Did You Know?
The poem Sgt. Danny Daly (Eric Stoltz) reads is "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death", by Irish poet William Butler Yeats (but a stanza referring to Ireland is left out).
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Producer Catherine Wyler is the daughter of William Wyler, who directed the wartime documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, which this movie was based on.
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There are only five real B-17 flying in the movie. Two were flown in from the US, two came from France, and one was already based in England. One of the French airplanes crashed during filming. Although everyone onboard survived, the aircraft was a total loss in the post crash fire. Only one of the airplanes was a genuine F-model, like the real Memphis Belle, accurate to the time the story is set. All others were G-models, that came later in the war. Two different airplanes played "Memphis Belle" during the movie, one of which is in real life named Sally B.
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The plane which portrayed the Belle in the movie is actually a converted B-17G, while the real Belle is an F Model. The G Model has a chin turret, which was removed for the film and for the subsequent appearances made at airshows around the United States. The plane is owned by David Tallichet, who has repainted the plane to match the real Memphis Belle (the Warner Bros. paint scheme is not accurate, thus avoiding any legal concerns over duplicating the earlier scheme). Forgotten in the post-war rush to disarm, the real "Belle" was rescued off a salvage yard at Altus, Oklahoma in 1946 by an alert Memphis citizen who convinced the city fathers to reclaim the bomber before it was scrapped. The "Belle" was displayed at several locations in Memphis from 1948 to 2003, and was then transported to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in October 2005 for restoration and eventual display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
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The pilot of the real Memphis Belle was Robert K Morgan. After reaching the rank of Lt. Col. he lead the first B-29 formation over Tokyo. The name of Morgan's B-29 was "Dauntless Dotty". The mission was the first bombing of Tokyo by US bombers since the Doolittle raid of April 1942.
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The co-pilot of the real Memphis Belle was James Verinas. Col. Morgan always referred to him as the "other" pilot of the "Belle" since he was such an important part of the crew
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The top turret gunners of the real Memphis Belle were Leviticus "levy" Dillon, Eugene Adkins, and Harold Loch.
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The left waist turret gunner of the real Memphis Belle was Claence "Bill" Winchel. The right waist gunners of the real Memphis Belle were E. Scott Miller and Casimer Nastel.
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The tail gunner of the real Memphis Belle was John Quinlan. He was also awarded 3-kills in the pacific theater after his tour when he was assigned to B-29s
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The real Memphis Belle has been restored and was displayed at Memphis, Tennessee from 1987 to the present. In 2004, it was to be sent to the Air Force Museum outside Dayton, Ohio to be part of its WWII display, but several congressmen from Tennessee put a hold on the move. In September 2005 it was decided to move the Belle to Dayton as originally planned after the organization that took care of it decided they could no longer afford to do so.
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The navigator of the real Memphis Belle was Charles Leighton. From Flint Michigan, he retired as a teacher and counselor. He saved the Belle and more B-17's after identifying false German radio beacons designed to lure unwary B-17s into harms way.
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The bombardier of the real Memphis Belle was Vince Evans. Hollywood writer for Bogart, friend of Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Stewart, June Allyson. Restaurant operator, race car driver. Completed 2nd tour of duty aboard B-29's with Morgan in the Pacific.
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The ball turret gunner of the real Memphis Belle was Cecil Scott. From Altoona, PA. "From down there I could see everything." He fired at a great many German fighters and achieved one "Damaged" credit. Retired from Ford Motor Company after 30 years.
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Joe Giambrone was the crew chief of the "Belle". He kept the Belle Flying through six months of combat. Replaced nine engines, both wings, two tails, both main landing gear, and more. From Hulneville, Pennsylvania, he retired as Construction Co. Office Manager.
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The church seen in the movie is a two-sided prop. It represents the Little Stukeley church close to Bassingbourn airfield (original site of 91 BG) and was added as a link to the Wyler's documentary of 1943. Further links include the farmer with horse-driven machine and the man with harmonica sitting on a bomb trolley. Since Bassingbourn was still operated by RAF, filming was done at Binbrook, recently vacated by the RAF. Modern facilities were hidden from cameras or dismantled. New "old" control tower was built.
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There was originally a part written for the Memphis Belle's ground crew chief called "Les". He had a number of scenes with the Captain detailing the condition of the plane etc. The actor remains in the film, and is listed in the credits, but keeps only one line: "It's only got one wheel down." He is not specified as the crew chief of the Belle at any time in the finished cut, meaning his one line makes him look like a glorified extra.
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The Sally B, one of two B17s portraying the Belle in the film, is the last airworthy B17 in the UK. She is based at RAF Duxford, Europe's premier aviation museum, and is part of the USAAF WWII Memorial Flight making dozens of appearances across the UK and North Europe. She is maintained and run by volunteers and relies solely upon donations.
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The movie was originally to be called "Southern Belle", to avoid possible legal problems with real "Memphis Belle" crew. But none of the crew members objected.
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The film's opening prologue reads: "In the Summer of 1943, a fierce battle raged in the skies above Europe. Everyday, hundreds of young airmen faced death as they flew their bombing raids deep into enemy territory. Fewer and fewer were coming back."
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According to the film, the "Memphis Belle" flew her 25th and last mission on 17th May 1943.
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The film's dedication states: "This film is dedicated to all the brave young men, whatever their nationality, who flew and fought in history's greatest airborne confrontation."
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The movie's closing epilogue says: "Over a quarter of a million aircraft battled for supremacy in the skies over Western Europe, and nearly 200,000 air-crew lost their lives."
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The Memphis Belle was named for Margaret K. Polk of Memphis, TN. Although she and Robert K. Morgan broke off their engagement after his returning to the US, they remained friends for life. Polk died April 5, 1990. Her obituary, titled "The Memephis Belle, Margaret Polk, dies", appeared April 6, 1990 in the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal. It runs almost 23 column-inches.
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During the second squadron landing one of the B17's shoot a red flare. This was historically done to let the ambulances know that that particular plane had wounded on-board.
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Memphis Belle was originally conceived by its director, David Puttnam, as a film about a British aircraft bomber and its crew but the film was transformed by its American financial backers into a story of "the youthful crew of a celebrated American B-17 Flying Fortress". Puttnam lamented the fact that because of this a British story could not be told in the way he had conceived it and in all probability would now never be told."
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