Parachute Battalion

19411941
PassedPassed
1h 15m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

263

YOUR RATING

Buddy Ebsen, Harry Carey, Nancy Kelly, and Edmond O'Brien in Parachute Battalion (1941)

Drama Romance War

Pre-Pearl Harbor propaganda film about young Americans, from various social backgrounds, who undergo parachute training at Fort Benning prior to becoming paratroopers.Pre-Pearl Harbor propaganda film about young Americans, from various social backgrounds, who undergo parachute training at Fort Benning prior to becoming paratroopers.Pre-Pearl Harbor propaganda film about young Americans, from various social backgrounds, who undergo parachute training at Fort Benning prior to becoming paratroopers.

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

263

YOUR RATING

Director
- Leslie Goodwins
Writers
- John Twist(original screenplay)
- Hugh Fite(original screenplay)
Stars

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Trivia
Towards the end, the aircraft in which the two parachutists try to catch up with the rest of the battalion (in DC-2s), and which looks like a pregnant Harvard, is a North American O-10 observation aircraft.

Goofs
When the two parachutists land in the river their parachutes are not deployed but still packed. These are the jumpers main chutes, activated by the static line when jumping on command. These two jumpers, however were using their emergency chutes. The sergeant even tells Burke to remember to pull his ripcord. Therefore, the main chutes would normally remain packed.

Crazy credits
After the title and names of the eight featured players, the following statement appears in capital letters while the title song plays and we view the marching infantry: We gratefully acknowledge the splendid cooperation given by the officers and men of the 501st Parachute Battalion at Fort Benning, Ga., who actually made all the parachute jumps for this picture.

Soundtracks
Parachute Battalion
(1941) (uncredited)
Adapted from the official song of the army's parachute troops
Music by Roy Webb
Lyrics Herman Ruby
Played during the opening credits and at the end and sung by the marching recruits
Played also as background music

User reviews12

Review

Featured review

6/10

Buddy to the rescue!

This curious movie, which seems to be part documentary and part drama, tells of three individuals who have signed up for a parachute battalion. This film almost gives the VIEWER a heads up on what it takes to train to drop your parachute. Everything from Jumping exercises to height practice to even detailed instruction on how to pack a parachute! Oh yeah, two of the squad have a bit of a spat over a girl, but the main plot is about the training. What's so curious is that the film was made with the National Paratroopers Batallion in America, but shows some curious habits of the paratroopers that almost put them in a bad light. I'm talking of course of the captain pushing off a scared paratrooper off a plane for his solo flight, and another scene where another scared paratrooper pulls a gun on the plane (!!) and tells them HE'S NOT JUMPING!! Anyways, that's all forgotten of course, because any film that has Buddy Ebsen dancing and doing comedy is fine by me J

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