Parachute Nurse

Last updated
Parachute Nurse
Parnurpos.jpg
Original film poster
Directed by Charles Barton
Written by Elizabeth Meehan (story)
Rian James
Produced by Wallace MacDonald
Irving Briskin
Starring Marguerite Chapman
William Wright
Cinematography Philip Tannura
Edited by Mel Thorsen
Music by John Leipold (uncredited)
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • August 6, 1942 (1942-08-06)
Running time
63 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Parachute Nurse is a 1942 Columbia Pictures film about the Aerial Nurse Corps. The film was directed by Charles Barton.

Contents

Plot

Inspired by a visit from their old friend Lieutenant Mullins, an officer in the Aerial Nurse Corps, nurses Glenda White and Dottie Morrison decide to enlist in the Paranurses, an elite unit of nurses that parachute into hard-to-reach areas to aid injured soldiers. At the training center, Glenda and Dottie are assigned to the squad led by Captain Jane Morgan. At the cantina, the two nurses befriend Gretchen Ernst, a cadet who is being ostracized because her brother is an officer in the German army.

Lieutenant Jim Woods is assigned to teach the recruits the proper jumping procedure, and after a day of diving off the platform, they are bruised and sore. Granted a pass for the evening, Glenda and Dottie hitch a ride on a truck bound for town and discover that Woods and Sergeant Jeff Peters are also passengers on the truck. The four dine together and by evening's end, Glenda has paired off with Woods and Jeff and Dottie have become a couple.

When they return to the base, Helen Ames, another recruit, accuses Glenda of trying to steal the lieutenant from her. One of the cadets' first next lessons is in how to pack a parachute. When Woods announces that he plans to test Glenda's chute on the demonstration dummy, Helen ties a knot in the lines. When the lines foul as the chute opens, Woods blames Glenda for packing it incorrectly and orders her to spend three days packing and unpacking parachutes.

Suspecting foul play, Dottie tells Jeff that she thinks someone deliberately tied a knot in Glenda's chute. Grateful for Glenda's sympathy, Gretchen offers to help her pack the chutes, and when they finish, the two women go to a dance, where Gretchen is once again snubbed.

When Woods asks Glenda for a dance, she angrily tells him off and returns to the barracks. On the day of Gretchen's first jump, Glenda presents her with a good luck charm. When Gretchen jumps, however, she fails to pull the cord and falls to her death. After witnessing her friend's demise, Glenda becomes hysterical and is hospitalized. She recovers just in time to join her squadron for their first jump, but when the moment comes for Glenda to parachute from the plane, she freezes in terror. Delighted by Glenda's failure, Helen calls her "yellow." Learning of Helen's vicious behavior, Capt. Morgan forces her to resign from the force.

After Glenda refuses a second chance to accomplish her jump, she is transferred to the ambulance corps. As she prepares to leave the barracks, she overhears Jeff tell Dottie that Woods's plane has crashed in a remote area and that a nurse must parachute in to aid the injured officer.

Begging Capt. Morgan to assign her to the mission to save Woods, with whom she has fallen in love, Glenda straps on her parachute, puts her fears behind her and jumps from the plane. Upon landing, she discovers that Woods is unharmed and that his accident was a ruse to help her overcome her anxiety.

Cast

Aerial Nurse Corps

The Aerial Nurse Corps of America was created in 1936 by Lauretta M. Schimmoler. Although never officially recognised the unit was regarded as the predecessor of the United States Air Force Nurse Corps. [1] [2] Schimmoler was technical advisor and appears in the film as a Captain.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parachute</span> Device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere

A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth.

<i>Aces High</i> (film) 1976 British war film by Jack Gold

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Navy Nurse Corps</span> Medical-focused staff corps of the United States Navy

The United States Navy Nurse Corps was officially established by Congress in 1908; however, unofficially, women had been working as nurses aboard Navy ships and in Navy hospitals for nearly 100 years. The Corps was all-female until 1965.

<i>Danny Deckchair</i> 2003 Australian film

Danny Deckchair is a 2003 Australian comedy film written and directed by Jeff Balsmeyer. The majority of Danny Deckchair was shot in Bellingen, a town on the Mid North Coast in New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army Airborne School</span> Basic paratrooper training school for the United States armed forces

The United States Army Airborne School—widely known as Jump School—conducts the basic paratrooper training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry, United States Army Infantry School, Fort Moore, Georgia. The Airborne School conducts the Basic Airborne Course, which is open to troops from all branches of the United States Department of Defense, Reserve Officer Training Corps, and allied military personnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malfunction (parachuting)</span>

A malfunction is a partial or total failure of a parachuting device to operate as intended. Malfunctions may require a skydiver to cut away their main parachute and deploy the reserve parachute.

<i>Baa Baa Black Sheep</i> (TV series) American television series (1976–1978)

Baa Baa Black Sheep is an American television series that aired on NBC from September 23, 1976, until April 6, 1978. It was part period military drama, part comedy. In the final seven episodes, the character list was revamped, dropping some squadron pilots, adding a 16-year-old pilot and four nurses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiny Broadwick</span> American skydiver and stunt performer (1893–1978)

Georgia Ann "Tiny" Thompson Broadwick, or Georgia Broadwick, previously known as Georgia Jacobs, and later known as Georgia Brown, was an American pioneering parachutist and the inventor of the ripcord. She was the first woman to jump from an airplane, and the first person to jump from a seaplane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilder Florentina Smith</span> American Test PilotParachute Manufacturer

Hilder Florentina Youngberg Smith was an aerial acrobat, parachutist, and pioneer aviator. She was one of California's first female pilots and the first woman to fly an airplane from LAX. Hilder was a member of a flying aerial team called The Flying Sylvesters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Floyd Smith</span> American Test PilotParachute Manufacturer

James Floyd Smith was an inventor, aviation pioneer, and parachute manufacturer. With borrowed money, he built, then taught himself to fly his own airplane.

<i>Men Against the Sky</i> 1940 American film

Men Against the Sky is a 1940 drama starring Richard Dix, Kent Taylor, Edmund Lowe and Wendy Barrie. Directed by Leslie Goodwins, it is based on a story by John Twist about the challenges of aircraft development and the dangers of test piloting in the period before World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parachuting</span> Action sport of exiting an aircraft and returning to Earth using a parachute

Parachuting and skydiving is a method of transiting from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes.

Lauretta M Schimmoler was an aviator who was the first woman in the United States to establish an airport in the United States, the first woman to command an American Legion post and was the founder of the Aerial Nurse Corps of America the predecessor of the flight nurses of the United States Air Force.

CharlesBroadwick was an American pioneering parachutist and inventor. An executive director of the U.S. Parachute Association, Ed Scott, said "just about all modern parachute systems" use ideas Broadwick developed: "an integrated, form-fitting harness and container system nestled on the back." Broadwick developed the static line, a line from a parachute to an aircraft that pulls the parachute from its pouch. Static lines are still used by paratroopers and novice skydivers. U.S. Army Warrant Officer Jeremiah Jones commented, "[Broadwick] is like the grandfather of paratroopers." Broadwick demonstrated parachute jumps at fairs and taught and equipped famous female parachutist Tiny Broadwick.

The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in The London Gazette and The Times in January, February and March 1918.

Luke Aikins is an American professional skydiver, BASE jumper, pilot, and aerial photographer. He is the first person to intentionally dive from mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wingsuit and the second skydiver to intentionally jump and safely land without using a parachute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward L. Hoffman</span> American aviation pioneer (1884–1970)

Edward Lincoln Hoffman (1884–1970) was a United States Army Air Service (USAAS) pilot, officer and Engineering Division Chief at McCook Field. With no parachute experience, he formed a team that included aviation pioneers Leslie Irvin and James Floyd Smith which developed the first modern parachute. The 1926 Collier Trophy was awarded to Major E. L. Hoffman, Air Corps for "development of a practical parachute;" the year's greatest achievement in American aviation.

Marie Margaret McMillin, was an American aviator who served in the Women's Army Corps from 1943 to 1945. Before entering the Women's Army Corps, McMillin achieved the world women's altitude record, jumping 20,800 feet in the Cleveland Air Races in 1932. During her military service, she worked as a parachute rigger at Fort Benning, Georgia. During her career as a professional parachutist, she is recorded to have completed 699 jumps.

The Aerial Nurse Corps of America abbreviated to ANCOA is regarded as the initiation of the Air Ambulance.

References

  1. "Aviation Wings and Badges of WW2 - Between the Wars - U.S. Army Air Corps".
  2. pp.494-5 Flying Nurses Popular Mechanics Oct 1940