Flying Leathernecks (1951)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

James Edward Grant (screenplay)
Kenneth Gamet (story)
(more)

Release Date:

28 August 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

AIR-DEVILS OF THE SKY!

Plot:

Major Kirby leads The Wildcats squadron into the historic WWII battle of Guadalcanal.

Plot Keywords:

Marine | Guadalcanal | WWII | Drunk Scene | Okinawa Japan

Cast

John Wayne	...	Maj. Daniel Xavier Kirby
Robert Ryan	...	Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin
Don Taylor	...	Lt. Vern 'Cowboy' Blithe
Janis Carter	...	Joan Kirby
Jay C. Flippen	...	MSgt. Clancy, Line Chief
William Harrigan	...	Dr. Lt.Cdr. Joe Curran
James Bell	...	Colonel
Barry Kelley	...	Brigadier General
Maurice Jara	...	Shorty Vegay
Adam Williams	...	Lt. Bert Malotke
James Dobson	...	Lt. Pudge McCabe
Carleton Young	...	Col. Riley
Michael St. Angel	...	Capt. Harold Jorgensen, Ops. Officer (as Steve Flagg)
Brett King	...	1st Lt. Ernie Stark
Gordon Gebert	...	Tommy Kirby
Milburn Stone	...	Fleet CIC radio operator
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lynn Stalmaster	...	Lt. Billy Castle
Charles Brunner	...	Navajo father on reservation (uncredited)
Ralph Cook	...	(uncredited)
James Craven	...	Fleet CIC commander (uncredited)
Gail Davis	...	Virginia Blithe (uncredited)
Michael Devery	...	(uncredited)
Sam Edwards	...	Junior (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	MP sergeant (uncredited)
Douglas Henderson	...	(uncredited)
Milton Kibbee	...	Indian Affairs clerk (uncredited)
Keith Larsen	...	(uncredited)
Harry Lauter	...	Freddie (uncredited)
John Mitchum	...	Lt. Black (uncredited)
Brit Norton	...	Capt. Walter Tanner (uncredited)
Melville Robert	...	(uncredited)
Elaine Roberts	...	(uncredited)
Harlan Warde	...	Admiral's aide (uncredited)
Dick Wessel	...	Mess sergeant (uncredited)
Mack Williams	...	(uncredited)
Adam York	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Nicholas Ray

Writing credits
James Edward Grant		(screenplay)
Kenneth Gamet		(story)
Beirne Lay Jr.		screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Edmund Grainger	....	producer

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
William E. Snyder		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Sherman Todd

Art Direction by
Albert S. D'Agostino
James W. Sullivan

Set Decoration by
Darrell Silvera
John Sturtevant

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist
Larry Germain	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Cliff P. Broughton	....	production supervisor

Sound Department
Frank McWhorter	....	sound
Clem Portman	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Mantz	....	pilot: camera airplane (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	aerial camera operator: Technicolor (uncredited)

Music Department
C. Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director

Other crew
Colonel Richard Hughes	....	technical advisor (as Colonel Richard Hughes U.S.M.C.)
Howard Hughes	....	presenter
Morgan Padelford	....	technicolor color consultant
Sid Davis	....	stand-in: John Wayne (uncredited)

Production Companies

• RKO Radio Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1952) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• RKO Radio Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (2000) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)

Other Companies

• United States Marine Corps  dedicated to

Also Known As:

Devil Dogs of the Air (USA) (working title)
Flying Devil Dogs (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:12 | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-8 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:Approved (PCA #14994)

Filming Locations:

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, Oceanside, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

This movie is often considered merely another assignment of Nicholas Ray's at RKO for Howard Hughes to prove his political and professional alliance during the Red Scare. A blatant pro-war movie that Hughes cared about and Ray did not, Ray disagreed with the film's politics and is said to have, along with Robert Ryan, intentionally over-act. Ryan and Ray, who were leftist liberals, constantly fought against John Wayne and Jay C. Flippen, who were conservatives and supported the Blacklist.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Major Kirby is just home from the war, he takes a letter from a mailbox which in a full-screen shot is shown to have a six-cent stamp. Six-cent stamps weren't issued until 1949, four years after the war ended.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "That Girl: Anatomy of a Blunder (#1.5)" (1966)

Take Off Those Boots, Mister.

The central story is elementary. Wayne arrives to command a group of Hellcats on Guadalcanal. His executive officer is Robert Ryan. Wayne is a taciturn, no-nonsense typa guy who doesn't suffer humanitarians easily. Ryan is a humanitarian. (A fairly decent reflection of offscreen attitudes here.)

Ryan is always saying things about his wisecracking, fun-loving men like, "They're just kids." And Wayne's first priority is to force them to become disciplined and efficient warriors. He's distant enough that when he sends the men a bottle of saki, he tells the messenger not to reveal the identity of the donor. Not that Ryan is a namby-pamby. He's shown as gentle but not coddling. And he's smart too. One of his men complains that every time he goes up, his chances of coming down alive are narrowed. Ryan explains Baldt's theorem, or whatever it is, which states that your chances remain the same no matter how many times you've flown. Just like flipping a coin. With each flip, your chance of getting heads or tails is even, no matter how many times you've flipped it. (This ignores something called The Law of Limits, I think, but I don't want to get in over my head here so I'll quit.) Okay, maybe Ryan thinks too much, but at least statistics isn't as bad as a taste for Shakespeare, which was John Agar's failing in "Sands of Iwo Jima." Math is a man's job, finally, whereas Shakespeare is only one step removed from fairyhood.

Anyway the conflict intensifies and Ryan finally turns on Wayne, saying, "I've had a belly full of you!" There is a fierce confrontation and Wayne departs to train pilots elsewhere in ground support using Corsairs, a legendary Pacific fighter. He does not recommend Ryan as his replacement because Ryan, as we all know, hasn't got the guts for command.

Now -- you've got the picture of the conflict. We have, on the one hand, the stern, distant, not unfeeling Wayne leader. And on the other hand we have the casual, humanitarian Ryan who identifies with his men too much. Okay. The conflict is resolved at the end of the picture and the two men agree to meet later and get drunk together. I ask you: in whose favor is this conflict resolved? No power on earth could drag the answer from me.

This movie was directed by Nicholas Ray, although you'd never know it. Comedy relief is provided by the scrounging line chief, J. C. Flippen, who refers to non-aviation types as "mud Marines" and is patronizingly tolerated by Wayne. All the combat footage is from official Navy film. You have seen every shot exactly one thousand, two hundred, and forty-two times before.

Those F4U Corsairs were marvelous airplanes with a top speed of about 450 miles an hour.