O Capitão Eddie

I don't recall the movie being as bad as the previous poster laments, but it is the first time I saw a movie of a person I knew something of his historical record and how they played loose with the details for dramatic license (I read his massive autobiography 5 times at least--a big book for a 13 yr old to read then--and several of his other books, including his version of the ordeal at sea depicted in the movie and Capt. Cherry's version "We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing"). I was "outraged" as any hero worshiping teen could be when they changed incidents in the movie that I knew happened differently (hey! That didn't happen that way!). but from this movie, I did learn the lesson of what that disclaimer means "Though based on actual incidents..."

I was 10 when I saw this movie. I have memories of scenes from favorite films as early as 1940. This is one of them. I left the theater feeling entertained, happy they were rescued, educated about Rickenbacker's career and thrilled. At that age I was not capable of critical review but have always wondered why I never saw it again. Perhaps I was too unsophisticated to make a valid judgment. I did, however, remember that MacMurray was the star. I looked it up to learn why it was never re- released. In that era few movies were deliberately aimed at the young including war films and westerns. Even the Disney films were popular with adults. I was an avid moviegoer with minimal supervision and lots of nearby theaters so I recall many which were not written for the children but still left me with fond memories of their value for me. That is the basis for my rating.

I think it would have been much better if they had cast a somewhat "unknown" instead of Fred MacMurry in the role. I couldn't separate the two. Lloyd Nolan was pretty good, I'm not sure that the factual story was told in so much as to dramatize the elements. I was working with a very VERY poor print.