Demônios do Céu

Legendary Michael Curtiz directs this exciting, well paced aviation drama about two naval officers(Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray)who put aside their personal differences to work together conducting experiments to understand and prevent pilots from suffering altitude blackouts. Visually exciting pre war flick filmed at Pensacola that in turn led to accusations that in real life Flynn aided Nazi agents.

MacMurray and Flynn have very different acting styles, but work well together...of course Flynn seems to always be the focus. Alexis Smith is the rose among the thorns so-to-speak. The cast also features: veteran actor Ralph Bellamy and Regis Toomey, Robert Armstrong and Craig Stevens. After all these years DIVE BOMBER can still hold your attention.

While Dive Bomber has some formulaic elements, it is a glorious technicolor view of US naval aviation just before the US entered World War II. The air sequences include shots of aircraft (Vindicators, Devastators, Curtiss Hawks, etc.) that soon became obsolete and that I have never seen in any other technicolor film. The carrier scenes are set on the USS Enterprise the year before this ship fought in the Midway and Guadalcanal battles. The film is shot on location in San Diego, and I noticed landmarks like the Hotel Del Coronado and the Cabrillo lighthouse in the background. Thanks to Turner Classic Movies for playing this.

My main reason for seeing 'Dive Bomber' was for the cast. Particularly for Errol Flynn in a departure role, or at least in this particular period in his career where he was best known for his heroic roles in swashbucklers. That didn't bother me one bit, there have been plenty of actors in film history that take on atypical roles at least once in their careers and fare extremely well. Have also liked Fred MacMurray and Ralph Bellamy in other things.

While not a must see, 'Dive Bomber' is recommended by me or just about. Not just for the cast, but it also has very impressive aerial sequences and everything with the aircraft fascinates. 'Dive Bomber' is not a perfect film by all means, but anybody wondering as to whether Flynn could do more dramatic roles in more serious films and doubt it should see this. Was not sure initially myself, but it did surprise me and did remind me of his later roles where his acting did mature.

Am going to mention the not so good things first. Do have to agree that the humour is really not great (painful at its worst actually), very corny and forced with nothing being particularly funny. Also thought that for a film like 'Dive Bomber' it was not necessary, likewise with the very contrived subplot it features heavily in. Allen Jenkins did get on my nerves and felt out of place.

The pacing also isn't perfect, with it taking quite a while to get going. It runs on for a little too long perhaps as well.

However, a lot of things are great. It looks good, with some ravishing Technicolor that really shine in the action, the aerial shots absolutely astonish and the sets while simple don't look cheap or too claustrophobic. While still having that feeling in atmosphere. Max Steiner's score is typically stirring and lush, while not descending into melodrama. Michael Curtiz (another interest point, with him having directed two of my favourite films, 'Casablanca' and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood') directs with an assured hand on the most part, floundering only with Jenkins' subplot and to be honest it would have taken a miracle for anybody to make that subplot work.

Excepting Jenkins' subplot (sorry to go on negatively about this but that's how badly done it was and how much it stuck out), the dialogue intrigued and thought provoked. The story was far from perfect, but on the whole it engaged. The aerial action is enough to make the jaw drop and everything with Flynn and MacMurray anchors the film beautifully. Keeping personal life subplots to a minimum (generally) was a wise move, despite it meaning that Alexis Smith is underused. The acting on the whole is very good, with only Jenkins being bad. Flynn is really quite excellent and shows no sign of being taxed. Despite his acting style being very different to Flynn, MacMurray actually wasn't a mismatch and they are entertaining together. Smith does wonders despite being underused, but the best supporting performance comes from suitably stern and perfectly cast Bellamy.

Despite being far from a classic and having some big issues there are more than enough strengths to recommend it. 6/10.

Seven years earlier Warner Brothers did a film called Here Comes the Navy which launched the buddy film genre and the teaming of James Cagney and Pat O'Brien. It was shot entirely on location at the naval base there.

This time it's a more sophisticated story about Navy test pilots and flight surgeons trying to lick the problems of flight. Dive Bomber takes for granted the fact that very shortly the USA will be in a shooting war.

What is unusual is the reverse casting in Dive Bomber. Normally Errol Flynn would have been the test pilot and visiting from Paramount Fred MacMurray would be the doctor. My guess is that Errol probably asked Jack Warner for the change to do something a little different. Errol told many a tall tale in his memoirs, but one thing that was consistent was that he did get bored with his heroic image.

It works out fairly well for both guys. In fact later on Fred MacMurray played Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I air ace in another film and I'm sure he was cast there as a result of what he did in Dive Bomber.

Of course a lot of the film is phony. Our pilots or no one else's pilots ever used those diving suit like contraptions that Flynn and fellow doctor Ralph Bellamy designed for high altitude flying during combat. That did come post World War II however.

Nice aerial footage done in gorgeous technicolor is another positive feature of Dive Bomber. Howard Hughes couldn't have done it better.

One other thing, leading lady Alexis Smith met and married her husband Craig Stevens on the set of this film. Stevens was a contract player doing secondary roles for Warner Brothers. He would wait for stardom much later on as TV's Peter Gunn.

Dive Bomber should still have appeal for aviation fans everywhere on the planet.

As a snapshot of the US military on the eve of Pearl Harbor, this has a poignancy that it didn't have on original release. The "Enterprise" has a starring role, just two years before Midway (and incidentally, notice how SMALL the carriers are: I guess jet fighters needed vastly bigger ships).

And look at the aircraft: innumerable biplanes, and the rest of them already obsolete. No combat (- and, in fact, no bombs, which is odd, tho' i guess in 1941 the idea of Americans actually dropping nasty weapons like bombs was still a controversial notion.) Lots of formation flying: (this is Warners, after all, the home of Busby Berkeley!) Almost every outdoor scene has a flight of real aircraft zooming through it: the effect is sumptuous, and makes even "The Battle of Britain" look very small beer. Much credit to Michael Curtiz and crew for stage-managing all this.

There are no real surprises in the plot, though it moves through the clichés at an agreeable pace; nonetheless, it's an interesting commentary on the days when flying was not a "routine" activity.

But the reason to watch this is the photography. This is a Technicolor show-piece. The aerial footage is downright glamorous, and many of the interior scenes are filled with interest (though interior lighting problems are apparent, particularly in Flynn's make-up).

Plot-wise, the focus wanders back and forth from Flynn to MacMurray, which leaves both characters slightly unfinished. Flynn was obviously very difficult for Americans to write for: this actually sounds like Bogart dialogue. Flynn looks embarrassed and diffident throughout(he's very good though, and his voice is beautiful). Alexis Smith is fun; possibly the only interesting twist in the script is that the women are both unredeemed ratbags: the slush component is, hence, lower than it would be once hostilities commenced. Ralph Bellamy is good, doing the transition from "guy who doesn't get the girl" to "gruff character actor".

Modern viewers will laugh at the chain-smoking doctors (especially the one with the heart problem).

Max Steiner's score doesn't grab me particularly, but there are some nifty musical effects during the "blackout" sequences.