Air Force (1943)

Directed by

Howard Hawks

Genre

drama film, action film, war film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 04m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 63 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A crew flies a B-17 bomber across the Pacific and arrives during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The film follows their experiences as they join the war effort. It includes fictional incidents of fifth-column activities that were not based on real events.

patriotictensedatedpropagandisticseriousfast-pacedhistoricalsobering

What happens

Air Force is a 1943 American World War II aviation film directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Garfield, John Ridgely, Gig Young, Arthur Kennedy, and Harry Carey. The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner. It contains incidents of supposed fifth-column activities by Japanese Americans that never happened. (See Historical inaccuracies below.) Conceived by then-Lieutenant General “Hap” Arnold (Commanding General of US Army Air Forces) in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack, it was originally scheduled for release on December 7, 1942, on the first anniversary. It became impossible to meet that deadline, and it premiered in New York City on February 3, 1943, and was released on March 20. The film's storyline revolves around an actual event that occurred on December 7, 1941. An aircrew ferries an unarmed 1940 series Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress heavy bomber, named the Mary-Ann, across the Pacific to the United States Army Air Forces base at Hickam Field. They fly right into the middle of the Japanese air attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of America's major involvement in the Second World War. An uncredited William Faulkner wrote the emotional deathbed scene for Ridgely, who played the commander and pilot of the Mary-Ann. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

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• Bomber's Moon (1943)
• Wings Over the Pacific (1943)
• Destination Tokyo (1943)
• The Wild Blue Yonder (1951)
• Behind the Rising Sun (1943)
• Mission Accomplished (1943)
• Remember Pearl Harbor (1942)