Flight Nurse | |
---|---|
Directed by | Allan Dwan |
Written by | Alan Le May |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Reggie Lanning |
Edited by | Fred Allen |
Music by | Victor Young |
Production company | Republic Pictures |
Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Flight Nurse (aka Angels Take Over and Angels over Korea) is a 1953 American drama war film directed by Allan Dwan and stars Joan Leslie and Forrest Tucker. [1] The film is largely based on the life of Lillian Kinkella Keil, one of the most decorated women in American military history. [2] Flight Nurse begins with the dedication: "This picture is respectfully dedicated to that brave legion of military nurses who are serving with the armed forces of free nations all over the world. These angels of mercy – shoulder to shoulder, share the danger and hardships of free fighting men everywhere, with devotion above and beyond the call of duty." [3]
During the Korean War, United States Air Force (USAF) nurse Lt. Polly Davis (Joan Leslie) flies to Japan for her first assignment with the Medical Air Evacuation Unit. Hoping to be near her fiancé, helicopter pilot Capt. Mike Barnes (Arthur Franz), she meets her roommates, Lt. Ann Phillips (Jeff Donnell) and Lt. Kit Ramsa (Kristine Miller) at the nurses' quarters in Tachikawa, but has not seen Mike.
The other nurses tell Polly that "flight nurses never get their men." Chief nurse Capt. Martha Ackerman (Maria Palmer), sends them on their various assignments. Polly is taken to a C-47 transport aircraft to meet medical technician, Sgt. Frank Swan (James Holden), and the pilots, Captains Bill Eaton (Forrest Tucker) and Tommy Metcalf (Dick Simmons).
Her first images of war in Korea are jarring, but Polly quickly gains her composure to treat wounded men. Bill watches as Polly calmly saves a young man's life. He begins to fall in love with her. Back in Japan, Mike takes Polly on a date and talks about marriage, but he is called out on a mission. Later, Bill learns that Mike's helicopter with wounded men is overdue and attempts a rescue. During the flight, Polly learns of Mike's danger and is angry that Bill held back the information.
During their missions, Bill is there to comfort Polly during bombings and saves her life when she is almost killed rescuing a wounded soldier. When the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Army land at Inchon and take Seoul, 50,000 prisoners of war are freed. In a Seoul hospital, several released American prisoners tell that a captured Korean was in charge of killing Americans. Dog tags of dead soldiers are retrieved, including Mike's. When Polly learns of this, grieving and oblivious, she is nearly killed by "Bed Check Charlie," an enemy flier who drops nightly bombs, but Bill again saves her life.
Frank worries that Polly is near a breakdown and Bill talks to Ackerman, who grounds Polly. Later, after Kit reports Mike was found alive near the Chosin Reservoir but in a hospital, Ackerman sends Polly there in Bill's aircraft. On the flight, a crazed soldier opens the door which hits the stabilizer, causing a crash. Polly, trying to aid an unconscious soldier, is thrown forward violently and suffers a concussion.
After the crew loads the passengers into lifeboats, Bill takes Polly into the crew raft with him. As they wait for rescue, Polly is delirious but calls out for Mike. When they are rescued, Polly recuperates in the same hospital as Mike, who has been receiving regular care packages from his former hometown girl friend. When he is well enough to be shipped home, Mike again asks Polly to marry him. However, during her convalescence Polly has come to realize that she could not embrace a quiet life while she is needed in Korea, and suggests that Mike return home to his real love. Later, Polly rejoins Bill and the rescue team, ready to start a new life with him.
The film's opening credits indicate that the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force contributed greatly to the production. The aircraft seen in Flight Nurse included the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Sikorsky H-5 helicopter. [4]
Captain Lillian Kinkella Keil served as a technical advisor for Flight Nurse which was based upon her experiences. [5] [3]
Fllight Nurse was critically reviewed at The New York Times . The review noted: "The resolute humanity of military flight nurses and the courage of the Air Force personnel, whose job it is to transport the war wounded and injured in defenseless helicopters and planes to medical stations, are deserving of a better tribute than they receive in Republic's "Flight Nurse," which opened at the Palace yesterday." [2] Other reviews were more positive. One film critic described it as a thrilling film that "honors the courageous women who performed miracles of mercy above the clouds in evacuation of wounded GIs from Korean battlefields." [6]
Forrest Meredith Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided funds and contacts for a trip to California, where party hostess Cobina Wright persuaded guest Wesley Ruggles to give Tucker a screen test because of Tucker's photogenic good looks, thick wavy hair and height of six feet, five inches.
Joan Leslie was an American actress and vaudevillian, who during the Hollywood Golden Age, appeared in such films as High Sierra (1941), Sergeant York (1941), and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).
Captain Lillian Kinkella Keil was a highly decorated American World War II and Korean War flight nurse. Keil made 250 evacuation flights during World War II and 175 evacuation flights during the Korean War, becoming one of the most decorated women in American military history.
Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers 1,250 acres (510 ha), making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration. It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the number of interments.
Flight from Ashiya is a 1964 film about the U.S. Air Force's Air Rescue Service, flying from Ashiya Air Base, Japan. In this fictionalized American-Japanese co-production film set in the early 1960s, a flight crew's mission is to rescue a liferaft of Japanese civilians stranded in rough seas. The film was based on the 1956 novel Rescue! by Elliott Arnold. It was released in Japan as Ashiya Kara no hiko.
Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones.
The 33d Rescue Squadron is part of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan. It operates Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk aircraft conducting search and rescue missions.
To date, the United States Medal of Honor has been awarded on 103 occasions for actions involving the use of aircraft. Awards for actions that took place in a single flight are the norm, with 74 individual aircraft accounting for 82 of the 93 medals awarded for actions while in flight. Of those 75 planes, 41 were destroyed during the MoH action, while others were lost later. In a few cases the MoH recipient survived while the plane did not. The reverse also occurred: Lts. Jack W. Mathis and Robert E. Femoyer received posthumous awards while their respective Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses survived, only to be scrapped later.
Sound Off is a 1952 American comedy film directed by Richard Quine and starring Mickey Rooney, Anne James, John Archer and Gordon Jones. The film was shot in August 1951 in SuperCinecolor for Columbia Pictures.
Screaming Eagles is a 1956 American war film directed by Charles F. Haasd starring Tom Tryon, Jan Merlin and, in her film debut, French Miss Universe 1954 runner-up Jacqueline Beer. It was released by Allied Artists.
Warpath is a 1951 American Western film directed by Byron Haskin and starring Edmond O'Brien, Polly Bergen and Dean Jagger and Harry Carey Jr.. The film was released as a Fawcett Comics Film #9 in August 1951.
Parachute Nurse is a 1942 Columbia Pictures film about the Aerial Nurse Corps. The film was directed by Charles Barton.
Bugles in the Afternoon is a 1952 American Western film directed by William Cagney and starring Ray Milland, Helena Carter, Hugh Marlowe and Forrest Tucker, based on the 1943 novel by Ernest Haycox. The story features the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The Wild Blue Yonder is a 1951 war film directed by Allan Dwan. The film stars Wendell Corey, Vera Ralston, Forrest Tucker and Phil Harris. Wild Blue Yonder deals with the Boeing B-29 Superfortress air raids on Japan during World War II.
Jet Attack is a 1958 American aviation war film set in the Korean War, featuring United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft.
The 37th Helicopter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 582d Helicopter Group in support of the 90th Missile Wing located at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. The unit is tasked with flight operations in support of the operation and security of F.E. Warren's intercontinental ballistic missile complex as well as search and rescue missions. The unit operates the UH-1N Huey helicopter.
Battle Taxi is a 1955 American aviation drama film directed by Herbert L. Strock and written by Malvin Wald. The film stars Sterling Hayden, Arthur Franz, Marshall Thompson, Leo Needham and Jay Barney. The film was released on January 26, 1955 by United Artists.
Thundering Jets is a 1958 American drama film directed by Helmut Dantine, written by James Landis, and starring Rex Reason, Dick Foran, Audrey Dalton, Barry Coe, and Robert Dix.
Target Unknown is a 1951 American war film directed by George Sherman and starring Mark Stevens, Alex Nicol and Robert Douglas. An American bomber crew are forced to bail out over Occupied France in 1944 and are captured by the Germans, who subject them to strenuous interrogation. The film begins with a written foreword that reads: "In the making of this picture, the cooperation of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force is gratefully acknowledged."