The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Jerome Chodorov (writer)
Lester Koenig (writer)

Release Date:

13 April 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History | War

Tagline:

Fly and Fight with the Crew on an Actual Bombing Mission Over Germany!

Plot:

Documentary about the 25th and last bombing mission of a B17, the "Memphis Belle". The "Memphis Belle"...

Plot Keywords:

Bomber | Propaganda | Aviation | Military | Public Domain

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Robert Morgan	...	Himself (pilot)
Vince Evans	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jacob L. Devers	...	Himself (commander, European theatre)
Ira C. Eaker	...	Himself (commander, 8th Air Force)
Haywood Hansell	...	Himself (USAAF)
Technical Sergeant Robert J. Hanson	...	Himself (radio operator on The Memphis Belle)
Eugene Kern	...	Narrator
King George VI	...	Himself (congratulates crew of Memphis Belle)
Captain Charles B. Leighton	...	Himself (Navigator on the Memphis belle)
Technical Sergeant Harold P. Loch	...	Himself (Engineer and top turret gunner on The Memphis belle)
Staff Sergeant Casimer A. Nastal	...	Himself ( 19 year-old waist gunner on The Mephis Belle)
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother	...	Herself (congratulates crew of Memphis Belle)
Staff Sergeant John P. Quinlan	...	Himself
Staff Sergeant Cecil H. Scott	...	Himself (turrett gunner and oldest crew member on The Memphis Belle)
Captain James A. Verinis	...	Himself (Co-pilot on The Memphis Belle)
Staff Sergeant Clarence E. Winchell	...	Himself - waist gunner on The Memphis Belle
Stanley Wray	...	Himself (group commander)

Also Known As:

The Memphis Belle (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

45 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

RAF Bassingbourn, Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

First Motion Picture Unit, United States Army Air Forces

Trivia:

Director William Wyler was injured when an anti-aircraft shell exploded close to where he was sitting in the aircraft, resulting in him losing most of his hearing in one ear.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Belle and the Glory Boys: The Making of 'Memphis Belle' (1990) (TV)

"Where do such men come from?" Meet the crew of The Memphis Belle.

The pilot was 24-year-old Captain Robert K. Morgan from Asheville, North Carolina who was an industrial engineer before joining the Army in 1941; the co-pilot, whom Captain Morgan insisted was "the other pilot', was 25-year-old Captain James A. Verinis from New Haven, Connecticut, who was a business administration student at the University of Connecticut before entering the service in July of 1941; Captain Vincent B. Evans, the 23-year-old bombadier was one of the two married members of the crew, and was a fleet-truck operator in his home town of Fort Worth, Texas before enlisting in January of 1942; Captain Charles B. Leighton, from East Lansing,Michigan and a chemistry student at Ohio Wesleyan before entering the service, was the navigator. The engineer and top turret gunner was Technical Sergeant Harold P.Loch, a 23-year-old stevedore from Green Bay, Wisconsin who joined the service in November of 1941; Technical Sergeant Robert J.Hanson, a construction worker from Washington state and the other married crew member, was the radio operator. The 19-year-old "baby" of the Memphis Belle crew was waist-gunner Staff Sergeant Casimer A. Nastal who was a washing machine repairman from Detroit, Michigan with two confirmed fighter kills to his credit who thought he had more "but never had time to watch whether they went down"; Staff Sergeant Cecil H. Scott, a pressman for a rubber company in Rahway, New Jersey was the ball turret gunner and, at 27, the oldest member of the crew. One of the three cameraman was First Lieutenant Harold J. Tannenbaum, from Binghamton,New York, a World War I veteran who remained in the Navy until 1927. He re-entered the service in July,1942 when he received his commission in the Army Air Force. He was killed in action,age 46,in April of 1944 and received a posthumous Purple Heart.