Air Force (film)

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Air Force
Cover of Air Force video tape
Directed by	Howard Hawks
Starring	John Garfield, John Ridgely, Gig Young
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

Air Force is a 1943 Academy-Award-winning movie directed by Howard Hawks. It starred John Garfield, John Ridgely, and Gig Young.

[edit] Synopsis

The film details the story the crew of the Mary-Ann, a B-17 bomber, in the early days of World War II. It begins with a flight from California to Hickam Field at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, beginning on December 6, 1941. The unarmed B-17 squadron arrived right at the beginning of the Japanese attack (This really happened; radar operators thought the Japanese planes they detected was the incoming fight of B-17s). It portrays John Garfield as a disaffected gunner who was washed out of flight school after a mid-air collision where another pilot was killed. Harry Caray has a very effective role as the Mary-Ann's crew chief and a long time veteran in the Army Air Corps with a son who is a pilot.

[edit] Production

Made in the early days of World War II, there is quite a bit of anti-Japanese propaganda. The crew is shot at by "local Japanese" on Maui and the Hickam Field commander tells the crew that vegetable trucks knocked the tails off a row of 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.

Parts of the film were filmed at Drew Field in Tampa, FL.