God Is My Co-Pilot

This movie helped the P40 to become my favorite warplane of all time. They used E models for the filming of this movie which would have been correct for mid-1942. The enemy planes incorrectly referred to as Zeroes were actually AT6 Texans which were almost always used in other movies as well. The flying scenes were filmed at Luke Air Force base in Arizona. The Flying Tigers fought against the Japanese Air Force which flew Ki-43 'Oscars'. The Imperial Navy pilots flew the Zero and were not involved in that conflict. The other thing that you see written often about the Flying Tigers is that they were fighting the Japanese "years before" Pearl Harbor. The truth is only Chenault was in China in the '30's helping out. The ground crews, pilots, and planes were not in place until November of 1941. Their first combat mission occurred on December 20, 13 days AFTER Pearl Harbor. Dennis Morgan, Alan Hale, & Richard Loo play their characters very well. Some people today are offended by all of the racial slurs that are uttered. But when this movie was made in 1945, the Japanese were the hated villains. The soldier's dilemma of taking lives as their duty versus what the 10 commandments says is dealt with tastefully in this movie. It's an enjoyable film that represents movies of the 1940's well.

Here in Atlanta we mourn the death Monday, February 27th of General Robert L. Scott, ace and author of the book from which this classic movie was made. Scott owed $25,00 in back taxes after publishing his (most successful) book in the Summer of 1943 - during the height of WW II. His publisher advanced the tax money to him and gave him another assignment. The result: "Damned to Glory". Other books include "Runway to the Sun", Look of the Eagle", Tiger in the Sky and another classic IMHO: "Chennault of China". They don't make 'em - men and movies - like this any more. Scott to his last days was a fixture at the renowned Museum of Avation in Warner Robins, GA. He was always very helpful and full of stories with which to inform and regale the museum patrons. He will be sorely missed. Get the movie and the book and savor them like old wine.

Here is an absolutely incorrect statement - "WWII war movie about the fabled "Flying Tigers" who battled the Japanese over the skies of China as early as 1937, four years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and amassed a record of air-to-air combat kills against the Japanese air force of something like 40 to 1."

The foregoing is NOT true - the Flying Tigers flew their FIRST combat mission on 20 December 1941 MORE THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER PEARL HARBOR!!! They were disbanded on 4 July 1942 - they were only in combat for about six months. During that time they did establish an astonishing air-to-air kill ratio of somewhere between 29 to 40 to 1 (it is still in dispute). Gen. Chennault had been in China since 1937 working for the Nationalist government as an adviser and trying to develop a Chinese air force, with limited, if any success. Someone made a comment that the original AVG pilots refused to fly the 4 July 1942 mission- I'm sure they did, the unit had been disbanded by that time and most of the pilots had been treated like dirt by the Air Corps general, Bissell by name, who was tasked with trying to get them to stay on in the American army air forces. Read about that debacle sometime. By the way, Scott never flew with the Flying Tigers, he was brought in as the unit commander after it was integrated into the Army Air Forces, a few, but by no means all, of the original Tigers transferred over and continued to fight in China. Quite a few others went back to the States and re-joined their former services. Boyington went back to the Marine Corps, quite a few others into the Air Corps and served in Europe.

The movie takes quite a few, in fact it takes a whole lot of,liberties with Scott's book, but the general idea is there as is the wonderful lack of "political correctness". This country knew how to fight a war back then and how to let it's military people "close with, engage and destroy" our enemies and they were allowed to refer to them as they saw fit. Krauts, Japs. Wops whatever, they were the bad guys. Let me assure you when someone is actively engaged in trying to kill you, you really don't care about hurting their feelings. For me VC & NVA will always be "gooks" and if that offends someone - well all I can say is "Tough! deal with it"! God help the Soldier or Marine today who calls an Islamic terrorist a "raghead" in front of some prissy journalist. These days - the poor S.O.B. would be court martialed and in the brig before he knew what hit him. Ah, for the good old days. This movie will take you back to them and remind you of a time when this country actually stood for something and had pride in itself.

This film was made as WWII was ending. The main interest in it was the exciting aerial photography used in it. For a propaganda film, "God Is My Co-Pilot" presents one aspect of the conflict in the Far East. It's a story about bravery and courage as the young pilots of The Flying Tigers fought the conflict.

The story of a war hero, Colonel Robert Scott, is at the center of the film. Col. Scott knew no fear as he took to the air. His comrades, the other pilots of the squadron, admired him deeply as he set a clear example about how to serve his country unselfishly. The air combats shown in the film must have been amazing to the audiences of the time in which the movie was released.

Robert Flarey directed a film that made those young aces heroes in what would become the powerful might of the Air Force in future conflicts. Dennis Morgan was perfect as Col. Scott, the man who knew no fear. Raymond Massey plays General Chennault. Alan Hale appears as the friendly priest Big Mike. Some other familiar faces in the cast, Dane Clark, Mark Stevens, Craig Stevens, and other.

The only thing with the print recently shown by TCM looks as though the film was re-dubbed as the dialog doesn't match the lip movements of the actors in the film.

DENNIS MORGAN is one of those actors under contract to Warner Bros. who seldom got a chance to do anything but lightweight roles and occasionally given a fairly good musical such as the Technicolored MY WILD IRISH ROSE where he played Chauncey Olcott, songwriter.

But GOD IS MY CO-PILOT is a rarity in that he gets to fill most of the screen's running time as Col. Robert Lee Scott, one of the first Americans to join the "Flying Tigers" just before World War II. Scott went on to a distinctive wartime record and only recently died at a ripe old age, a hero of his hometown of Macon, Georgia.

The film is a typical Warner war film--cast with all of their most dependable stock company players--including RAYMOND MASSEY, ALAN HALE, CRAIG STEVENS, newcomer MARK STEVENS, ANDREA KING, DANE CLARK, JOHN RIDGELY and DONALD COOK. But as a film, it falls strictly into the Saturday afternoon adventure mold for kiddies, only occasionally rising to the occasion of being a good biography of the wartime hero.

Despite the rather plum role, Morgan is still a lightweight, leaving the heavier histrionics to Raymond Massey and Alan Hale--but his fans loved him in this, regardless. It's probably the film he's most remembered for during the '40s.

And incidentally, there was no political correctness going on in the '40s as far as America and the Japanese were concerned, for those taking affront at the slurs against "the Japs". That's the way they were regarded then. Even having dishes that bore "Made in Japan" on them, was enough for an American to consider throwing them out. That's how it was--deal with it.