Spencer Tracy narrates this MGM documentary on the rigorous process of selection and training of aviation students -- "Dodos" as one of them is forced to expatiate on to a sergeant.
It's cleverly written to make the process seem difficult, to make the civilian youngster insist defiantly "I can do that!". They could have had Lionel Barrymore narrate, but he would have sounded contemptuous, instead of Tracy's tough but honest narration.
Indeed, it's Tracy and Tracy alone that makes this one at all noteworthy. There were hundreds of these recruiting films turned out during the Second World War, competently done. Tracy, however, always gave a compelling performance and this is another.
It's cleverly written to make the process seem difficult, to make the civilian youngster insist defiantly "I can do that!". They could have had Lionel Barrymore narrate, but he would have sounded contemptuous, instead of Tracy's tough but honest narration.
Indeed, it's Tracy and Tracy alone that makes this one at all noteworthy. There were hundreds of these recruiting films turned out during the Second World War, competently done. Tracy, however, always gave a compelling performance and this is another.
