Trivia for
A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941) More at IMDbPro »

• The scenes with the Spitfires were filmed in the UK. The Spitfires were from 602 squadron under the command of Squadron Leader Sandy Johnstone who were resting in early 1941 in Scotland after fighting in the Battle of Britain.
  
  
• The movie utilized real airborne combat footage. One the film's posters had a puff-box that read: "The aerial battles in 'A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)' are authentic and were filmed over Germany, France and England with the full cooperation of the British Air Ministry!"
  
  
• According to the book 'The Films of World War II' by Joe Morella, Edward Z. Epstein and John Griggs, this movie was a pet project of studio mogul Darryl F. Zanuck. Zanuck recruited big star power to achieve success at the box-office with Tyrone Power and Betty Grable, the latter of whom was a famous WW II pin-up girl. At the time of production, America was neutral and Zanuck supported American entry into the war to support the allies.
  
  
• The original screenplay for the film had the American flyboy character, Tim Baker, played by Tyrone Power, die at the end of the movie during a German aircraft attack. According to the book 'The Films of World War II' by Joe Morella, Edward Z. Epstein and John Griggs, the British military establishment requested that the studio allow the character to live because "apparently they didn't want to give American moviegoers the impression that Americans helping Britain would die." Moreover, a movie star-vehicle at that time with Tyrone Power was also unlikley to have him killed at the end which also may have affected the box-office.
  
  
• When this movie was made, America was not part of World War II. At this time, a number of Hollywood studios were pro-American involvement in the war. This movie is one of a number of films made during the late 1930s and early 1940s that represented pro-American intervention in the war. These films include: A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941) (which came late in the cycle), Man Hunt (1941), Foreign Correspondent (1940), The Mortal Storm (1940), Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) and Sergeant York (1941).
  
  
• The film utilizes an oft-used storyline of the war movie genre which has two soldiers in love with the same girl.
  
  
• This movie was made prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday 7 December 1941. The movie was first released at its world premiere on 26 September 1941, about 2½ months prior to the Pearl Harbor attack.
  
  

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