Ladies Courageous (1944)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

John Rawlins

Writers:

Virginia Spencer Cowles (novel)
Doris Gilbert (writer)

Release Date:

1 February 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

WOMEN WITH WINGS! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

The story of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, a unit of female pilots during WW II who flew bombers from the factories to their final destinations. |

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Aviation | WWII | Based On Novel

Cast

Loretta Young	...	Roberta Harper
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Virgie Alford
Diana Barrymore	...	Nadine Shannon
Anne Gwynne	...	Gerry Vail
Evelyn Ankers	...	Wilhelmina Van Kronk
Phillip Terry	...	Major Tommy Harper
David Bruce	...	Frank Garrison
Lois Collier	...	Jill Romilly
June Vincent	...	Mary Frances Wright
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Brig. General Wade
Richard Fraser	...	Col. Andy Brennan
Frank Jenks	...	Snapper Anthony Walgreen
Janet Shaw	...	Bee Jay
Kane Richmond	...	Alex Anderson

Also Known As:

Fury in the Sky (USA) (reissue title)
When Ladies Fly (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Sweden:Btl

Company:

Universal Pictures

Soundtrack:

Besame Mucho

Hollywood's idea of what women can do for the war

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I almost saw this movie at The Library of Congress last week, but...

However, I did somehow stumble on this review from Time Magazine from 1944! Since there are no other comments, I thought I would add it here, sort of a public service, or something! My rating may be a bit generous.

The New Pictures Monday, Apr. 03, 1944 Four Jills in a Jeep (20th Century-Fox) and Ladies Courageous (Universal) are Hollywood's idea of what women can do for the war and painful examples of what Hollywood, under the pressure of patriotism, can do to women. In the first, Hollywood vigorously shakes its own hand for letting some actresses go to shake a leg on the world battlefronts. In the second, Loretta Young, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Diana Barrymore pilot planes around the U.S. The Jeep bounces Carole Landis, Kay Francis, Martha Raye and Mitzi Mayfair through a catch-as-catch-can cineversion of Miss Landis' book (and Satevepost articles) of the same title, reporting their experiences as USO entertainers. In the book, only Miss Landis got married. In the picture, Martha Raye, the feminists' Joe E. Brown, practically ingests the comic sergeant (Phil Silvers) who chauffeurs their jeep. Mitzi Mayfair snuggles up to a uniformed ex-vaudeville partner (Dick Haymes, who is Fox's threat to Frank Sinatra, and sings like melting vanilla ice cream). Kay Francis plays handles with an English Army doctor who utters the stunning gallantry : "If I'd held this hand ten years ago I might have a full house now." Miss Francis just laughs. In Britain and Africa, the cinemactresses clearly enjoyed themselves, worked hard, and brought some pleasure to places where it was needed. But not much of the reworking of their travelogue is fun to see or hear. Ladies Courageous comes in on a shattered wing and an unanswered prayer, noses over, and spills out a motley set of WAFS (see cut, p. 94) who later become WASPS. This whole covey of highly burnished cinemactresses looks more like Wam-pas cuties than like aeronauts. Judging by their actions, they cannot be trusted to pilot a perambulator, much less a B17. Miss Barrymore philanders with another WAF's husband; his wife remorsefully crashes her plane. Miss Fitzgerald, a neurotic, embarrasses her sister, Director Young, by making a hot landing (for publicity purposes). But she compensates for that by all but killing herself and another WAF in two other planes. Loretta Young comforts her warmly: "You tried!"

One wag emerged from the preview with a theme song for the girls: The men will forgive us (The ones that outlive us) No matter how often we fail. Who cares what trees-in The plane falls that she's-in. She's got a sting in her tail.