name | Air Force |
---|---|
director | Howard Hawks |
producer | Hal B. WallisJack Warner (executive producer) |
writer | Dudley Nichols |
starring | John GarfieldJohn RidgelyGig YoungHarry Carey |
music | Leo F. Forbstein |
cinematography | James Wong Howe |
editing | George Amy |
distributor | Warner Bros. |
released | |
runtime | 124 minutes |
country | United States |
language | English |
budget | $3,000,000 (1942) }} |
The Mary-Ann arrives right at the beginning of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In the aftermath, the beleaguered crew is taxed to the limit, as they are sent on to first Wake Island, then Clark Field in the Philippines with little rest. They take along fighter pilot "Tex" Rader (James Brown).
When they arrive in the Philippines, White receives the news that his son was killed on the first day trying to lead his squadron into the air. Soon after, Quincannon volunteers for a solo mission against a Japanese invasion fleet, but the Mary-Ann is beset by enemy fighters and forced to abort. After the wounded Quincannon orders his men to bail out of the stricken bomber, he blacks out. Fortunately, Winocki checks up on him and manages to guide the airplane in for a belly landing. Having told the dying Quincannon that the Mary-Ann is ready to fly, the crew work feverishly through the night repairing her, as the Japanese close in. They manage to take off just before the airfield is overrun.
As the Mary-Ann heads for the safety of Australia, with Tex as a reluctant co-pilot, they spot a powerful Japanese fleet below. The crew radios the information to all nearby airbases and aircraft carriers, then lead the attack when reinforcements arrive.
Actor !! Role | ||
John Ridgely | Captain Quincannon, Pilot | |
Gig Young | Lt. Williams, Co-Pilot | |
Arthur Kennedy (actor) | Arthur Kennedy | Lt. McMartin, Bombardier |
Charles Drake | Lt. Hauser, Navigator | |
Harry Carey (actor) | Harry Carey | Sergeant White, Crew Chief |
George Tobias | Corporal Weinberg, Assistant Crew Chief | |
Ward Wood | Corporal Peterson, Radio Operator | |
Ray Montgomery | Private Chester, Assistant Radio Operator | |
John Garfield | Sergeant Joe Winocki, Aerial Gunner | |
James Brown (actor) | James Brown | Lt. Rader 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 (as Edward S. Brody) | Marine Sergeant J.J. Callahan | |
Dick Lane (TV announcer) | 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 |
Although pre-production work had already taken place, the official start of the production on May 18, 1942 was tied to the War Department approving the script. Development of the film was concurrent with script-writing by Dudley Nichols, with some characters based on Air Corps personnel Hawks met while traveling to Washington, D.C. to confer with Arnold and the War Department Motion Picture Board of Review. Nichols' script, submitted June 15, was 207 pages in length (twice that of the normal feature-length film), had its initial 55 pages devoted to "character development," and was not finished.
Principal photography consisting of aerial shots and exteriors took place at Drew Army Air Field, Florida, MacDill Field, Florida; Randolph Field, Texas; and Santa Monica Bay, California, the latter for water scenes and miniatures.Shooting began June 18, 1942, using a rented mock-up of a B-17 interior, in which the 10 principal characters performed for a month. The company then moved by train to Drew Army Air Field, Florida, at the end of July, to spend the next month shooting aerial sequences coordinated by Paul Mantz, chief pilot and aerial technical coordinator for the production. Drew was selected because of fears that use of aircraft marked as Japanese might cause panic on the West Coast.
At the end of August, Hawks returned to Hollywood and engaged William Faulkner to rewrite two scenes, including the death of the Mary-Ann's pilot. By then, the film, scheduled to be completed by September 17, was three weeks behind schedule and only half completed. Production featured a celebrated clash between producer Hall Wallis and Hawks over the latter's constant changing of dialogue as scenes were shot. Hawks was briefly replaced on October 4 by Vincent Sherman, but returned from "illness" on October 10 to take back primary direction. Sherman remained as second unit director to assist with completion of the picture, which wrapped on October 26, 1942, failing to shoot 43 pages of script and 33 days over schedule, too late to meet its December 7 release date.
Wallis wrote that AAF Captains Sam P. Triffy and Hewett T. Wheless were technical advisors to the film, and that Triffy in particular made significant contributions to storyline, dialogue and sets. "Shorty" Wheless had previously been a B-17 aircraft commander in the Philippines with the 19th Bomb Group and had been one of the survivors evacuated to Australia in December 1941. He was at Randolph Field, Texas, in the process of appearing as himself in the Academy Award-winning short film Beyond the Line of Duty when he assisted on Air Force.
The actual Mary-Ann was reported "lost in the Pacific" shortly after the production wrapped, according to information attributed to the production's technical advisor, but in actuality none of the early model Fortresses served in combat with the AAF. Another claim, attributed to a newspaper article, was that "the real Mary Ann" went on tour to promote the film, then was assigned first to Hobbs Army Air Field, New Mexico, then to Amarillo Army Air Field, where it was assigned to a ground school. Two B-17B aircraft most likely to have played the part of Mary Ann, army serial numbers 38-584 and 39-10, were reclassified as instructional airframes in late 1943, and scrapped in January 1946.
Anti-Japanese propaganda in the film included scenes in which the crew is forced to land on an outlying island and is shot at by "local Japanese," and the assertion by the Hickam Field commander that vegetable trucks knocked off the tails of parked Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters as the attack began. As detailed in Walter Lord's book, Day of Infamy, later investigations proved no Japanese-American was involved in any sabotage during the Pearl Harbor attack.
The film placed third (behind The Ox-Bow Incident and Watch on the Rhine) as the best film of 1943 by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
When initially released, Air Force was one of the top three films in commercial revenue in 1943.
Category:1943 films Category:Aviation films Category:Black-and-white films Category:Films set in Tampa, Florida Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award Category:World War II films made in wartime Category:Films directed by Howard Hawks Category:United States Army Air Forces Category:Films set in the Philippines
ca:Air Force de:In die japanische Sonne fr:Air Force (film) it:Arcipelago in fiammeThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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