User Reviews

An exciting, touching, and funny movie, one of Hawks' best.

It's a richly textured work, with several sub-narratives weaved into one another.

The most important is the voyage of the new B-17, the "Mary Ann", from California to Honolulu to Wake Island to Clark Field in the Phillipines. Movies about journeys can be exciting, if they're well done, as this one is. There is the change of scenery, the dramas large and small at the stopovers, and above all the living that goes on within the vehicle. There is a lot of model work involved, out of necessity, but it has a reassuring cartoonish quality. I loved those wooden miniature airplanes taking off without lifting their noses, as if levitating rather than flying. And the tiny papier-mache palms, and the fake studio jungles. Within the limits of the available technology, it's pretty well done. As the model B-17 taxis its way across the tarmac, we can even hear the squealing of its brakes as the pilot applies them.

The voyage is fascinating not just because we are following the Mary Ann, but because we get to know what it's like to live inside the fuselage, to fly and defend the airplane, to work on its engines and to feed it gasoline by using a bucket brigade. Most of all we get to know the tiny social system of the men and how they are knitted together by circumstances into a solidary group.

This is true Hawks territory. Here we have John Garfield as the cynical flight-school washout Winocki. (Cf., Christopher Walken's monologue in "Pulp Fiction.") Garfield sneers at the others and hates the skipper, the good-natured, efficient, and highly respected James Ridgely as "Irish" Quincannon. Ridgely tries to explain to Garfield that it doesn't matter what any single person's feelings are. We are all part of a team here; each of us depends on the other; we support and help one another; we'd give each other our last pair of socks; in fact, two of the crew are married to each other. (Well -- not that.)

Garfield is finally won over after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Kids, that was the beginning of World War II for us. PS: We won.) The way the crew learns the news is just plain fine. What craftsmanship. The radioman is sitting at his console and loses contact with Honolulu before picking up some gunshots and Japanese chatter. It's a sign of the care that was taken in this film that we get to appreciate the job that the RADIOMAN is doing! In almost every other film involving a bombers we get to know only the pilots and the gunners -- sometimes the bombardier. But in this case we get to see the kind of job everyone does, including the crew chief, and, in a suspenseful miniepisode, the navigator. The NAVIGATOR! Usually if he's included at all, it's only to get his head blown off.

Hawks is fond of the gradual integration of an outsider into the group, the willing penetration of social borders. Sometimes it's a "girl," as in, "Only Angels Have Wings." (When Jean Arthur sits down to play the guys' piano, Cary Grant advises her, "You'd better be good.") Here it's Garfield, who begins by hating the Air Corps and ends by being a fully functioning team member, and an innovative leader. If that's not enough, we have yet another playful rivalry between the Mary Ann's crew and a passenger they pick up -- a pursuit pilot who jokes about the furniture vans that bomber crews have to fly around in. Does he turn into a fully functioning team member at the end too? Yes, he does, although as far as we know he's had to multi-engine time at all. No matter.

The essence of Hawks' fascination with male solidarity is probably best expressed in the scene in which the Mary Ann is being attacked over a (fictional) Japanese fleet. As a Zero homes in on the B-17 from a given position, the gunner on that side yells out to the captain, "Swing her a little to the left!", and Ridgely makes the airplane yaw slightly to give the gunner a better shot at the Zero. Let me put this another way -- an enlisted gunner is telling the captain of the airplane what to do. And the officer happily complies. That is teamwork. The crew transcend their individuality. They're like a single organism.

"Irish" dies towards the end in a scene that could have been so much cornier than it is. (Faulkner is said to have written part of it.) Everyone of importance is in the death scene and plays a part.

The movie practically falls apart at the end, unfortunately. Our airplanes seem to blow the entire Imperial Japanese Navy out of the water in a battle that resembles nothing of historical value. And yet even the final scene, of the Mary Ann crash landing in the rolling surf, is exciting enough to help us forget the obvious propaganda of the previous scene. The problem, though, is that the racism runs all the way through the film. Okay, let's accept dialog like, "Fried Jap going' down!", when a Zero explodes. But the Japanese in Hawaii are treated as treacherous cowards, which, by the time of this movie's release, should have been a myth long dispelled. Of course there was never any sabotage. They were American citizens before they were Japanese.

Anyway, an outstanding adventure movie. Nothing arty or pretentious, simply a nicely executed work. One of the best films to be made during the war.

Not only did Warner Brothers use the Boeing B-17 bomber as the centerpiece of one of its earliest battle front movies, "Flying Fortress," but the studio also used the bomber as an allegory for American tenacity in "Scarface" director Howard Hawks "Air Force." According to World War II film historian Lawrence Suid, Jack Warner approached U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) commanding officer General Henry 'Hap' Arnold not long after Pearl Harbor about making a film about the USAAF. Suid says that Arnold approved Warner Brothers' request, and the War Department provided the studio with a plethora of information about their planes and pilots, which scenarist Dudley Nichols included in his original screenplay. Warner Brothers' studio chief Jack Warner hired aviation enthusiast Howard Hawks to direct "Air Force," and Hawks started shooting on June 18, 1942, at Drew Air Force Base in Florida and completed the picture four months later on October 26.

"Air Force" chronicles the routine flight of a B-17 Flying Fortress, nicknamed the 'Mary Ann,' from San Francisco to Hawaii. The crew consisted of an ethnically and geographically diverse group of men, a casting theme that recurred throughout World War II movies and reflected the melting pot identity of America. Unlike MGM's "Bataan" and Twentieth Century Fox's "Crash Drive" (1943), however, Warner Brothers never integrated African-Americans into the ranks of its battle front films.

As the 'Mary Ann' approaches Honolulu, the crew hears Japanese gibberish on the radio and is even more shocked by the sight of Japanese planes dropping bombs and strafing the base. The Pearl Harbor flight tower diverts the 'Mary Ann' to Maui where it lands to repair a wheel. When Japanese-American snipers open fire on the fliers, the crew flies to Wake Island where the Marines are preparing their a gallant last stand. At Clark Field, the crew reloads their guns and ascends to battle the Japanese. The 'Mary Ann' is so badly riddled with bullet holes and the skipper so severely wounded that he orders everybody else to bail out. A recalcitrant gunner (John Garfield) who washed out of flying school ignores the skipper's orders and lands the bomber.

Frantically, despite their orders to destroy it, the reunited crew patches up the plane. Not only do they load up with bombs, but they also remove the tail section and install a machine gun. The crew manages to get their B-17 off the ground before the Japanese overrun the island. During their flight to Australia, they sight a Japanese fleet, radio their position, and sink some of the ships. As the film draws to a close, the 'Mary Ann' survivors prepare to spearhead an aerial attack on Japan.

At a time when the government restricted all Hollywood studios in terms of the money that they could spend on a film, the U.S. Army-Air Force's assistance proved invaluable in giving the film an aura of authenticity. For example, the nine B-17s seen in flight during the early scenes of Air Force were actually filmed on location in Florida by Warner Brothers. When the studio staged Japanese plane crashes and tricky B-17 landings in the jungle, the studio relied on miniatures. According to a War Department letter dated June 6, 1942, "It is the policy of the War Department not to allow soldiers or military equipment to be disguised and photographed as representing the personnel or equipment of foreign countries." The War Department sidestepped its own rule when it helped Warner Brothers produce Air Force. According to Suid, the War Department appointed Captain Samuel Triffy as technical adviser, and Triffy "flew both an Army two-place trainer and a fighter painted with the Rising Sun emblem in the combat sequences portraying Japanese attacks on American aircraft and military positions." Triffy sought as much as possible to ensure that Air Force appeared "as authentic as we could make it under the circumstances." All Howard Hawks' movies are about men bonding as a group. Women are few and far between in "Air Force,' but they populate the storyline. Dudley Nichols' screenplay with help from William Faulkner contains many good scenes. Some are tragic, such as the flight crew chief's story about his son, and some are funny, such as the dog that barks at Japanese. The death scene where the pilot takes off from his hospital bed with his companions helping him simulate this take-off to the big hangar in the sky is memorable. Today, "Air Force" seems quaint and corny, especially the aerial gunner's change of attitude. Initially, the John Garfield character doesn't plan to re-enlist, and he behaves like a complete prima donna, particularly because the 'Mary Ann's' pilot washed him out of pilot school, but the aerial gunner changes his mind when he see Pearl Harbor in flames.

The U.S. Government propaganda agency, the OWI-BMP praised "Air Force" for five reasons. First, the crew constituted an ethnic melting pot. Second, the crew's perfect teamwork made the mission of the "Mary Ann" successful. Third, the officials applauded the fact that the filmmakers showered glory on an older mechanic sergeant who maintained the plane rather than on the younger more glamorous pilots. Fourth, as a combat picture, "Air Force" proved exciting without "the pitfall of showing too much blood and suffering." Fifth, the plot emphasized a good-natured rivalry between fighter pilots and bomber pilots. Ultimately, the OWI-BMP found the flaws in "Air Force" "serious but remediable; its good points are very good indeed—well worth the effort to revise the script so that it will perform a truly valuable service of war information." Altogether, "Air Force" is one of the best Allied propaganda movies of World War II.

Starting with the Lincoln Quote from the Gettysburg Address through the Rah Rah ending, this war movie perfectly reflects the time it is made. These were the dark times when the Pearl Harbor Attack happened. It is the equal to 9/11/2001 in it's time.

This movie is about rallying the troops by telling the story of the B-17 Mary-Ann, which starts with the plane flying into Pearl Harbor after the attack all the way to the Philippines. It is quite a story as the tragic consequences of the start of the war are worked into the story.

The mood of war propaganda is captured perfectly. In fact, I be the entire movie had to be approved by every government censor of the era. The special effects are top notch and the final battle sequence where it appears half of the Japanese Navy is sunk is pure propaganda.

Still, Warner Brothers is successful here packaging the story to the mass audience at the time. The action is worth the admission even if the story is lacking due to the censors.

When the nine-man crew of the B-17 Flying Fortress "Mary Ann" left San Francisco for Hawaii, they knew it was a routine training flight. What they didn't know, and we do, is the significance of the date...December 6, 1941. By the time they reach Hawaii, Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor are in flames. They manage to land on a small emergency field and are ordered to refuel immediately and set off for the Philippines, where every bomber and fighter plane is desperately needed. They'll need to refuel at Wake Island. At Wake they find the American outpost under heavy attack and facing the immediate threat of a Japanese landing. Every soldier and Marine on the island knows it's going to be a matter of fighting and dying. By the time the Mary Ann reaches Clark Field outside Manila, the Japanese are pushing rapidly south. The crew has fought off Japanese fighters and is now shot up and must be repaired. The crew manages to cannibalize the ruined hulks of planes caught on the ground, scrounge gasoline, and barely escape the first attack of Japanese infantry. By now some of the crew have been wounded, some have died. They set course for Australia, and on the way spot a major Japanese invasion force heading south. The crew alerts American forces and directs them to what turns out to be the Battle of the Coral Sea. After the battle, the Mary Ann barely makes it to a controlled crash landing near Darwin. When we last see the crew, those who survived, they're getting ready to lead a massive air attack on Tokyo.

With Air Force, Howard Hawks managed to create, in my opinion, one of the most effective of Hollywood's war-time movies. Sure, it has its clichés -- does any group of fighting men in WWII ever not have a guy from Brooklyn? And it has its jingoistic moments -- it heavily hints that Hawaii had home-grown fifth columnists. What it has in abundance is a carefully crafted movie that for the most part lets us see for ourselves through this crew the issues at hand. It takes us on a perilous journey that shows the consequences of some of our actions, the determination to endure and the grit to win. Hawks does this with four supremely effective themes:

First, Who are we? Hawks lets us get to know this crew, especially in the first hour. They may be all singularly clean-cut, but Hawks takes us along as we see how they do their jobs professionally, work as a team and overcome difficulties. The players in this crew are Irish Quincannon (John Ridgely), the pilot, cheerful, open and competent; Bill Williams (Gig Young), the co-pilot, a young but steady second in command; Tommy McMartin (Arthur Kennedy), the bombardier, eager to be in the fight and the brother of the girl Williams is getting serious about; Monk Hauser (Charles Drake), the navigator, who has a tradition to live up do and the challenge of finding Wake Island, a tiny spot in the Pacific Ocean; Robbie White (Harry Carey) the seasoned crew chief, a sergeant whose son is a lieutenant in the Philippines; Weinberg (George Tobias), the assistant crew chief and a gunner, always ready with a joke; Peterson (Ward Wood), the radio operator; Chester (Ray Montgomery), the assistant radio operator and gunner, green as they come; and finally Joe Winocki (John Garfield), embittered because he washed out of pilots training school. Along as a passenger is Tex Rader (James Brown), a fighter pilot hitching a ride from Hawaii to the Philippines. We get to see how they make a team, which eventually includes Winocki. And we share their confidence. "Uncle Sam is a pretty tough old gentleman," says White to the young crew. "You just wait until he gets mad."

Second, Do we have the right stuff to fight? Hawks shows us what we're up against. He demonstrates the dire situation America is facing. Hickam Field, Wake Island and Clark are disasters. He also shows us the grit and resolve of America's fighting men. "If you see my old boss, General MacArthur," says a wounded officer on Wake, "tell him no matter what the news is, we'll be in here pitching until they strike us out."

Third, Do we have what it takes to win? Hawks shows the ingenuity and the determination of Americans to persevere and overcome any odds. The whole long sequence of repairing the Mary Ann in the face of Japanese attacks by air and land is an exciting and moving metaphor for how America will ultimately prevail. The crew struggles through the night using spare parts, sweat and ingenuity, everyone working together.

Fourth, Will we achieve victory? Having spent an hour and a half showing us the issues and defining the character of America through these crew members, Hawks takes us to a defining moment when he shows us how America will wreak havoc on Japan. When the Mary Ann alerts American forces to the presence of the Japanese invasion fleet, Hawks creates a massive attack by air power on the Japanese fleet that is almost cathartic. It goes on and on, combining war footage from the Battle of the Coral Sea with fairly well-done miniatures. The Japanese fleet is turned into sinking hulks.

This is one of the shrewdest and most effective of Hollywood's war-time WWII movies. Hawks' gives us a four-part drama made up of carefully selected themes. It's as effective as you'd ever want.

Tenacity is definitely the theme of this 1943 film where a group of army men go on a routine trip from San Francisco to Hawaii, and as they approach, the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor leading to the advent of America coming into World War 11.

John Garfield is perfect here as the pilot who was removed from his pilot duties, and as expected, he gives that embittered performance, only coming to realize true commitment when war strikes.

George Tobias, as Weinberg, is there for comedy relief and he does a wonderful job of it.

The dedication of these men who went on to Wake Island and prevent a Japanese attack on Australia is well done. There is a gem of a performance by Harry Carey as an elder officer who is one of the crew who wonders what has happened to his son, the latter stationed in the Philippines. When the news comes, Carey is stoic and carries on his mission. Garfield is the anti-hero here and the part is just perfect for him. Embittered by being dropped from flight school, he shows his mettle when he and the others are caught up in the advent of World War 11. A remarkable film

***SPOILERS*** On a routine flight from San Francisco to Honolulu the crew of the B-17 bomber, one of nine on the flight, Mary-Ann gets the shocking news that Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japaneses that left the US Pacific Fleet in shambles. Angry as hell and wanting to get back at the Japs for what they did the bomber's crew members, despite their differences, unite in the cause to fly the bomb-laden bomber into the teeth of the Royal Japanese Navy and bomb the living hell out of it! Even if in the end they all end up going under, the waves of the Pacific, with it!

Rip roaring and at times tragic war movie about how the US got its act together after getting sneaked attacked by the Japs and ended up giving em', the Japanese Pacfic Fleet and imperial Army, hell all throughout the vast and bloody Pacific Theater of War! The hell meted out on the Japs in the movie is that by the crew of the Mary-Ann who island hopped from Hawaii to Wake Island to the Philippians, before the Japs captured them, and ended up leading the charge at the surprised Jap fleet, who thought that they already won the war, in the battle or the Coral Sea. It was the battled scared and heroic B-17 Mary-Ann together with the remainder of what was left of the US Army Air Force that ended up blasting it, the Imperial Japanese Navy, to smithereens in that naval slug-fest!

Of course there were losses on our-the USA-side as well that included the Mary-Ann's Captain Quincannon and radio man Chester together with scores of US Army Navy and Marine personal but that was nothing compared what the Japs got in them losing almost their entire navy and air force including dozens of Jap fifth columnists, who were secretly working undercover for Tojo, by the time the movie ended.

Effective WWII propaganda movie released at the worst of times for the US and its allies in battling the Axis forces who at the time, late 1942, were in fact winning the war. The B-17-or Mary-Ann's, crew took everything that the Japs could throw at them and ended up shooting down dozens of Jap Zeros before the plane was finally, after losing a wing tip engine and a good part of its fuselage, grounded by Jap Zero machine gun and cannon fire. After being repaired and airborne the Mary-Ann continued to give it back to the Japanese in the final and climactic battle, the Battle of the Coarl Sea, in the film that saw the Japanese fleet, and thousands of its sailors and marines, end up dying for their emperor in ways they never expected to: By them being prevented in kamikaze like suicide attacks in them both dying and taking their hated enemy, the US Army Navy and Marines, along with them!

P.S There's some major inaccuracies in the movie especially that of Japanese/Americans, in the Hawaiian island, joining in with the attacking Japs in sabotaging US military and naval installations in and around Pearl Harbor. There's also the fact that the Battle of the Coral Sea, in May 1942, ended in a drew between the US and Japanese navies instead, like in the film, of being a total and decisive victory for the US. But still who need accuracy when your country is in a life and death struggle with a highly motivated and determined enemy and any negative news, accurate or not, could only help its cause. If like in all war propaganda films bending the facts can turn things around on your side, like the film "Air Force" did, and motivate the public to willingly join in the fight who cares it the facts in the film aren't exactly on the level, like in the Battle of he Coarl Sea, or not even right, like in the case of Japanese/American fifth columnists, at all!

John Ridgley plays Captain Mike "Irish" Quincannon, the pilot of a B-17 bomber (the Mary-Ann) whose crew includes crew chief Sergeant Robbie White (Harry Carey), co-pilot Lieutenant Bill Williams (Gig Young), bombardier Lieutenant Tommy McMartin (Arthur Kennedy), navigator Lieutenant "Monk" Munchauser (Charles Drake), assistant crew chief Corporal Weinberg (George Tobias), and radio operator Corporal Peterson (Robert Wood). There are two new additions made to the crew at the beginning of the film: a greenhorn youngster Private Chester (Ray Montgomery), and a "washed out pilot, now aerial gunner" Sergeant Joe Winocki, cynically played by (who else?) John Garfield.

Evidently, there was a little intra-service rivalry within the Army between big plane crews and pursuit plane pilots in those days, so James Brown plays Lieutenant Tex Rader, a fighter pilot. Also recognizable in this film is Edward Brophy, as a Marine Corps Sergeant J. J. Callahan.

It is December 6, 1941 as the film opens and a squadron of B-17s begins their journey from San Francisco to Hickam Field, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The first part of the movie establishes the relationship between the crew members which is pretty much as a team familiar and comfortable with each other. Enter the new guys: Private Chester is a gung ho rookie excited about everything, Winocki is wise guy who rains on his parade and can't wait till his last three weeks in the service are up. Apparently, Winocki was a failure in flight school and it was Captain Quincannon, who signed the recommendation that ended his dream of being a pilot. The 20- year veteran crew chief Sgt. White doesn't like Winocki's attitude, especially because his son has just been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel within the ranks.

Everything is pretty routine until Hickam Field's radio transmission goes out. The radio operator is able to pick up Japanese voices and background static which doesn't sound good, explosions etc.. When the squadron leader finally gets through to someone in Pearl Harbor, they are told to land at their pre-planned alternate locations. For the Mary-Ann, that means a short, rough runway on the Hawaiian island Maui. Though Captain "Irish" makes a good landing, there is some slight damage which must be addressed. However, while fixing the problem, they are shot at by, presumably, some local Japanese and must take off right away. They then must land on the bomb cratered runway at Pearl Harbor.

After a successful landing at Hickam Field, they learn that Tommy's sister, who'd been dating co-pilot Bill, was injured in the attack. Part of the news is related to them by Tex, whom they don't respect from some history and the intra-service rivalry mentioned previously. They think Tex is partly to blame for Susan's condition and assume he was hiding out during the attack. They learn from the Colonel at Hickam Field, however, that Tex shot down four enemy planes (Zeros) before he himself was shot down in the action. They are then told that their new orders are to fly to Manilla, where the crew chief's son stationed, via Wake Island and asked to shuttle Tex to a pursuit wing stationed there.

On the way to Wake Island, one gets a sense of just how difficult it was in those days to find a dot on the map without the advance navigation systems and radar of today. The crew is nervous, making the navigator anxious throughout the flight, about finding the island before their fuel runs out. Of course, everyone (including the navigator) is relieved when they do. Unfortunately, Wake too has been hit and after briefly refueling the exhausted, sleep deprived crew is told to leave before an impending Japanese invasion, when all on the island is expected to be lost. Several of the Marines on the island convince Weinberg to take their dog to save it from their fate.

It is at this point that Winocki starts to become part of the crew. Once airborne, when the crew chief demands to know how a dog got onboard, Winocki says it was he that did it. Later, when the Mary- Ann makes it to the Philippines, it is Winocki who tells "Irish" that he wants to help and stay on as part of his crew. The Captain is glad, and says that first he must get rid of the dog (which he gives to the first Marine he sees, played by Brophy).

More exciting action and interesting plot-line, much of it predictable to fans of this genre, make this film continue until it exceeds two hours on screen and the good guys deliver some comeuppance and payback at the Battle of the Coral Sea. This film, directed by Howard Hawks, won an Oscar for Best Editing and was nominated for B&W Cinematography, Special Effects, and Writing.