Aviation Movies

[adzam]

thats a fair list you are building there kiwi !!

i`m afraid i ran out of ideas weeks ago lol

i`ll put it down to my "young age"

 

[Kiwi]

Ok then, here's some more from my list:

"Bridges at Toko-Ri "(1954) William Holden,Grace Kelly and Mickey Rooney. Korean war epic, model work on the bridge explosions could be better but lots of superb carrier action with lots of F-9f Panthers. The attack scene down the ravine was the inspiration for George Lucas' Death Star attack scene in the original "Star Wars"

Definitely worth staying up late for.

"Canyon Crossroads" (1955) Made in Utah with one of the first good guy/bad guy helicopter chase scenes with early Bell 47s

"Captain Eddie" (1945) Fred MacMurray and Lloyd Nolan. Eddie Rickenbackers life story told in flashbacks after his survival on a raft after a wartime ditching in the Pacific. Good flying shots of Spads but a "flat" movie.

"Ceiling Zero" (1934) James Cagney. Lots of old aircraft, not a bad story or acting either (which makes a change from some old movies)

"Captains of the Clouds" (1942) James Cagney A wise guy American bush pilot who joins the RCAF , gets his cockiness taken out of him and eventually becomes a hero. Footage of Hudsons, Harvards and bush planes.

"Catch 22" (1970)A real dog of a movie, only worth watching for the B-25 scenes, the rest is just about incomprehensable.Made in Mexico.

"China Clipper" (1936) Humphrey Bogart God Story of the first Pan Am Clipper to the Orient. Good factual drama, worth watching for to see the old flying boats. First aviation movie made without a crash scene.

"Command Decision" (1948) Clark Gable, Van Johnson Excellent movie, good dialogue. Full of B-17s

"Court Martial of Billy Mitchell" (1955) Gary Cooper, Rod Stieger. Fascinating story, not too much flying, more on the aspects of the trial. Chance to see some authentic OX-5 Jennies, DH-4s

I'll start on the "D"s later. Keep scouring those late night shows in the mean time.

And the movie about Mosquitos in Burma? That was "The Purple Plain" made in 1955 with Gregory Peck, he crashes one after an engine fire and walks back to civilization

 

[Kiwi]

Heres a few more to fill in some of the gaps in my list so far

"Air Cadet" (1951) Rock Hudson Usual plot about pilot training.

"Air Mail" (1932) Actors I've never heard of but lots of period aircraft.

"Amelia Earhart" (1976) Susan Clark and on the same theme

"Amelia Earhart- The Final Flight" (1994) Diane Keaton.

"Angels One Five" (1954) with Jack Hawkins as a Hurricane pilot . This was the first film that I remember my dad taking me to see. Can't rememeber any of the film though.

"Bat 21" (1980) Viet Nam story about an intelligence staff officer (Gene Hackman) shot down in a B-66 (or A3-D?) who is guided out by a Bird Dog pilot(Danny Glover)

"Bombers B-52" (1957) Efrem Zimbalist jnr and Natalie Wood. Lots of earlier Jets flying scenes.

"Devil Dogs Of The Air"(1935) James Cagney as a cocky stunt flier who joins the Marine Corps. C3B Stearman, Boeing F4B-4 Travelair 4000. A classic.

"Dive Bomber" (1941) Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray. pre Pearl Harbour helmet and goggles, white scarf stuff. early Vought dive bombers and Grumman F3Fs

 

[duncan]

"They Flew Alone" was on BBC daytime last week. (Amy Johnson and Jim Mollison).

 

[Kiwi]

Here is a few more from my list of Aviation Movies, be warned, some are pretty old but you might catch them if a channel runs a "James Cagney Season" or (or John Wayne or similar sorts of series).

"Dragonfly Squadron" (1954) USAF Major sent to train South Koreans, unless you are a big Stinson L-5 fan don't bother with this one.

"Dr Satan's Robot" (1940) Eduardo Cianelli, Errol Flynn. Full length version of an early serial. Earns a listing fot the early Stinsons and Ryan ST

"Eagle And The Hawk" (1933) Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, If you can get to see this one - do so. Story of an observer squadron in WW1. Plenty of DH-4s, Travelairs and Wacos dressed up to look like Fokkers

"Eagle Squadron" (1942) Robert Stack, Eddie Albert. Fair story about Americans in the RAF. Plenty of Spitfires and Hurricanes but the 109s had to be faked.

"Fate Is The Hunter" (1964) Glenn Ford, Rod Taylor, Susanne Pleshette. Not as good as the book, Has a C-54 masquerading as a jet! Little real flying, mainly done in the studio.

"Fighter Squadron" (1948) Robert Stack, Edmund O'Brien Good story about the value of low level attacks,probably the only P-47 footage apart from newsreel with P-51s painted up as the baddies. Good action with inter-cutting of wartime gun camera footage.

"Flat Top" (1952) Sterling Haydyn,Richard Carlson. Saga of carrier training done in the usual "B" flick style of using stock wartime footage to keep the action going.

"Flight From Asiya" (1964) Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, George Chakaris. Story of USAF Rescue Service that falls flat with too many flashbacks and sub-plots SA-16s and H-19s are good but poor miniature effects make it ho-hum.

"Flight Command" (1940) Robet Taylor, Walter Pidgeon. Thin plot about naval aviation with an overworked love story. Redeeming factor is lots of great footage of the early Grumman F-3F biplanes.

"Flight Commander" (1930) Douglas Fairbanks, This is the first 'Dawn Patrol' with Fairbanks playing the part that Errol Flynn did later, script is identical too. Most of 'Dawn Patrol's' flying shots originated in this inferior flick.

"Foreign Correspondent" (1940) Joel McCrea, more of a spy film rather than a flying film but the crash scene of a Boeing Clipper is one of the best ever.

"Flying Tigers" (1942) John Wayne Not an actual P-40 was used in the movie. All were made at paramount from wood with car engines, Some actual AVG footage use and that good old standby, the Capelis XC 12 with its biplane tail.

I'll do the "Gs" later, happy viewing.

Nev

 

[Kiwi]

Here are some more dredged out of the big book of knowledge

"Flight" (1929) a real oldie bout two buddies flying with the USMC

"Flight Of The Intruder" (1991) Danny Glover, William Dafoe. Uneven story about USN Intruders bombing North Viet Nam

"Gathering of Eagles" (1963) Rock Hudson, Rod taylor. B-52s of SAC. true to life story done mostly on the ground. Some good colour air to air shots.

"God Is My Co-Pilot" (1945) Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey.Flying Tigers story about Robbert Scott. Some good P-40 flying, same stock shots as 'Flying Tigers', B-25Hs, P-40E and P-40N. look for the rare Seversky P-43.

" Hells Angels" (1932) Jean Harlow,Ben Lyon,James Hall. Dumb story but real Fokker D VII s, Nieuports, and the crash of a Sikorsky bomber (the guy in the tail setting off the smoke bombs died in the crash).

"Hell Divers" (1937) Clark Gable, Wallace Beery. Another pre-war classic,good footage of the old Saratoga and flight shots of Curtiss Helldivers.

"High Barbaree" (1945) Van Johnson. Obscure film about a downed PBY pilot with lots of excelleny PBY scenes.

"High Flight" (1958) Ray Milland, Kenneth Haigh. RAF post war jet training with lots of authentic flying sequences.

"High And The Mighty" (1954) John Wayne,Robert Stack. Once mighty airline captain demoted to co-pilot after a bad crash. One C-54 does it all.

"The Hunter" (1958) Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner. Korean War with lots of action from F-86s. F-84s mocked up to look like Migs

Re the question earlier about the B-52 film. Sounds like that would be "Fail Safe" (1964) with Dan Herlihy,Walter Matthau and Henry Fonda.

more later.

Nev

 

[Bluewavestudios]

Under the E's

You missed "Empire of the Sun".....came out back in the 80's and a lot of very Large Scale Models used in that film...they were featured in Radio Modeller & RCM&e at the time.

Regards........Mark.

 

[Bluewavestudios]

Ooops stop press

Duncan mentioned Empire of the Sun earlier...Glad I am not the only one who remembered it then lol

Regards.......Mark.

 

[Bluewavestudios]

How about Iron Eagle & Iron Eagle II starring Louis Gossett jnr and David Suchet (of hercule poirot fame).....Great film for F16 fans..!!

Strangely enough the 2nd film came out close to first war in the Gulf when Iraq invaded Kuwait....and the plot is very similar...!!!

Also does the Final Countdown count..??? USS Nimitz sails through a storm & goes back in time to just before attack on Pearl Harbour and they have a chance to stop it...starred Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen.

The best bit in that was seeing the looks on the Japanese Zero Pilots faces when they come face to face with a pair of F-14's...their eyes literally pop out of their heads...!!

(before the sidewinders took care of them for real that is...!!!)

Regards.........Mark.

 

[Kiwi]

re "Empire of The Sun" -Gotcha!

Iron Eagle I & II wewe going to get a mention when I got to the "I"s. a mention is all they probably deserve!

Final Countdown was going to come under "T" for "The"

 

[duncan]

And if you want one of the Empire of the Sun P51 Mustangs, Richard Rawle has the moulds and is offering replicas for sale.

 

[Kiwi]

Right, here we go for some more golden oldies (and some that are a bit tarnished) I have left out films where aircraft were only incidental to the story and the list is by no means complete.

"I Bombed Pearl Harbour" (1972) Japanese. When Tora Tora Tora was filmed ,half the picture was made by Americans and half by the Japanese. This appears to be the Japanese half. Why, with all the excess Tora footage, do they rely on so many fakes and miniatures? Really bad dubbing. Have an early night instead!

"I Wanted Wings" (1941) William Holden,Ray Milland. Story of flying training and the life of a pre war air cadet. Lots of early BT-9 footage plus B-17s and AT-6s. Good one.

"International Squadron" (1941) Ronald Reagan. Remake of Ceiling Zero with stock newsreel shots. Forget it!

"Island In The Sky"(1953) John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, James Arness. Early WW2 airline pilots on loan to the Air Transport Command. Mostly C-47s and no love interest!

"Jet Pilot" (1950, released 1957) John Wayne, Janet Leigh. Howard Hughes' last film. was supposed to be a jet age Hell's Angels. Unless your keen on F-80s you could give this a miss.

"Lady Takes A Flyer" (1958) Jeff Chandler, Chuck Connors and Lana Turner. Story of Jack Ford, pioneer ferry pilot, killed in a Pacific crash in 1951, Lana is a lady ferry pilot. B-25Js and P-51Ds

"Lafayette Escadrille" (1958) Tab Hunter,Poor done story of Americans in WW1. Several Bleriot penguins, virtually no flying.

"Last Flight of Noahs Ark" (1980) Elliot Gould Disney childrens film for which they wrecked on of the few restorable B-29s.Dumb and dumber!

"Lost Squadron"(1932) Richard Dix, Erich von Strohiem, WW1 pilots forced to find work as stunt fliers for the movies.

"The Malta Story"(1954) Alec Guiness, Jack hawkins,Anthony Steele. Some actual footage of Capronis raiding Malta and Spitfire and Hurricane intercepts.

"The McConnell Story" (1955) Alan ladd, June Alyson Story of Korean Jet Ace. Stock footage of F-86s, with F-84 as Migs.

"Memphis Belle"(1943) This the documentary (not the hokey 1990 remake) that has contributed so many stock shots to WW2 movies.Filmed on actual combat mission.Not a fake in the whole film. I picked up a video version of it. The one to see.

"Men With Wings" (1938) Ray Milland, Fred MacMurray Good pre war flight film without replicas. Buhl pups, Spads, DH4s, Boeing 247s, Boeing P-12Es, First to be shot in technicolor.

"Midway" (1975) Robert Mitchum, Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda Bashed together from leftovers from Tora,Tora,Tora and stock wartime footage. Not really worth staying up for.

"Only Angels have Wings"(1939) Cary Grant. Pre war flying in Central America. Ford Trimotors, Pilgrims but spoiled by model fakes and square turns.

That'll do for a while.

Nev

 

[adzam]

nev, seems you have a wealth of information at your fingertips, is this one of your pasions ?

 

[Kiwi]

You could say I'm pretty keen on aviation history as well as models., and have been since I was grass high to a kneehopper. I also have an awful lot lof reference mags/plans and scale drawings which I am slowly putting on a database. I don't actually go to the movies (it's 1 1/2 drive to the nearest theatre.

I've spent the last 38 years working on aircraft as well.

thanks for asking.

Nev

 

[Kiwi]

The film about the metal fatigue in the aircraft was "No Highway" (1951) with james Stewart and Marlene Dietrich

 

[Kiwi]

Ok , heres some more, most of them you may never have heard off.

"Operation Haylift" (1950) Bill Williams,Two brothers, one stays on the farm, the other joins the USAF. If you are in to C-82s dropping hay then this is the movie for you.

"Red Skins Of Montana" (1952) Richard Widmark, Jeff Hunter. Forest Service 'smoke jumpers'. If Ford Trimotors are your thing then this is for you.

"Sky Devils" (1932) Spencer Tracy, William Boyd. Howard Hughes tried to re-do Hell's Angels with much of the same footage and new stars. It bombed.

"Strategic Air Command" (1955) James Stewart with June Allyson (again!) Lots of good B-36 and B-47 flying.

"Tail Spin" (1939) Alice Faye,Constance Bennett. Little told story of women pilots at the 1939 Cleveland Air Races. Art Chester (of 'Jeep' & 'Goon' fame) did a lot of flying for this one.

"Test Pilot" (1937)Clark Gable.Spencer Tracy.One of the better pre-war movies with Seversky P-35, Harlow PJC-2, Ryan ST and very early B-17s.

"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944) Van Johnson,Spenser Tracy The Dolittle raid from the USS Hornet. Excellent mingling of studio and actual footage. plenty of early B-25Cs, not only were the right aircraft types used but the right mark as well.

"This Man's Navy" (1945) Wallace Beery,Tom Drake. Unusual for being a story about US Navy blimps.

"Thunderbirds" (1942) Gene Tierney. 'B' grade movy about training pilots. Stearmans, BT-13s, AT-6s

"Too Hot To Handle" (1938) Clark Gable, Walter Pidgeon, About a newsreel cameraman. Ryan ST and Lockheed Orion.

"Toward The Unknown" (1956) also released as "The Brink Of Hell" William Holden, Lloyd Nolan. Filmed at Edwards AFB, lots of experimental jets, feature aircraft was the Martin XB-51 appearing as the "Gilbert XF-120" Worth a look.

"Twelve O'Clock High" (1959) Gregory Peck. One of the best air action films of WWII

Plenty of B-17s (including one being belly landed by Paul mantz) and 109s.

"The War Lover" (1962) Steve McQueen, Robert Wagner. Fimed in England with 3 B-17Gs. some good flying spoilt with a soppy love story.

I'm starting to run out, maybe just one more episode to go!

 

[Kiwi]

What I didn't mention in an earlier post was that when "A Guy Named Joe" and "Air Force" were filmed in June and July 1943 they used B-26s to take the role of "Bettys".

I reckon that Japanese marked aircraft flying around Florida in 1943 must have caused a few interesting moments!

The aircraft operated out of MacDill AFB in Tampa, with the 21 st Bomb Group.

"Wild Blue Yonder" (1951) Wendell Corey,Phil Harris. Only redeeming feature of this hokey film is some great action shots of B-29s at March Field. Padded out with wartime combat footage.

"Wing And A Prayer".(1944) Dana Andrews,Don Ameche. Good carrier epic. Lots of TBMs, F6Fs, SB2Cs etc. Fictionalised story of the USS Enterprise and the Midway attack

"Winged Victory" (1944) Edmund O'Brien, Ronald Reagan, Training of wartime air cadets and their baptism of fire. BT-13s , B-24s etc.

"X-15" (1961) Charles Bronson. NASA practically made this one for the company.

That'll do for list, any more delving will cause my brain to turn to mush. (some people reckon that's already happened!)

 

[adzam]

:bravo: :yeahbaby:

 

[john]

Does Dumbo count? :shoot:

 

[duncan]

...there is bound to be a Guppy in "A FISHY TALE":fish2:..boom boom!