God Is My Co-Pilot

In 1942 China, World War II "Flying Tiger" Dennis Morgan (as Robert Lee "Scotty" Scott) recalls his love for aviation and enlistment in the US military. At age 34, Mr. Morgan fears he may be too old to join the war effort, but this was not unheard of during the Second World War. He leaves a pretty wife to share aviation expertise and eventually pilots dangerous missions against the sneaky, murderous Japanese. Morgan receives support from superior officer Raymond Massey (as Claire Chennault), kindly priest Alan Hale (as "Big Mike" Harrigan) and God. As signaled by the title, the latter becomes overtly active in later scenes. Stranger are how US bombers chat with English-speaking enemies like Richard Loo (as "Tokyo Joe") during battle. Minus the banter between bombers, the exciting air battles are a highlight.

***** God Is My Co-Pilot (3/15/45) Robert Florey ~ Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark

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.

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.

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.

Although "God is My Co-Pilot" was a prestige film from Warner Brothers and did well at the box office, it's really a very slight war film. Much of this is because instead of focusing on the real life of Colonel Robert Lee Scott, it often has cliches, such as the fictional character Tokyo Joe taunting the American pilots with dialog like this: "Ok you yankee doodle dandies....come and get us! ". Additionally, the notion of God in this film is very vague and seems mostly there to remind viewers that God love America and hates Japan. It's a shame, as Scott's life was pretty amazing...but here it's all too simplistic and filled with the usual B-movie jingoism. Now this isn't to say it's a bad film...no...but it was one that really could have been a lot better.