God Is My Co-Pilot (1945)

Robert L. Scott has dreamed his whole life of being a fighter pilot, but when war comes he finds himself flying transport planes over The Hump into China. In China, he persuades General ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Florey

Writers:

Robert Lee Scott Jr. (book) (as Col. Robert Lee Scott Jr.), Peter Milne (screenplay)

Stars:

Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey, Dane Clark

Cast

Credited cast:
Dennis Morgan	...	Col. Robert Lee Scott
Dane Clark	...	Johnny Petach
Raymond Massey	...	Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault
Alan Hale	...	Big Mike Harrigan
Andrea King	...	Catherine Scott
John Ridgely	...	David 'Tex' Hill
Stanley Ridges	...	Col. Merian 'Steve' Cooper
Craig Stevens	...	Ed Rector
Warren Douglas	...	Bob Neale
Mark Stevens	...	Sgt. Baldridge (as Stephen Richards)
Charles Smith	...	Pvt. Motley
Minor Watson	...	Col. Caleb V. Haynes
Richard Loo	...	Tokyo Joe
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Addison Richards	...	(scenes deleted)
Donald Woods	...	(scenes deleted)

Storyline

Robert L. Scott has dreamed his whole life of being a fighter pilot, but when war comes he finds himself flying transport planes over The Hump into China. In China, he persuades General Chennault to let him fly with the famed Flying Tigers, the heroic band of airmen who'd been fighting the Japanese long before Pearl Harbor. Scott gets his chance to fight, ultimately engaging in combat with the deadly Japanese pilot known as Tokyo Joe.

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Plot Keywords:

china | flying tiger | fighter pilot | american soldier | claim in title | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

7 April 1945 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mão Que nos Guia

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was at one time to be a Hal B. Wallis production. According to memos included in the records of the War Department, Wallis wanted Colonel Robert L. Scott to play himself in the film, and if that were not possible, wanted Scott to contribute to the script, as he believed the pilot's contribution would make the screenplay more effective. The Army Air Force denied this request, as they believed it would interfere with Scott's military duties. By February 1, 1944, however, Scott was made available for temporary duty as a technical advisor.

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Goofs

After Scott arrives in Kunming, one of the Tigers refers to his aircraft as a DC-3. In reality he would have called it a C-47; DC-3 was the civilian designation for the airplane.

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Quotes

Big Mike Harrigan: [Last lines] They who had scorned the thought of any strength except their own to lean on learned at length, how fear can sabotage the bravest heart. And human weakness, answering to the prod of terror, calls: "Help us, O God." Then silence lets the silent voice be heard, bringing its message like a spoken word, "Believe. Believe in me. Cast out your fear. Oh, I am not up there beyond the sky, but here, right here in your heart. I am the strength you seek. Believe."... And they believed.

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Connections

Referenced in Cheers: Fear Is My Co-Pilot (1986)

User Reviews

Dennis Morgan gets a chance to play a real-life hero...

DENNIS MORGAN is one of those actors under contract to Warner Bros. who seldom got a chance to do anything but lightweight roles and occasionally given a fairly good musical such as the Technicolored MY WILD IRISH ROSE where he played Chauncey Olcott, songwriter.

But GOD IS MY CO-PILOT is a rarity in that he gets to fill most of the screen's running time as Col. Robert Lee Scott, one of the first Americans to join the "Flying Tigers" just before World War II. Scott went on to a distinctive wartime record and only recently died at a ripe old age, a hero of his hometown of Macon, Georgia.

The film is a typical Warner war film--cast with all of their most dependable stock company players--including RAYMOND MASSEY, ALAN HALE, CRAIG STEVENS, newcomer MARK STEVENS, ANDREA KING, DANE CLARK, JOHN RIDGELY and DONALD COOK. But as a film, it falls strictly into the Saturday afternoon adventure mold for kiddies, only occasionally rising to the occasion of being a good biography of the wartime hero.

Despite the rather plum role, Morgan is still a lightweight, leaving the heavier histrionics to Raymond Massey and Alan Hale--but his fans loved him in this, regardless. It's probably the film he's most remembered for during the '40s.

And incidentally, there was no political correctness going on in the '40s as far as America and the Japanese were concerned, for those taking affront at the slurs against "the Japs". That's the way they were regarded then. Even having dishes that bore "Made in Japan" on them, was enough for an American to consider throwing them out. That's how it was--deal with it.