There are some remarkable performances here, particularly by Veronica Lake, who sings beautifully and then causes the downfall of two promising pilots and almost succeeds in wrecking the entire film. William Holden is the other very remarkable performance as a very young man full of insecurity - this is a very rare character for William Holden in the very beginning of his career, making a pilot who commits mistakes and gets out of it alive, even if he stops flying for a while in a painful time out forced on him by circumastances. Ray Milland as the rich pilot aspirant with lots of money to pay for himself also commits horrible blunders and even tries a break as a deserter together with Veronica Lake but is saved by William Holden. They are a perfect pair as wannabe heroes who in a manner of speaking succeed by failing. Brian Donleavy as the senior officer is quite correct and does nothing wrong but gets hurt anyway. In brief, who wants to be a pilot through a dramatic education like this? There are some very impressing flying exhibitions as well, the "flying fortress" is showing its muscles, and although this film does not reach up to the level of other flying virtuoso films like David Lean's "The Sound Barrier", it is quite impressing enough and very interesting for its human psychology, as you can't fly away from human problems and complexities even as the best pilot in the world. Interesting is also that this film was made before Pearl Harbour in the idyllic days before the war got serious and America involved in it, which is why the film makes a very fresh impression, like a school for war in peacetime without any fear of any war, while things would soon get serious for real - after the film was made.
