This World War II action film deals with the union of British and American fighter pilots dealing with the Nazis, giving you an indication in the opening scenes of who will live and who will die. Those who go out disobeying orders get what day deserve according to those who survived the mission, lucky enough not to be affected by someone else's decision to do what they want rather than what is commanded of them. A mixture of American and British actors, many of them Universal contract players, work well together so the teamwork that doesn't happen on screen isn't reflected with what happens in the movie, your typical patriotic we have got to defeat evil regardless of who lives and who dies, morality tale. Originally meant for William wellman, the director of many classic war movies, it ended up in the hands of Arthur rubin, best known for directing the Francis the Talking Mule movies.
You could definitely make a film about how this movie came about, starting off as a documentary then shelved and brought about as a dramatic film based on a magazine story, featuring Robert Stack, Diana Barrymore, Eddie Albert, John Loder, Nigel Bruce (on a break from playing Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes movies), Jon Hall, scream queen Evelyn Ankers and Gladys Cooper. The women in this film prove to be just as important as the men, with Barrymore much more than just romantic background. The script makes no bones about the cultural differences between the Americans working with the British military and how they must put aside those types of differences to try to understand each other in fighting a vile enemy. The Americans have to get used to having to deal with British superior officers, as well as how the British public feels about them, particularly the children, displaced by Nazi destruction.
This is quite enjoyable even though the story has been done over and over again, the type of film that if you haven't seen something similar recently you will appreciate all the more. I found the cultural differences to be well represented and eventually bringing two very different nationalities together in a common cause. Stack is the handsome hero, with Albert providing wry sarcasm, and others he's getting individual moments to shine. It is at its best when it is showing the personal drama rather than typical aerial battles, some obviously filmed or saved for the documentary that never happened. Maybe not a classic that is well remembered among war movie fans, but definitely an important film, and certainly amazing and thrilling on many different levels.
You could definitely make a film about how this movie came about, starting off as a documentary then shelved and brought about as a dramatic film based on a magazine story, featuring Robert Stack, Diana Barrymore, Eddie Albert, John Loder, Nigel Bruce (on a break from playing Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes movies), Jon Hall, scream queen Evelyn Ankers and Gladys Cooper. The women in this film prove to be just as important as the men, with Barrymore much more than just romantic background. The script makes no bones about the cultural differences between the Americans working with the British military and how they must put aside those types of differences to try to understand each other in fighting a vile enemy. The Americans have to get used to having to deal with British superior officers, as well as how the British public feels about them, particularly the children, displaced by Nazi destruction.
This is quite enjoyable even though the story has been done over and over again, the type of film that if you haven't seen something similar recently you will appreciate all the more. I found the cultural differences to be well represented and eventually bringing two very different nationalities together in a common cause. Stack is the handsome hero, with Albert providing wry sarcasm, and others he's getting individual moments to shine. It is at its best when it is showing the personal drama rather than typical aerial battles, some obviously filmed or saved for the documentary that never happened. Maybe not a classic that is well remembered among war movie fans, but definitely an important film, and certainly amazing and thrilling on many different levels.