Flying Tigers | |
---|---|
![]() Theatrical release half-sheet display poster/Lobby card | |
Directed by | David Miller |
Written by | Kenneth Gamet Barry Trivers |
Produced by | Edmund Grainger |
Starring | John Wayne John Carroll Anna Lee |
Cinematography | Jack A. Marta |
Edited by | Ernest J. Nims |
Music by | Victor Young |
Production company | Republic Pictures |
Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English, Japanese, Cantonese |
Budget | $900,000 [1] |
Box office | $1.5 million (US rentals) [2] |
Flying Tigers (a.k.a. Yank Over Singapore and Yanks Over the Burma Road) is a 1942 American black-and-white war film drama from Republic Pictures that was produced by Edmund Grainger, directed by David Miller, and stars John Wayne, John Carroll, and Anna Lee.
Flying Tigers dramatizes the exploits of the American Volunteer Group (AVG), Americans who fought the Japanese in China, serving with the Chinese Nationalist forces, during World War II. The movie portrays them as fighting before U.S. entry into the war but, in point of fact, they did not see action until after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is unabashedly a wartime propaganda film that was well received by a 1940s audience looking for a patriotic "flagwaver". [3]
Jim Gordon leads the Flying Tigers, a squadron of volunteer American pilots who fly Curtiss P-40C fighters against Japanese aircraft in the skies over China during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The pilots are a mixed bunch, motivated by money (they receive a bounty for each aircraft shot down) or just by the thrill of aerial combat.
One day, Jim's old friend Woody Jason shows up. An arrogant, hot-shot aviator, he starts causing trouble immediately. When the Japanese raid the Flying Tigers' airbase, the new arrival goes after them, taking up a P-40 fighter without permission, not realizing until too late that it has no ammunition. As a result, Woody is shot down. He is unharmed, but the precious fighter is a total wreck. As time goes on, Woody shows that he has little use for teamwork, alienating and endangering the other pilots. He abandons his wingman, Blackie Bales, in order to shoot down a Japanese aircraft. As a result, Blackie is attacked and bails out of his burning P-40. While hanging suspended in his parachute, he is strafed and killed by the Japanese pilot.
Woody starts romancing nurse Brooke Elliott, who is considered by all the Tiger pilots to be Jim's girlfriend. One night, they go on a date. When he is late getting back for a night patrol, Jim's right-hand man, "Hap" Davis, secretly takes his place, despite having just been grounded by Jim because his vision had deteriorated, especially at night. In the resulting dogfight, Hap is unable to judge distances accurately and winds up dying in a collision with a Japanese aircraft he is pursuing. This proves to be the final straw; Jim fires Woody, telling him "It's out of my hands now. None of these men will ever fly with you again. And they have to fly." The date is Sunday, December 7, 1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, bringing America into World War II.
A day later, Jim is notified that a vital bridge must be destroyed. The target is so heavily defended that the only chance of success is to fly in very low with a single, unescorted bomber and hope not to be spotted; it is likely a suicide mission. Jim volunteers to fly the bomber, but Woody invites himself along at the last second, much to Jim's irritation. They destroy the bridge too late to keep a crucial enemy supply train from crossing. The bomber is hit by flak and catches fire. Jim bails out, (with an unexpected push from Woody), expecting Woody to follow. Woody, however, has concealed the fact that he has been mortally wounded by the flak. He crashes into the train, destroying it at the cost of his own life.
Back at the airbase, Jim finds that Woody has willed his leather jacket to fellow pilot Reardon, and his address book to the squadron as a whole. At Woody's additional request (from the letter), Jim passes his friend's silk scarf along to a new recruit. "Take good care of that," Jim urges him. "It belonged to a pretty good flyer."
As appearing in Flying Tigers, (main roles and screen credits identified): [4]
Former Flying Tigers Lawrence Moore (who was a clerk) and Kenneth Sanger (who worked in communications) served as technical advisers on Flying Tigers. [5] Both had left the American Volunteer Group (AVG) in February 1942. None of the real pilots are mentioned by name in the film, which went into production while the original AVG was still in operation. [6]
While archival combat footage was used in some of the scenes, miniatures were used to portray the early model Curtiss P-40 WarhawkB/C Tomahawks that the Tigers flew on screen. For all ground shots, full-size P-40 mockups were used that did no more than taxi. They were propelled by V-8 automobile engines, and the elevators and ailerons were missing from their wings and rear horizontal stabilizers. John Wayne's character arrives at the Tigers' airbase on the one-off Capelis XC-12, a failed 1933 twin-engine transport aircraft that found new life at RKO as a non-flying movie prop. [7] The aircraft was also used in Five Came Back and other films. [8]
The American and Japanese aerial combat footage in Flying Tigers were actually miniatures being pulled along on wires off-screen, created by Republic's special effect experts Howard and Theodore Lydecker. This also included the miniature train and bridge sequence in the film's climax, as well as the miniature of the Capelis air transport seen flying through canyons and eventually crashing into the train. Flying Tigers's special effects were nominated for an Academy Award, but many voters did not realize that some of the "aircraft" were actually miniatures, thereby passing the film by for the Oscar.
In 1942, due to wartime priorities that prohibited the use of U. S. military aircraft for Hollywood productions, Republic Studios approached Curtiss-Wright in Buffalo to recreate the aerial battle sequences required for Flying Tigers. [9] A number of P-40F fighter aircraft waiting for delivery to the U. S. Army Air Forces were repainted in American Volunteer Group (AVG) markings, and with the aid of Curtiss test pilots, flew in the film. Chief Production Test Pilot Herbert O. Fisher's screen role was substituting for John Wayne. [10]
Plot and character elements were lifted wholesale from the 1939 film Only Angels Have Wings without any acknowledgement, leading some to suggest that Angels director Howard Hawks should sue. [11]
Flying Tigers was originally going to be called Yanks Over the Burma Road, but was changed because of MGM's film A Yank on the Burma Road . [12]
Republic Pictures provided a larger budget than normal for the film, borrowing John Carroll and David Miller from MGM. [13] In exchange MGM got an option on John Wayne's services. [14]
Filming began in April 1942. [15]
Flying Tigers only loosely represents the story of the real American Volunteer Group (AVG). Unlike the film characters, all AVG pilots were recruited from active or reserve U. S. military forces, were in Asia with the tacit approval of the U. S. government, and did not see combat before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The first AVG combat mission was December 20, 1941, nearly two weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack. (AVG commander Chennault, however, had seen combat during his prior Chinese service.)
John Wayne's character is nicknamed "Pappy", a common nickname for older military commanders. This was also the nickname of Gregory Boyington, a United States Marine Corps pilot who flew with the AVG until early 1942. Wayne's character, however, was not based on Boyington, who was not commander of the AVG, and not known as "Pappy" until he commanded VMF-214 in late 1943.
The aviation goggles worn by John Wayne on screen and seen on RKO promotional posters were actually a set of repurposed tank crew goggles.
The footage of Japanese soldiers firing anti-aircraft guns during the bridge bombing sequence was actually of Chinese soldiers. They are wearing M1935 Stahlhelm German army-style helmets, only used by elements of the Chinese Army and not by the Japanese.
The death of Blackie Bates in Flying Tigers is based on a real AVG combat incident.[ citation needed ] On January 23, 1942, Flying Tiger Bert Christman's fighter was hit in the engine, and he had to bail out. While descending to the ground in his parachute, he was strafed and killed by a Japanese fighter (Christman was hit in several places and probably died as a bullet passed through the back of his neck). The cruel manner of Christman's death was widely publicized in 1942. The Associated Press published an illustrated feature article about it, and Paramount Pictures made a short documentary about his life. Later in the year, Christman was featured in War bond advertisements that read, "He gave his life. What will you give?" [16]
Coming out just after the United States entered the war, Flying Tigers was well received by both public and critics alike, mainly because of the exciting flying scenes. The New York Times said, "On a patch-work story frame, Republic Pictures has strung a first-rate aerial circus chock-full of exciting dogfights." [17] The review in Variety was more exacting, commenting, "Handicapped primarily by a threadbare script, production also suffers from slow pacing while John Wayne, John Carroll, Anna Lee and Paul Kelly are barely adequate in the major acting assignments. Some of the scenes look repetitious, the same Jap flyers apparently being shot down and killed three or four times over." [18]
Flying Tigers was the first Republic film to make more than $1 million. [19]
Republic announced plans for a never-made sequel, Sky Dragons, which would have starred Wayne and Lee. [20]
Howard Lydecker (photographic) and Daniel J. Bloomberg (sound) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Effects, Special Effects; Victor Young for Best Music; Daniel J. Bloomberg for Best Sound, Recording. [21]
The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in frontline service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation's main production facilities in Buffalo, New York.
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC), Navy (USN), and Marine Corps (USMC), and was commanded by Claire Lee Chennault. Their Curtis P-40B Warhawk aircraft, marked with Chinese colors, flew under American control. Recruited under President Franklin Roosevelt's authority before Pearl Harbor, their mission was to bomb Japan and defend the Republic of China, but many delays meant the AVG first flew in combat after the US and Japan declared war.
The Fourteenth Air Force was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The American Volunteer Groups were volunteer air units organized by the United States government to aid the Nationalist government of China against Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only unit to actually see combat was the 1st AVG, popularly known as the Flying Tigers.
The Central Aircraft Manufacturing Company, also known as the Loiwing Factory (雷允飛機製造廠) after they moved to Yunnan, was a Chinese aircraft manufacturer established by American entrepreneur William D. Pawley in the 1930s.
A Yank in the R.A.F. is a 1941 American black-and-white war film directed by Henry King and starring Tyrone Power and Betty Grable. Released three months before the attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II, it is considered a typical early-World War II production. Originally titled The Eagle Squadron, it is based on a story by "Melville Crossman", the pen name for 20th Century Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck. It follows an American pilot who joins the Royal Air Force (RAF), during a period when the United States was still neutral.
The Curtiss-Wright Model 21 was an American fighter-interceptor developed by the St. Louis Airplane Division of Curtiss-Wright Corporation during the 1930s.
Task Force is a 1949 war film filmed in black-and-white with some Technicolor sequences about the development of U.S. aircraft carriers from USS Langley (CV-1) to USS Franklin (CV-13). Although Robert Montgomery was originally considered for the leading role, the film stars Gary Cooper, Jane Wyatt, Walter Brennan, Wayne Morris, Julie London and Jack Holt. Task Force was the only film Gary Cooper and Jane Wyatt made together, and was the last of the eight films Cooper and Walter Brennan made together. The U.S. Navy provided complete support in not only lending naval vessels and facilities, but also allowed the use of archival footage of the development of naval air power.
The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) was officially formed by the Kuomintang (KMT) after the establishment of the Aviation Ministry in 1920. As tensions mounted between China and Imperial Japan in the 1930s, air units from the Chinese warlords, including those from the Guangdong Provincial Air Force, and overseas Chinese aviators, became integrated into the centralized command of the ROCAF, nominally as the Nationalist Air Force of China, and coordinating with the Second United Front to counter the Imperial Japanese invasion and occupation.
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.
Edward Franklin Rector was a colonel in the United States Air Force, a fighter ace of World War II, and a member of the Flying Tigers.
The 23rd Fighter Group is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 23rd Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.
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. and produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner. Conceived by then - Lieutenant General “Hap” Arnold 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.
Robert Tharp (R.T.) Smith was an American World War II fighter pilot and ace, credited with 8.7, 8.9 or 9 Japanese aircraft while fighting with the American Volunteer Group.
John Van Kuren "Scarsdale Jack" Newkirk was a United States naval aviator and squadron leader with the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG), also known as the Flying Tigers, who may have led the first American offensive mission of World War II. Most of his combat experience was during the defense of Rangoon, Burma, from Japanese air attacks. After the fall of Rangoon, his unit was operating from within China when he set off on his final mission, as part of an attack on Japanese airfields in Thailand.
Herbert O. Fisher was an American test pilot and an aviation executive, overseeing aviation projects at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. He worked for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. Fisher flew as a pilot for over 50 years, racking up 19,351 accident and violation free hours.
Robert Laing "Bob" Little was an American fighter pilot and double ace with the Flying Tigers, credited with 10, 10.5 or 10.55 victories.
Wings Over the Pacific is a 60-minute 1943 drama film, directed by Phil Rosen and starring Inez Cooper, Edward Norris and Montagu Love. Produced by Monogram Pictures, the film depicts an island community in the South Pacific caught up in World War II.
Lieutenant Colonel George Bray McMillan was a United States Army Air Forces fighter pilot, Squadron Commander, combat "ace" and member of the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers.