Air Force (1943)

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writer:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

20 March 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

GIANTS OF THE SKY...blazing a trail to victory!

Plot:

The crew of an Air Force bomber arrives in Pearl Harbor in the aftermath of the Japanese attack and is sent on to Manila to help with the defense of the Philippines.

Plot Keywords:

Philippines | Pearl Harbor | Japanese | Attack | Bomber

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 nominations

Cast

John Ridgely	...	Pilot
Gig Young	...	Co-Pilot
Arthur Kennedy	...	Bombardier
Charles Drake	...	Navigator
Harry Carey	...	Crew Chief
George Tobias	...	Asst. Crew Chief
Ward Wood	...	Radio Operator
Ray Montgomery	...	Asst. Radio Operator
John Garfield	...	Aerial Gunner
James Brown	...	Pursuit Pilot - Passenger
Stanley Ridges	...	Major Mallory - Clark Field
Willard Robertson	...	Colonel at Hickam Field
Moroni Olsen	...	Colonel Blake - Commanding Officer at Manila
Edward Brophy	...	Marine Sergeant J.J. Callahan (as Edward S. Brophy)
Richard Lane	...	Major W.G. Roberts
Bill Crago	...	Pilot P.T. Moran at Manila
Faye Emerson	...	Susan McMartin -Tommy's Sister
Addison Richards	...	Major Daniels
James Flavin	...	Major A.M. Bagley
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Murray Alper	...	Butch - Demolition Squad Corporal (uncredited)
Lynn Baggett	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Leah Baird	...	Nurse #2 (uncredited)
Rand Brooks	...	Co-pilot (uncredited)
James Bush	...	Clark Field Control Officer (uncredited)
Ann Doran	...	Mrs. Mary Quincannon (uncredited)
Warren Douglas	...	Hickam Field Control Officer (uncredited)
Bill Edwards	...	Soldier (uncredited)
John Estes	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Charles Flynn	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Ross Ford	...	Second Lieutenant (uncredited)
Ruth Ford	...	Nurse (uncredited)
William Forrest	...	Group Commander Jack Harper (uncredited)
Pat Gleason	...	Marine (uncredited)
Sol Gorss	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
William Hopper	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
David Horsley	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Marjorie Hoshelle	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Bill Hunter	...	Marine (uncredited)
Bill Kennedy	...	Marine (uncredited)
Allan Lane	...	Marine (uncredited)
Charles Lang	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Harry Lewis	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Warren Mace	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Frank Marlowe	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
James Millican	...	Marine with Dog on Wake Island (uncredited)
Maurice Murphy	...	Harper's Co-pilot (uncredited)
Tom Neal	...	Marine (uncredited)
George N. Neise	...	Hickam Field Radio Operator (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr.	...	Ground Crewman (uncredited)
Dorothy Peterson	...	Mrs. Chester (uncredited)
Walter Sande	...	Joe - Mechanic at Clark Field (uncredited)
Edward Soo Hoo	...	Chinese (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Chinese (uncredited)
Edwin Stanley	...	Doctor Attending Quincannon (uncredited)
Freddie Steele	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Charles Sullivan	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz	...	First Lieutenant (uncredited)
Hal Welling	...	Officer (uncredited)
Pat West	...	Soldier with Demolition Squad (uncredited)
Victor Zimmerman	...	Marine (uncredited)

Directed by
Howard Hawks

Writing credits
Dudley Nichols		(screenplay)
Leah Baird		uncredited
William Faulkner		contributor to screenplay (uncredited)
Arthur T. Horman		contributor to screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Franz Waxman

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
John Hughes

Set Decoration by
Walter F. Tilford

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Oliver S. Garretson	....	sound

Special Effects by
Roy Davidson	....	special effects director
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)
Rex Wimpy	....	special effects
Nathan Levinson	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Major Sam Triffy	....	stunt flyer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Elmer Dyer	....	aerial photographer
Charles A. Marshall	....	aerial photographer (as Charles Marshall)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Leonid Raab	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Paul Mantz	....	chief pilot: Warner Bros.
Major Theron Coulter	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Major Sam Triffy	....	technical advisor (uncredited)
Frank Weatherwax	....	dog trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (A Warner Bros.-First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1943) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• United States Army Air Corps  grateful acknowledgement of assistance (as United States Army Air Force)

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #8438) | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Drew Army Air Field, Tampa, Florida, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The aircraft used to play "Mary Ann" was a B-17B, one of 19 that had the gunners' bubbles replaced by the flush gun positions of the B-17C and B-17D. This aircraft MAY have been aircraft 38-583 or possibly 39-010. Also, aircraft "18" in the movie is 38-269. Pause the scenes where John Ridgely has walked in front of the daytime flight line with numbers "18" and "05" in the back ground, and, as he is talking to the crew in the bomb=bay, look through the gap between the bomb bay door and the fuselage: as you pause and forward frame-by-frame, you will see the tail of "18" just barely enough to see the numbers "8269" showing! This means that aircraft "18" is actually B-17B 38-269.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the B-17 "Mary Ann" is in the Philippines, there is a scene where Bell P-39 "Aircobras" take off. While the P-39 was operational with the Army Air Force in December 1941, there were no P-39s deployed to the Philippines before, during, or after the Japanese invasion. The main pursuit aircraft in the Philippines at the time of the December attack were the Curtiss P-40 "Warhawk," and obsolescent Seversky P-35s and Boeing P-26 "Peashooters." All were quickly overwhelmed by Japanese forces.

Quotes:

Pilot Irish Quincannon: Tell the crew they can sleep in the next world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart (1997) (TV)

Soundtrack:

The Army Air Corps Song

Another one for airplane buffs

For modern viewers, this is truly a movie for airplane buffs. How many movies can you find with early B-17s flying? I have always appreciated this movie for that purpose. Those early birds without tail guns and power turrets were all gone by wars end. This movie was made during the dark days of WWII for America and the 'D' models were still fairly new and in use stateside as training aircraft. Thankfully the producers just went to real Army Air Fields and used existing equipment. That is wonderful visual documentation for history buffs! Many 'props' were real! The Air Corps thermos bottles and the Air Crew bandoleers for pistol ammunition were great to see documented.

This was a wartime movie made in a period where we had suffered lots of defeats and few victories. The young men being sent off to war had grown up being taught not to kill their fellow humans. Most of the early war 'propaganda' films went to lengths to 'dehumanize' the enemy so that a young American entering combat would not be conflicted. This happens in all wars but is more obvious to us today due to the amount of films made during WWII. Regarding the talk of 'fifth column' work at Pearl Harbor, I believe some have missed the point of the propaganda. We have become so aware of the race issue that we miss the point made in the film. It was not so much to single out the Japanese ancestry citizens of Hawaii as to make the American people think that it wasn't our military's fault that we were caught by surprise. The theme in that scene and later on Wake Island proffered that 'our boys don't lose in an even fight'. It was to establish confidence in our military and equipment. The idea was to tell the U.S. civilian population that we couldn't lose unless stabbed in the back. Actually, much of our equipment of the time was inferior to our opponents. We also had mostly 'green' troops whereas the Japanese had a lot of combat experienced pilots and troops. It was a tough fight all the way through and our veterans deserve full credit for winning.

This movie is entertaining and a great one for airplane/history buffs who know what is 'right' and what isn't correct. Politically it is dated and must be taken in context. It is still fun to watch and worth your time.