (if not propagandistic) Hollywood fantasy about a dead World War II bomber pilot... more | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
Interview: An Ice Cream Social With Oscar Winner Richard Dreyfuss
 (From HollywoodChicago.com. 23 September 2009, 8:46 PM, PDT)

Van Johnson: 1916 - 2008
 (From IMDb News. 14 December 2008, 1:27 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Interesting comparison with "Always" by Spielberg. more (21 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Spencer Tracy ... Pete Sandidge

Irene Dunne ... Dorinda Durston

Van Johnson ... Ted Randall
Ward Bond ... Al Yackey
James Gleason ... 'Nails' Kilpatrick

Lionel Barrymore ... The General
Barry Nelson ... Dick Rumney
Esther Williams ... Ellen Bright
Henry O'Neill ... Colonel Sykes
Don DeFore ... James J. Rourke (as Don De Fore)
Charles Smith ... Sanderson
Addison Richards ... Major Corbett
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:
120 min | USA:122 min (copyright length)
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #9727) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)
Company:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
There was no way to composite Spencer Tracy's image into the scenes where Van Johnson is flying, so he actually had to be standing behind Johnson and, later, Irene Dunne for the filming of these scenes. The same approach was used for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) (techniques for superimposing one image onto another were not invented until much later). more
Goofs:
Continuity: When "Nails" confronts Pete with a combat photo of Pete's bomber flying much too low during a raid, the aircraft seen in the picture is a Lockheed Hudson. Pete piloted a North American B-25 Mitchell. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Heavenly Kid (1985) more
Soundtrack:
Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
Interesting comparison with "Always" by Spielberg., 24 October 2002
Author: TxMike from Houston, Tx, USA, Earth

As many viewers I saw "Always", actually several times, before I even learned about "A Guy Named Joe." It is factual that the later film was a remake of the earlier one, but being in more modern times a significant story difference was depicted. I have no reason to compare the two against each other, for each one is a fine film on its own.

Set in WW II England, "A Guy Named Joe" gets its title from a comment made by one of the British children waiting to talk to Pete after one of his bombing runs over Germany. He told one of the other children, "that's what all American soldiers are called, guys named Joe." There was no actual character named Joe in the film.

I had never seen Spencer Tracy in his prime, and he was quite a handsome actor. Now I understand why he was so popular. He plays Pete, the pilot who takes unapproved chances to get difficult jobs done. In "Always", Dryfuss as Pete does the same for putting out forest fires. In both films Pete dies during a heroic mission and in heaven is sent to help a novice pilot, who ends up romancing his old girlfriend, Drinda.

I understand that at least one viewer who was in WW II thinks this is not a very good or realistic film. Maybe not, but it is still entertaining, and for me interesting to see a film made the year before I was born. Worth seeking out, for anyone who also enjoyed "Always" to see where it came from. Two different films from two different times, both excellent.

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