Edward Vernon Rickenbacker was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient. With 26 aerial victories, he was the most successful and most decorated United States flying ace of the war. He was also a racing driver, an automotive designer, and a long-time head of Eastern Air Lines.
Hell Divers is a 1932 American pre-Code black-and-white film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations aboard the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan, four months after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid was planned, led by, and named after United States Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who was promoted two ranks, to Brigadier General, the day after the raid.
Aces High is a 1976 war film starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter Firth, Christopher Plummer and Simon Ward. The film, which is an Anglo-French production, is based on the 1928 play Journey's End by R. C. Sherriff with additional material from the memoir Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis. It was directed by Jack Gold. The screenplay was written by Howard Barker.
Gervais Raoul Victor Lufbery was a French and American fighter pilot and flying ace in World War I. Because he served in both the French Air Force, and later the United States Army Air Service in World War I, he is sometimes listed alternately as a French ace or as an American ace. Officially, all but one of his 17 combat victories came while flying in French units.
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell is a 1955 American CinemaScope biographical drama film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Gary Cooper and co-starring Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, and Elizabeth Montgomery in her film debut. The film is based on the 1925 court-martial of General Billy Mitchell, who is considered a founding figure of the U.S. Air Force.
The Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly in combat, and examines his sense of postwar dislocation in 1920s America. The cast includes Margot Kidder, Bo Svenson, Edward Herrmann and Susan Sarandon. The Great Waldo Pepper depicts barnstorming during the 1920s and the accidents that led to aviation regulations by the Air Commerce Act.
God Is My Co-Pilot is a 1945 American black-and-white biographical war film from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by Robert Buckner, directed by Robert Florey, that stars Dennis Morgan and co-stars Dane Clark and Raymond Massey. The screenplay by Abem Finkel and Peter Milne is based on the 1943 autobiography of the same name by Robert Lee Scott Jr.. It recounts Scott's service with the Flying Tigers and the United States Army Air Forces in China and Burma during World War II.
Flying Leathernecks is a 1951 American Technicolor action war film directed by Nicholas Ray, produced by Edmund Grainger, and starring John Wayne and Robert Ryan. The movie details the exploits and personal battles of United States Marine Corps aviators during World War II. Marines have long had the nickname "leatherneck", hence the title.
Above and Beyond is a 1952 American World War II film about Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets Jr., the pilot of the aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in August 1945.
Body and Soul (1931) is an American Pre-Code action drama film directed by Alfred Santell and starring Charles Farrell, Elissa Landi, Humphrey Bogart, and Myrna Loy. The story, adapted from the stage play Squadrons by Elliott White Springs and A.E. Thomas, depicts Royal Air Force pilots in World War I.
Command Decision is a 1949 war film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, and Brian Donlevy, and directed by Sam Wood, based on the 1948 stage play of the same name written by William Wister Haines, which he based on his best-selling 1947 novel. The screenplay for the film was written by George Froeschel and William R. Laidlaw. Haines' play ran on Broadway for almost a year beginning in October 1947.
Thunder Birds is a 1942 Technicolor film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, and John Sutton. It features aerial photography and location filming at an actual Arizona training base of the United States Army Air Forces named Thunderbird Field No. 1 during World War II.
Dive Bomber is a 1941 American aviation drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, and starring Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray and Alexis Smith. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film is notable for both its Technicolor photography of pre-World War II United States Navy aircraft and as a historical document of the U.S. in 1941. This includes the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one of the best-known U.S. warships of World War II.
Wings of the Navy is a 1939 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring George Brent, Olivia de Havilland and John Payne. Like many of the Warner Bros. features in the pre-World War II era, it was intended to serve as propaganda for the U.S. military and received heavy support from the U.S. Navy, which also considered the film as a recruiting tool.
Flight Command is a 1940 American U.S. Navy film from MGM, produced by Frank Borzage and directed by J. Walter Ruben and Frank Borzage (uncredited), starring Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, and Walter Pidgeon. It has the distinction of often being credited as the first Hollywood film glorifying the American military to be released after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, a year before the U.S. entered the conflict.
The Thousand Plane Raid is a 1969 DeLuxe Color film directed by Boris Sagal and starring Christopher George and Laraine Stephens. Although claimed to be derived from Ralph Barker's The Thousand Plane Raid, the storyline of the film inaccurately portrays the first raid as an 8th Air Force mission while the actual attack was undertaken by 1,047 Royal Air Force bombers against the city of Cologne, Germany in May 1942.
Men with Wings is a 1938 American Technicolor war film, directed by William A. Wellman and starring Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, and Louise Campbell. Donald O'Connor also has a small part as the younger version of MacMurray's character. The two would soon star in the film Sing You Sinners together along with Bing Crosby.
Devil Dogs of the Air is a 1935 Warner Bros. film, directed by Lloyd Bacon and starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien, playing similar roles as close friends after making their debut as a "buddy team" in Here Comes the Navy. Devil Dogs of the Air was the second of nine features that James Cagney and Pat O'Brien made together. The film's storyline was adapted from a novel by John Monk Saunders.
Walter "Christy" Walsh was an American writer, cartoonist, and sports agent. He is best known for acting as Babe Ruth's agent, and is considered to be the first sports agent in baseball.
