A Yank in the R.A.F.

A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)

This is pretty thin going stuff, and yet it's fun and warm-hearted and tinged with the drama of the times.

Context is everything here. 1941. The war is raging in Europe and Britain is being bombed by the Germans and they are trying to build up their forces to resist what seems to be an unstoppable foe. The U.S. is not yet in the war (that would happen in six months, but the movie makers couldn't know that for sure). All the U.S. is doing is supplying their future allies, Canada and Great Britain.

But in the air here at home (I write this from New York) was a sense of inevitability--we would eventually be drawn in to fight. This movie is part of the gearing up for that fact.

The lead is an American paradigm, Tyrone Power playing a cocky, charming, good-natured, and well-meaning young man who happens to be a pilot. What happens to him is what was happening to the country as a whole. And it boils down to this: he starts with innocence and selfishness and gets involved in stages, helping sell planes, helping fly planes, then actually doing battle runs over enemy territory.

That gives nothing away--it's the title of the movie.

What pulls him along? First just making some money. But then he meets an old flame played by Betty Grable (the number one pin-up girl for U.S. soldiers once they get involved) and Grable represents the U.S., too, because she's already in Britain helping the cause. Love ensues, but the problem is a handsome British soldier who begins to steal Grable's heart. A love triangle.

And because this is practically al propaganda film (not officially of course) you know that it will leave the audience (us) with the proper message of about doing the right thing and supporting the cause against the Nazi regime. There is even the shocking if not surprising current event built into the movie of the Germans vowing not to invade certain lowland countries and then, of course, invading them anyway.

Is this a great movie? Not by any means. But it's very well paced and the characters are warm and well-drawn, at least for such a "tale" as this. I wouldn't watch it a second time, but I'm glad I did this first one. And if you are the least bit interested in how Hollywood primed America for the war this slight film (along with "Casablanca" and many other movies) is a must-see.

And for those who care, the airplane scenes were done with the really R.A.F. (and a different film crew than the rest of it). The director (except for those scenes) is Henry King, who got his pilot's license in 1918, and who lived so long that in his last years he was the oldest active pilot in the U.S. I'm sure he gave some authenticity to the film at least in spirit.

You know from the beginning that TYRONE POWER had better shape up as more than a playboy if he wants to win BETTY GRABLE's love in this entertaining wartime romance from Fox. Betty acquits herself very well in all the dramatic moments and looks as fresh as a daisy. Tyrone is at his handsomest and has some stiff competition in the "other man" department from JOHN SUTTON, who finally had a more substantial romantic role than usual.

What with the romance between Grable and Power being shaky at best, you just know he's gonna have to reform himself with some wartime heroics as an R.A. F. flier before there can be a final clinch between the two.

Crisply written with some good, natural dialog, beautifully filmed in glorious B&W, it's a well crafted film that deserves more attention from Betty's fans in particular. There's some nice chemistry going on between the three mentioned stars and it's certainly a worthwhile film to watch for fans of nostalgia. REGINALD GARDINER does a nice supporting role job as Power's debonair best friend.

On the one hand we have Tyrone Power and Betty Grable, and they make a great couple.

On the other hand we have the typical 1940s disregard for anything remotely resembling accuracy about airplanes and the military. As an example, an early scene involves a leaflet drop over Berlin from Lockheed Hudson coastal patrol bombers, which sported four (or five) .30 cal machine guns - two fixed firing forward, two in a dorsal turret, and (MK II on) one firing down and aft.

The Luftwaffe would have had the airliner-derived patrol bombers for lunch, as they were pretty much defenseless from below except from behind.

This entertaining propaganda piece made before the US entered the war,was designed to rally support for the British war effort. Tyrone Power and Betty Grable,the biggest stars of 20th Century Fox,are teamed here for the only time in their career.Tyrone Power plays the typical daredevil pilot who is as egotistical as they come.But he also has devilish charm over women which I must say escapes me in this movie because he's so unlikeable.Betty Grable gives by far the best performance. I found her acting very natural,except for the script calling for her to love the slime ball character of Power.John Sutton as Power's rival is quite boring,so maybe Betty's choice of man wasn't too bad.

In the only time that Darryl F. Zanuck teamed his two leading adult stars in the forties, Tyrone Power and Betty Grable co-star in A Yank in the RAF. I think the title explains all in terms of the location.

Power plays one of his patented hero/heel types, a lot like Dion O'Leary in In Old Chicago. If you'll remember Alice Faye was being courted by the two O'Leary brothers, sober and industrious Don Ameche and devil may care Tyrone Power.

Now it's Betty as an entertainer over in the United Kingdom to entertain and otherwise help out in the war effort. She meets Ty who is also over there as an American volunteer in the RAF. Ty's someone who really isn't that crazy about military and other kinds of discipline, but he's one charming rogue and Betty can't get her fill of him.

Taking the Ameche part is very British and very stiff upper lip John Sutton. He's totally flipping out over Grable and who could blame him. Still it's Tyrone who powers the Grable engine.

John Sutton would co-star again with Ty Power after World War II in a vastly different part in Captain from Castile. He plays the cowardly and malevolent Diego DeSylva and that particular part from him might have been his career role. In my book it's one of the most evil villains the screen has ever had.

Reginald Gardiner and a whole flock of other British actors from Hollywood's British colony lend support. The RAF flying sequences were shot over in the war theater and were nominated for Best Special Effects.

Betty sings some forgettable tunes as an entertainer by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger. But heard throughout the film is the standard These Foolish Things. That song, as popular in Great Britain where it originated as in the United States, is one of the best ballads ever written. Why Zanuck didn't have Betty sing it is a mystery.

It's by no means clear who Betty winds up with in the end. I could make a case for either Power or Sutton. You'll have to see the film and make your own mind up. One thing for sure is that Ty is far from reforming. You'll have to see the film to see what I'm talking about there.