Men of the Sky (1942)

A propaganda film, made in the early months of World War II, dramatizing a new group of U.S. Army Air Force pilots receiving their wings from Lt. General H.H. Arnold: on off-screen narrator... See full summary »

Director:

B. Reeves Eason

Writer:

Owen Crump

Stars:

Tod Andrews, Eleanor Parker, Don DeFore

Cast

Cast overview:
Tod Andrews	...	Cadet Frank Bickley (as Michael Ames)
Eleanor Parker	...	Mrs. Frank Bickley
Don DeFore	...	Cadet Dick Mathews
Ray Montgomery	...	Cadet Jim Morgan
Ruth Ford	...	Cadet Gladdens' Sweetheart
Dave Willock	...	Bob 'Sir Galahad' Gladdens (as David Willock)
Owen Crump	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

A propaganda film, made in the early months of World War II, dramatizing a new group of U.S. Army Air Force pilots receiving their wings from Lt. General H.H. Arnold: on off-screen narrator introduces four of them to us, we see them before the war, during flight training, and in their first assignments as pilots. In flashbacks, we see one with his parents, we meet another's younger brother, we see one with his wife, and meet the fourth pilot's sweetheart. By the film's end, they are flying planes and matériel to General MacArthur in Australia and their families see Air Force planes flying overhead, protecting the nation from invasion.

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Plot Keywords:

cow | military | united states army air corps | pilot training | brother | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1942 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

20 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Crazy Credits

The narrator identifies General Arnold, and General Arnold identifies General Cousins.

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Soundtracks

"The Army Air Corps Song"
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Crawford
Sung by a chorus during the opening credits and played often in the score

User Reviews

World War II

In 1942, it was common practice to refer to Japanese as Japs and Germans as Nazis. For a post-Pearl Harbor propaganda film, this isn't as racist as it could have been. Newsreels of that time were often more racist than this.

Watching this, I wondered how many of the men lined up for Gen. "Hap" Arnold to pin their wings on them were real pilots. And out of those men, how many would die in combat. I don't know the statistics, but I would imagine that being part of a flight crew in 1942 wasn't a job with great long-term prospects.

If you're interested in American propaganda from the early part of American involvement, this is a good start. This isn't as good as the Frank Capra produced series "Why We Fight", but definitely worth a look if you are into World War II and American History of the mid-20th Century.