Men of the Sky (1942) User Reviews

World War II

[jtyroler · 6/10 · 15 March 2008]

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.

Recruiting short remains a colorful reminiscence of 1940's self image

[eschetic-1 · 6/10 · 13 March 2008]

21st century eyes may see the stereotypes heavy handed (racist "gung-ho" "kill the evil enemy" pep speeches and sexist views of the women back home) and the introductory message to graduating air recruits in the Midwestern nasal twang of real life Army-Air Corps commander "Hap" Arnold quaint, but that accent was familiar to viewers when the film was first released. Give a listen on "archive.org" to famous radio news broadcasters H.V. Kaltenborn or Elmer Davis. The Army Air Corps (the army and navy each had their own air branches before a unified air force was later created) six months into the start of World War II was scrambling to fill its ranks with the best men it could find and Hollywood co-operated with "human interest" short.

Films like this (and full blown plotted programmers) combined promise of adventure, honor and idealized pictures of the nation's self image - what the fighting men felt they were being called upon to defend. Of equal concern - nicely addressed in this lavish Technicolor short - was the morale of those either left behind or working in war support production industries. They needed to be assured they were important too.

The image may seem too well scrubbed and naive at sixty plus years remove, but it was a fairly accurate picture of what most of non-urbanized "middle America" thought of itself in 1942 - and the little touches can be fascinating. A notable part in the latter half of the one reeler deals with domestic military facilities being camouflaged and defended "when they arrive" to attack or bomb them. In mid-1942, the tide of battle had not yet turned in Europe or the Pacific, and this was a real concern for the target audience.

MEN OF THE AIR may not be great film making, but it is a colorful and honest (if idealized) snapshot of middle-America at the start of an earlier crisis - just as it was coming out of the Great Depression and before the depth of rationing and total commitment to the war effort reached a country that thought of itself as safe.

An interesting side note is the subsequent career of the cast. Unless they were featuring pre-war movie stars who had been "called to the colors," these recruiting shorts usually tried to cast unknown "everymen" that the audience could theoretically identify with. When this film was first released as "filler" between the main films you paid to see in the theatre - just the way Turner Classic Movies is showing it un-billed today - the biggest recognizable name to most audiences was General Arnold, but most audiences today will recognize the faces and voices of several of the recruits and their sweethearts (even if you don't know their names immediately) from long careers in films and TV work after the war.

Worth a look - whether or not you feel called upon to set your video recording device.

Off We Go Into The Wild, Blue Yonder!

[boblipton · 5/10 · 1 June 2019]

Owen Crump wrote and narrated this two-reel documentary short about the Army Air Corps in beautiful Technicolor. It's all about the boys next door -- ordinary Joes like Tod Andrews, Dom Defore, and Ray Montgomery -- who leave their pretty but ordinary girls next door like Eleanor Parker and Ruth Ford. They leave their ordinary jobs -- contract players for Warner Brothers, but supposedly working at banks and colleges -- to have their wings pinned on by Hap Arnold and sent off to ferry supplies to another ordinary Joe like Doug MacArthur and bomb the tar out of anyone who'd threaten barefoot kids and their Coca-Cola, because nothing can stop the Army Air Corps!

It's a recruiting short for the Air Corps, offered in finest gung ho fashion by director Breezy Eason. The Technicolor is quite lovely on this short. It's a fine document of its time and the nation at war.

Not Terrific But It Shows History

[Michael_Elliott · 27 November 2012]

Men of the Sky (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

When people view films like this one today they're probably going to be offended by some of the racist comments but it's important to remember that this here is a product of its day and we were in the middle of WWII so the film did it's job at trying to build up hatred for the enemy. The film is certainly pretty generic in terms of its story but then again, the main goal was to get people to enlist and I'm sure many did so after seeing it. What we basically get is a propaganda film that tries to talk young men into joining the war, getting their "wings," fighting the enemy and making their parents proud. Again, it's impossible to watch this thing and try to take it serious today as many people are simply going to object to the message. I think the film remains watchable today thanks in large part to the fact that it's pretty much history as to how the country and Hollywood tried to sell the war to people. It's interesting hearing the words used, the patriotic nature and of course how they try to sell the good that comes from it.

About what you'd expect for a WWII propaganda film.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 14 September 2021]

"Men of the Sky" is a WWII propaganda film. While to some the word 'propaganda' is a bad one, it isn't necessarily. In some cases, such as with this film, it's positive....as the film is about the American efforts in WWII. War sucks...but this one was a 'good one'...if such a thing can be said about war.

This film stars General Hap Arnold (who is NOT a great actor) and is about men going through the Army Air Corps' training program for pilots. However, it's NOT a warts and all film...it's much more a 'hurray for our side' sort of thing intended to make serving seem honorable and patriotic. And, as such, it's very well made (aside from Arnold's wooden delivery) and is in glorious Technicolor. Worth seeing as a historical record of our past.

The Army Ar Corps

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 28 May 2020]

This early World War 2 flagwaver was a recruiting pitch for the expanding Army Air Corps. A number of familiar faces who had some good post war careers are in this as typical folks who left civilian life after Pearl Harbor.

Note this is the Army Air Corps, the USA did not have a special Air Force until post WW2. Some of those seen here who survied the war might well have been charter members of the USAF,

4 star general Henry H. Arnold appears to give this film an official imprimatur. This propaganda piece holds up well.

stiff

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 May 2020]

It's the Army Air Force. Lt. General H.H. Arnold presents new flyers with their wings during this time of war. As each cadet gets his wings, some of their origin stories are revealed. We see the men studying, training, and flying. Finally, they are sent to Australia.

This is a colored wartime propaganda film. The colors are great. The film looks good but the filmmaking is pretty stiff. I love the old planes but the movie could use more aerial footage. I really hate projecting background for the cockpit sequences. The movie needs to have more cameras in the air. That's the best footage. The director is a veteran from early silent era. I don't think this is particularly good propaganda.

Where do I sign up?

[cricket30 · 8/10 · 12 March 2013]

For a patriot person such as myself, it is impossible to watch MEN OF THE SKY and not want to run to the nearest time machine, set the dial for 1942, race through the inevitable sunshine to the Army Air Force recruiting center, and sign up to blast away at some of those sneaky little enemies! Unlike the first-ever Best Picture Oscar champ, WINGS (1927), MEN OF THE SKY does not feature any ill-fated Gary Coopers, here one minute, and jam on the training field the next. No one is shooting down their best buddy, just because their bro borrowed an enemy aircraft after being downed behind German lines. No one is weaving in and out of consciousness here, drunk out of their skulls, seeing bubbles every time a hooker farts. Nobody has a girl torn between two lovers, wondering what to do, not knowing "if loving both of you is breaking all the rules." Despite the Depression, no one in MEN OF THE SKY thinks twice about giving up their latest promotion to take apparently unpaid positions in the cockpit, 'cuz, gosh dern it, those Jauts ARE BAYONETTING BABIES (actual newspaper headline shown during MEN OF THE SKY)!

Good color.

[gkeith_1 · 10/10 · 12 January 2016]

Very pretty young woman in this movie.

Don DeFore as nice-looking airman.

Yes, a propaganda film, BUT wonderful music. Army Air Force, becoming United States Air Force. Yay! Nice color in this film.

I figure these young men in beginning of film were born as baby boomers after World War One. I figure that the enemy knew that the U.S. was full of eager young men who were patriotically ready to give their lives for home and country.

Big industrial power? Don't you think that the enemy watched this, knowing how hard they would have to fight to beat our cause?

These men would go on to have their own baby boom, after World War Two was over.

Kill the enemy! Blast their planes out of the sky!

Well, the enemy lost. I guess we outsmarted them.

This is the sort of stirring music video that makes one Proud to be an . . .

[pixrox1 · 9/10 · 29 May 2020]

. . . American. Backed by refrain after refrain of that "Off We Go - - " hymn, MEN OF THE SKY harks back to a Yesteryear when the male half of the population did not shirk their Duty, but jogged out from all walks of civilian life to crew and service the USA's avenging fighter and bomber Angels in the Clouds during World War Two. Given that Men were actually Men in these Good Old Days, women were freed to cultivate, water, weed, hoe and reap their Victory Gardens on the Home Front, while perhaps baking a few pies for the Class of '42. "Frank," "Dick" and "Bob" epitomize the U.S. Military's chivalrous Glory Days, when these Air Cavaliers and millions like them trampled their grapes of wrath against the nefarious Axis of Evil. In These Troubled Times of our Modern 21st Century, it's especially morale-boosting to view MEN OF THE SKY to see what American Greatness looks like!