Memphis Belle (1990)

In 1943, the crew of a B-17 based in UK prepares for its 25th and last bombing mission over Germany before returning home to the USA.

Director:

Michael Caton-Jones

Writer:

Monte Merrick

Stars:

Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew Modine	...	Capt. Dennis Dearborn
Eric Stoltz	...	Sgt. Danny "Danny Boy" Daly
Tate Donovan	...	1st Lt. Luke Sinclair
D.B. Sweeney	...	Lt. Phil Lowenthal
Billy Zane	...	Lt. Val "Valentine" Kozlowski
Sean Astin	...	Sgt. Richard "Rascal" Moore
Harry Connick Jr.	...	Sgt. Clay Busby
Reed Diamond	...	Sgt. Virgil Hoogesteger (as Reed Edward Diamond)
Courtney Gains	...	Sgt. Eugene McVey
Neil Giuntoli	...	Sgt. Jack Bocci
David Strathairn	...	Col. Craig Harriman
John Lithgow	...	Lt.Col. Bruce Derringer
Jane Horrocks	...	Faith
Mac McDonald	...	Les (as Mac Macdonald)
Jodie Brooke Wilson	...	Singer (as Jodie Wilson)

Storyline

It's May 1943 at a US Army Air Corps base in England. The four officers and six enlisted men of the Memphis Belle - a B-17 bomber so nicknamed for the girlfriend of its stern and stoic captain, Dennis Dearborn - will soon start their twenty-fifth mission, having completed their previous twenty-four successfully with nary an incident, while fewer and fewer other planes are coming back from their missions at all. If they complete their next mission successfully, they will be the first Army Air Corps B-17 Crew to complete their tour of duty. Visiting communications officer Lt. Col. Bruce Derringer wants to publicize and highly tout their accomplishment, even before it happens, as a long term good news campaign at a time when there is little good news to report. Derringer's plan is against the wishes of the base commander, Col. Craig Harriman, who would prefer to treat the ten as any of his other hard working men. The previous success of the Memphis Belle is despite the disparate natures ...

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Plot Keywords:

b 17 bomber | england | engineer | airman | bombing | 

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Taglines:

Brave young men who rode on the wings of victory.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

UK Japan USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Bela Memphis

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,026,846, 14 October 1990, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$27,441,977

Company Credits

Production Co:

Enigma Productions, Warner Bros., Fujisankei Communication Group

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There was originally a part written for the Memphis Belle's ground crew chief called "Les". He had a number of scenes with the Captain detailing the condition of the plane etc. The actor remains in the film, and is listed in the credits, but keeps only one line: "It's only got one wheel down." He is not specified as the crew chief of the Belle at any time in the finished cut, meaning his one line makes him look like a glorified extra.

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Goofs

When the crash-landed B-17 slides to a stop, the name and artwork is visible on the nose. When the view changes to just before the plane explodes, the nose is unmarked.

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Quotes

Dennis Dearborn: [Gene nervously fires at German fighters while they are still out of range] I said hold your fire!
Sgt. Jack Bocci: [Mocking] Hahaha, that was Genie the Weenie.
Eugene McVey: Shut up, Jackass!

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Alternate Versions

The UK cinema version was rated 12, and was uncut. The video release was rated PG, and removed the use of "all fucked up".

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Connections

Referenced in Motormouth: Episode #4.16 (1991)

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Soundtracks

Greeneyes
Written by Nilo Menendez, E. Rivera and Eddie Woods

User Reviews

Actually was an fairly accurate account...

The movie actually was a fairly accurate account of the Belle's experiences except that the movie had everything that actually happened to the plane and crew on its 25 flights happen on the last flight. The one thing missing was that a Belle waist gunner ended up with frost bite on his hands and was replaced. The characters in the movie were fictional. I've seen some comments by people that it was unrealistic for a 21-year old (Matthew Modine's Dennis Dearborn character) to be the pilot. The real Belle pilot, Robert K. Morgan, was only 24 when they began flying missions in late 1942. Some of the movie's dialogue actually was said by crew during the Belle's missions. The government produced a 1944 documentary on the Memphis Belle directed by William Wyler and if you watch it you will recognize some of the scenes and dialogue from this movie.