Air Force (1943)

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
The film follows the crew of the Mary-Ann, a B-17 bomber. On December 6, 1941,
with the United States still at peace, they fly with the rest of their unarmed squadron
from Hamilton Field, near San Francisco, to Hickam Field at Pearl Harbor,
Territory of Hawaii.
They arrive right at the beginning of the Japanese attack
. This is based on a true incident; radar operators thought
the Japanese planes they detected were an expected incoming flight of B-17s.
. Subsequently the crew mans the Mary Ann through action
at Wake Island, the Philippines, and the Battle of the Coral Sea.
written by ethanedwards.

Full Cast
John Ridgely ... Pilot 'Irish' Quincannon
Gig Young ... Co-Pilot Bill Williams
Arthur Kennedy ... Bombardier Tommy McMartin
Charles Drake ... Navigator 'Monk' Hauser
Harry Carey ... Crew Chief Robbie White
George Tobias ... Asst. Crew Chief Weinberg
Ward Wood ... Radio Operator Peterson
Ray Montgomery ... Asst. Radio Operator Chester
John Garfield ... Aerial Gunner Joe Winocki
James Brown ... Pilot Tex Rader
Stanley Ridges ... Maj. Mallory - Clark Field
Willard Robertson ... Colonel at Hickam Field
Moroni Olsen ... Col. Blake - Commanding Officer at Manila
Edward Brophy ... Marine Sgt. J.J. Callahan (as Edward S. Brophy)
Richard Lane ... Maj. W.G. Roberts
Bill Crago ... Pilot P.T. Moran at Manila
Faye Emerson ... Susan McMartin -Tommy's Sister
Addison Richards ... Maj. Daniels
James Flavin ... Maj. A.M. Bagley
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 S. 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)

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

Original Music
Franz Waxman

Cinematography
James Wong Howe

Trivia
The real Mary Ann was used on a tour to promote the film, then assigned to Hobbs Army Air Field in New Mexico. Some time in 1943 it was flown to Amarillo Army Air Field, where, according to a newspaper article, it was taken off flight status the next day, and assigned to ground school.

One of the top three money makers for Warner Brothers in 1943.

An uncredited William Faulkner wrote the emotional death bed scene for the Mary Ann's pilot.

Actual newsreel footage was expertly inserted into the film, including scenes from the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Henry Blair is in studio records/casting call lists playing "Quincannon's Son" and he's called Michael in the film, but he does not appear.

Aerial scenes were filmed in Texas and Florida because airplanes appearing to be Japanese were not allowed on the west coast due to a fear of Japanese invasion.

The U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft that appeared in the film were:

Ten Boeing B-17C/D Flying Fortresses from Hendrick Field, Sebring, Florida.
North American AT-6 Texans (as Japanese fighters) and Bell P-39 Airacobras, Curtiss P-40Cs and Republic P-43A Lancers from Drew Field.
Six Martin B-26C Marauders from McDill Field, Tampa, Florida, as the Japanese bombers.

In the scene on Wake Island where a marine hands the dog to Assistant Crew Chief Weinberg (George Tobias), a voice can be heard telling the dog to give Weinberg a kiss. The voice was from the dog's owner and trainer, Frank Weatherwax. The dog, named Rommy, had appeared in numerous other movies including Reap the Wild Wind, George Washington Slept Here and Without Love.

The aircraft that played the parts of Zeros in the film were actually Republic P-43A Lancers.

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 bombay, 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.

The "Mary Ann" sadly was lost in the Pacific when it returned to combat duty after the release of the movie.

This film was shot at Drew Field, Tampa, Florida, USA, in August 1942.

The only members of "Maryann" killed during the film were both kissed good-bye at the beginning of the movie: John Ridgely ("The Pilot") by his wife and Ray Montgomery ("Assistant Radio Operator) by his mother. Also, these are the only crew members to have someone "see them off" at the beginning of their mission.

Goofs
Revealing mistakes: During the Wake Island scene, the dog's trainer can be heard giving the animal commands to kiss George Tobias.

Factual errors: The national insignias on the "Mary-Ann's" fuselage and wingtips (a white star in a solid blue disc) are incorrect for the period depicted in the film. At the beginning of World War II, U.S. Army Air Corps aircraft insignia was a white star in a blue disc, with a smaller red disc in the middle of the star. According to "The Official Guide to the Army Air Forces," published in May of 1944, "the red disc was removed to prevent confusion with Japanese marking(s)" effective August 18, 1942, eight months after the events in the film take place.

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.

Continuity: Throughout the movie, stock film of several different versions of the B-17 is used, often depicting the same aircraft. For example, Mary Ann is a B-17A, the earliest version of the aircraft, but the beach crash scene at the end of the movie uses film of a later B-17, probably a B-17F.

Revealing mistakes: The Jap task force the Mary Ann spots through the clouds is moving across the water in the direction of the camera's travel at an oblique angle to their wakes, revealing that they are photographically superimposed.

Factual errors: Despite reports by Susan McMartin and other characters attributing the loss of planes at Hickham Field and attacks on civilians to Japanese-American saboteurs in bomb-ladened vegetable trucks, there were in fact no actual acts of sabotage. The reports made in the film were propaganda reflecting the hysteria of time.

Continuity: After landing at Pearl Harbor, the crew is shown painting over the large number 10 on the Mary Ann's tail. When the Mary Ann takes off again, the number is still there. In subsequent shots, the number is shown painted over once again.

Revealing mistakes: The scene in which the Mary Ann is attacked by Japanese fighters was obviously done with static models or rear projection imaging. The size of the attacking aircraft never changes and they remain on screen for several seconds. In reality, the fighters should appear to get larger as they approach and given a top speed of 300-350 mph, the fighters should be on screen for a couple seconds at most.

Memorable Quotes

Filming Locations
Drew Army Air Field, Tampa, Florida, USA
San Antonio, Texas, USA (aerial shots, exteriors)
Santa Monica Bay, California, USA (water scenes)
Tampa, Florida, USA (aerial shots, exteriors)

Air Force is a 1943 war film directed by Howard Hawks.
It starred John Garfield, John Ridgely, Harry Carey, and Gig Young
as crew members on a B-17C Flying Fortress named the Mary-Ann.
An uncredited William Faulkner wrote the emotional deathbed scene
for the pilot of the bomber.
Made in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack,
it was one of the first of the patriotic films of World War II,
also characterized as a propaganda film.

User Review

Air Force flies high
1 March 2006 | by johno-21 (United States)

Quote

OK, so this is a war years propaganda, moral boosting, rah rah USA, loaded with technical inaccuracies movie. This is still a very good film. Actually far better than most of it's genre from that period. What I like about it is not that it's a war movie but that it has such a fine cast and being set in a single interior for much of the film it comes across more like a good stage play set during combat action of World War II. John Garfield, Gig Young, Harry Carey, George Tobias and Arthur Kennedy are among the stellar ensemble cast in a story about the beginning days of America's entry into World War II. A Hal Wallis production with direction by famed Director Howard Hawks. I've probably seen half of the movies directed by Hawks from his 40 year plus directorial career as has most people since he made so many well-known films but in case you may have missed Air Force you should check it out. Dudley Nichols whose screenplay's include Stagecoach, The Bells of St. Mary's, Gunga Din, The Big Sky and For Whom The Bell Tolls was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the 1943 Academy Awards. Author William Faulkner collaborated in rewriting a scene and adding additional dialog. The film's only Academy Award went to George Amy for Best Film Editing. I think Hawks should have received a nomination for direction and the film should have also been nominated for cinematography. The large cast probably canceled each other out for any consideration in actor or supporting actor nominations but they put together a compelling performance. It's a great human drama. I would give this an 8.5 out of a possible 10 and recommend it.