Air Force (1943)
Director: Howard Hawks
Honors:
Soon after Pearl Harbor was attacked in December 1941 there were
those in Hollywood that believed it their duty to produce spirit lifting motion
pictures with heavy pro-American military themes. A number of those films came
reasonable profits for a nation desperate for uplifting pictures about their
young men going to war. Air Force
would be one of these features that not only served that need of politically
incorrect, pro-American stories that also brought in below average box office
numbers, yet high praise.
Air Force is a war
drama following the crew of a bomber that unexpectedly arrives into Pearl Harbor
the morning of the Japanese attacks and is immediately thrusted into war in the
Pacific. The crew of the bomber, “Mary-Ann,” takes off from California on
December 6th, 1941 for Hawaii only to discover the devastation of
the surprise attack on the US naval base upon arriving the next morning.
Immediately and unexpectedly they are thrusted into duty to aid in defense of
the Pacific from the Empire of Japan. With a collection of various men from
different walks of life, the crew of the Mary-Ann come together in duty to
fight for their nation as they hold their bomber together through many attacks
and air battles. Along their journey the crew alter their prized ship to add
firepower aiding themselves to win one of the first battles against the
Japanese in retaliation of the attacks. During celebration of the victory the Mary-Anne
along with others defending the Philippians from the enemy are given the word on
their first mission to bomb Tokyo as the expectant men proudly ready for the
task. The film ends with a message to audiences of the ongoing fight to save
freedom with images of proud bombers in
flight as victory was the task still ahead for the audiences of the time.
The feature delivers various reactions depending of the
context in which the picture was viewed. When initially released it was serious
drama with uplifting morals of duty and brotherhood to serve all out during the
war. Viewing retrospectively the feature can be viewed as a propaganda motion
picture complete with political incorrectness that demonized the Japanese and
gave a false sense of what war was like. From a motion picture production
standpoint the film drags slowly while also delivering moments of absolute
brilliance in the design of aerial battles, special effect, and editing.
Touching base on all of these views will give us a better understanding and
appreciation for the film as a whole for this rather popular film in 1943 that motivated
filmmakers for years to come.
Inspired by actual events where a squadron of B-17 bombers
leaving California on the night of December 6, 1941 only to arrive the next morning
into Pearl Harbor where war had literally just broken out, Warner Bros. producers
were looking to have Air Force
completed in time for the first anniversary of the devastating attacks. With
less than a year to hit their target date effects shots with miniatures and
various aerial stunt performances were being made before a full script was even
completed. Howard Hawks, best known for bringing to the screen some the best
screwball comedies as well and dramas from the recent years at Warner Bros.
would put great care into the picture adding to the ballooning budget and extending
of the production schedule. Shots of
stunt flyers performing as Japanese fighters were carefully shot in Texas and
Florida as the thought of West Coast civilians spotting their Japanese marked
crafts in the air was believed enough to cause panic. In the end the film would
miss it target date by about two months as it premiered in February 1943.
As most of the nation’s young men were being called to duty
in the actual war and the bigger, more established movie stars were seen
appearing a major war bond rallies and other pubic appearances, the cast of Air Force featured a assemblage of
average actors that do admirable work for ensemble picture. For much of the
picture we are led by John Ridgely who portrays Captain “Irish” Quincannon, the
ever dutiful and caring youthful leader of the crew. Along the plane’s
adventures we share in the various other crewmen’s lives as they serve bravely
aboard the Mary-Ann. Bringing in the most motion picture experience and
legitimacy to this rather young cast was veteran actor Harry Carey who portrays
the crew chief on the Mary-Anne who has a great heart while experiencing great
loss with news that his son was killed in a Japanese ambush. Presented in supporting
characters would be lesser knowns Gig Young and Arthur Kennedy. Kennedy
surprisingly enough would actually go on to serve in the real US Army Air
Force, but primarily working on training films.
 |
| A real B-17 is used as the primary prop for the film. |
Featured as the character with probably the most
dimensionality was John Garfield as Joe Winocki, a brooding gunner who failed
as an aviation cadet. His journey as a crewman with no drive to stay in the
Army becomes a point of contention among the crewmen until the attacks and duty
becomes his priority. At age 29 Garfield had already experienced his ups and
down in Hollywood as youthful, rebellious characters. In a case which
paralleled his character Garfield failed to meet the requirements to join the
USAAF due to a heart condition which added to his drive in this picture to make
a difference and serve his nation. Individually each actor does not give any
worthwhile performances, but they work well as a unit to comprise a crew with
that eventually come together and fight as one.
As stated before, the film moves rather slowly, especially
in the very beginning as the crew simply commences to deliver the Mary-Ann to
its next base. As the introductions meander along we learn of the date,
December 6, 1941 and the audiences knows what is coming. We experience the
tragic attacks on Pearl Harbor along with the crew as radio transmissions go
silent and chatter of Japanese begin to be heard on radios. The sudden entry into
the Second World War was presented in a way that would have rocked audiences
back to the day when they heard of Pearl Harbor.
Action builds later on in the film as the ship becomes
tangles in an aerial battle and the gunners must fight off the Japanese
fighters. The style of action shots and editing for these scenes would later
inspire the likes of a great many filmmakers as it brought viewers into the plane
with the crew during the struggle allowing you to see both men and the enemies
in the very same shots versus jump cutting between stock airplane footage and
poor mixed actors’ reactions. The rear screen projection allows for the actors
to perform more realistically and deliver properly timed reactions to keep the
energy up.
The film crew and actors would be given a handful of days to
actually use a real bomber to film the picture in and around to add to the
authenticity of the feature, adding to the authenticity of the motion picture. However the style of B-17 aircrafts used in
the feature would be decommissioned in the early stages of the war. The real
life Mary-Ann after production would eventually disappear from Army records,
presumed lost in the Pacific, although some believe it traveled on tour to
promote the movie and war bond efforts. In either case the Mary-Ann would have
been stripped for scrape metal not long after production due to the war effort.
The picture, although inspired by actual events, would be an
entirely inaccurate work of fiction to give the appearance Americans were gaining
the upper hand in the war rather early. Nothing could be further from the truth
as American forces struggled mightily in the Pacific theater from the onset of
war, and great numbers were lost in the USAAF due to the overpowering Japanese
forces. This is why the picture to many is perceived as propaganda in
retrospect as it warpped the minds of audiences and bended the truth to make
Americans look like the ultimate group of heroes. At the same time Japanese were
demonized in this picture as unseen Japanese-Americans even fire upon crew the
Mary-Anne. This type of racism would further the cause to promote the view that
even Americans citizens of Japanese descent are looked on as a national threat,
possibly to justify the Japanese internment camps that were set up in the
United States during the war..
 |
| The crew listen to the bombing of Pearl Harbor as it takes place. |
The morale boosting nature of the picture would help bring Air Force strong critical acclaim as
well as lifted the spirits of many easily impressionable audiences. However the
picture would not do well enough to make back the $3,000,000 price tag it took
to produce. Furthermore it added to the fear within the minds of white
Americans for peoples of Asian descent, leading to more undeserved hatred for
people that may have been natural born citizens. The superior air battle
sequences did help land the feature four Academy Award nominations while
winning one for Best Editing.
Looking back on Air
Force the picture does come off as a propaganda film, but that was not necceassarly
the intention of the feature. With an exciting story filled with drama this
wartime picture captures the devastation of Pearl Harbor if only for a moment
before it turns to the up-with-America tale that sugarcoats life in the very
dangerous world as a bomber crewman. The film remains a reminder of how war
took the nation by surprise and captures the sense for many the call to action further
emphasized with recordings of President Franklin D. Roosevelt speeches on a
couple of occasions. Today this feature serves as a time capsule of the past that
we can look back on for both the good and the bad, as well for its contributions
to motion pictures in style when it comes to aerial action scene construction.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment