Thunder Birds (1942) (subtitled "Soldiers of the Air")[1] is a Technicolor film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, and John Sutton. It features visually stunning aerial photography and location filming at an actual Arizona training base of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
The film was made as a propaganda vehicle to boost civilian morale at a time when World War II was still much in doubt,[2] while at the same time providing a look at training activities and promoting airpower as a means of winning the war. Wellman was himself a veteran of the U.S. Air Service as a World War I fighter pilot.
Plot
During World War II, Steve Britt (Preston Foster), a middle-aged former World War I flying ace and aviation celebrity, arrives at Thunderbird Field in May 1942 looking for a job as a civilian primary flight instructor. Steve looks up Lt. Col. "Mac" "MacDonald (Jack Holt), the base commander, who introduces him to his Royal Air Force counterpart, Squadron Leader Barrett (Reginald Denny). Despite their friendship, MacDonald questions why he is "burying (himself) in the desert" instead of fighting. Steve replies that the war will be won on bases like Thunderbird Field, and concedes that he's too old for combat. His idea is to train hundreds to be like himself, a "Steve Britt escadrille over Germany and Tokyo". MacDonald agrees to call Washington D.C. to get his appointment approved. Barrett wants Steve to look over a new class of RAF cadets, but Britt defers, and asks for directions to the ranch of an old pal. After Steve leaves, Mac wryly observes to Barrett that "something tells me this pal of his, Colonel Saunders, uses lipstick". Steve buzzes an old water tank in the desert in which Kay Saunders (Gene Tierney) is swimming. His prop wash causes the woman's robe to blow away. Showing off, Steve flies inverted over the tank and drops her his flying coveralls, then lands. She seems miffed at him—for reasons in their romantic past as much as his mischief—but responds to his passionate kiss of greeting. Their verbal sparring is interrupted by Kay's grandfather, retired Colonel Cyrus "Gramps" Saunders, Steve's close friend. Kay remains doubtful because Steve is a carefree nomad more interested in flying around the world than settling down.
Steve is introduced to the new RAF class of cadets. He is assigned instruct roommates Peter Stackhouse (John Sutton) and George Lockwood (Richard Haydn). (A third cadet is Peter Lawford in an uncredited role.) Peter, the son of a famous aviator killed in 1918, exhibits a fear of flying on his first flight and is clumsy on the flight controls. When Peter gets air sick, Steve cuts short the flight. Mac warns Steve to "wash them out fast" if cadets can't perform. After three unsuccessful flights, Steve tries to persuade Peter to transfer. Peter asks for time to overcome his acrophobia problem, which he calls a "conditional reflex". In a flashback, Peter relates that his brother was killed on a bombing mission. Their grandmother, Lady Jane Stackhouse (Dame May Whitty), summonsed Peter (an intern at a London hospital) home to show him the check she is sending Winston Churchill for the purchase of a new bomber to carry on the fight in Tom's memory, since there is no male is left in the family to do so. Peter contradicts her: he has left his hospital service and transferred to the RAF to learn to fly. After hearing his story, Steve agrees to keep Peter in training.
In their first leave from duty, Peter and Lockwood visit a shop and Peter meets Kay Saunders, immediately infatuated with her. She resolves to repay the hurt Steve caused her by dating Peter. She warns Peter that she might still be in love with Steve, but her instincts warn her that he would make a terrible husband. Peter admires Steve, grateful to him for his second chance. His guilty conscience forces Peter to inform Steve that he is in love with Kay and intends to propose marriage. Steve promises that he won't wash out Peter because of their rivalry. His judgment tells him that Peter will one day "make the grade as a pilot." Squadron Leader Barrett gives Peter a washout check flight and he gets sick again. Steve shows cold disinterest at Peter's fate until, moved by the disappointment of the latest group of washouts, Steve stands by Peter in a showdown, threatening to resign.
Gramps throws a Fourth of July party for the cadets and tricks Peter into riding a bucking bronco. The trick backfires when Peter proves to be an adept horseman. Steve knows that Kay has fallen in love with Peter, even though unbeknownst to him she refused the proposal of marriage because of doubts about which one she loves. Mac warns Steve that his hand has been forced: a decision on Peter has to be made. To overcome the acrophobia, Steve tells Peter to fly the plane just as he rode the bronco, by easing up and relaxing. The advice works. In an unorthodox move against flight regulations, Steve forces Peter to fly solo by bailing out but parachutes down into the path of a sand storm. Peter lands in time to save Steve from being dragged by his parachute over a cliff, but he airplane is destroyed when the wind flips it over. Mac believes that Peter's incompetence caused the damage and washes him out. He also fires Steve. Kay tricks Mac and Barrett into giving Peter one more chance. She tells Steve that she has decided to marry Peter and tries to persuade Steve to remain an instructor, and reminds him of his own words about where the war will be won. Peter makes good on the faith shown in him, making a deadstick landing when his engine fails during his solo. Soon after, Steve, hobbling on a cane, greets an incoming class of new RAF cadets.
Cast
Production notes
Thunder Birds was intended by Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck to be a follow-up to his popular A Yank in the R.A.F., given the working title of A Tommy in the U.S.A. Using the pen name "Melville Crossman," Zanuck himself wrote the original story.[3] William Wellman agreed to direct in exchange for financial backing from Zanuck to film the novel The Ox-Bow Incident,[1][3] which Wellman began immediately after production ended for Thunder Birds.[4]
At one point it was announced that Dana Andrews would play the lead in Thunder Birds opposite Gene Tierney, with whom he eventually made five films.[1]
Filming of Thunder Birds coincided with the time frame of the story. Production filming began on location at the actual Thunderbird Field from mid-March 1942 and ended May 6. Additional sequences were filmed in the first week of June 1942, and retakes during July.[2] The storyline revolved around cadets flying the Stearman PT-17 primary trainer, but also featured many live action formation flights of BT-13 Valiant and North American AT-6 trainers. Stunt pilot Paul Mantz flew the live action flying scenes.
Home video release
20th Century Fox released Thunder Birds on home video on June 6, 2006 for the first time ever.
References
- ^ a b c "Wiliam A. Wellman's Thunder Birds (1942)". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/movienews/index/?cid=139728. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
- ^ a b "Overview for Thunder Birds (1942)". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=93223. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
- ^ a b Shannon, Jeff. "Review, Thunder Birds". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Thunder-Birds-George-Barbier/dp/B000EXDSD4. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
- ^ "Overview of Ox Bow Incident (1943)". Turner Classic Movies. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=434290. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
External links
