Horizonte em Chamas

Task Force was the first of two films Gary Cooper made regarding the development of aviation. Here he plays the fictional Jonathan Scott who looks back on his life after retiring from the Navy. The second is the Court Martial of Billy Mitchell where he plays the real life Army Aviation pioneer.

For today's fans if one wants to see where Tom Cruise and the gang from Top Gun all got their start, take a look at Task Force. The idea of a floating flattop ship from where airplanes could take off and land was one that was scoffed at post World War I. Pilots didn't have the skills yet for that. What Task Force shows is Gary Cooper and a whole bunch of other people who believed in an idea living and dying to prove that idea.

Task Force was memorable in the career of Gary Cooper for two other reasons. It was the first film he did after leaving his original studio, Paramount, at Warner Brothers where he worked for about five years. It was also the last film he did with good friend Walter Brennan. They made eight joint film appearances, including some memorable ones in The Westerner and Sergeant York where they got Oscars, Brennan for The Westerner and Cooper for Sergeant York.

Jane Wyatt is Cooper's leading lady, playing the part of the faithful wife where if this had been made at MGM, June Allyson would have had the part. She's the widow of one of Cooper's early Navy flier friends who is killed trying to land on a new aircraft carrier.

Director Delmar Daves made good use of actual combat footage both black and white and in the last 15 minutes color. Lent a real air of authenticity to what we were viewing. Look for some good supporting performances from Brennan, Wayne Morris, Bruce Bennett and the best being an obtuse United States Senator played by Stanley Ridges.

The final shot of the film shows Cooper now in civilian attire with jets passing overhead. That was a whole new skill that had to be learned by the next generation of Top Guns. Very graphically demonstrated in The Bridges at Toko-Ri.

I'd like to think that Tom Cruise and the rest of the cast of Top Gun saw those two films and realized the great heritage they were now going to portray.

This past week I watched "Task Force" on Turner Classic Movies. What a great movie about US Naval Aviation, before and during WWII. For starters, the actors play their parts masterfully. You can tell that Gary Cooper really enjoys playing this character and telling this Navy story. I also liked how the movie had continuity of time, being that the story spanned many years. Perhaps most of all, I enjoyed the footage of the aircraft carriers themselves. I thought to myself, how the carriers that they were filming on, only a few years before 1949, were the centerpiece of the most horrific combat of WWII. I am sure many of the actors and those who saw the film remembered vividly when the news from the Battle of Midway and Okinawa reached home. So many young Americans died. What brought a tear to my eye, was the video at the end of the movie when the USS Enterprise is returning to NY City. The camera man at the time in 1945, films the damage with NYC icons like the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge in the background. It is amazing footage. I thought to myself how the young veterans in the audience in 1949 must have reflected on their war fought only a few years before. Therefore, I love how this movie of history is indeed history itself.

Gary Cooper plays a navy man that was one of the first pilots trained to fly from an aircraft carrier (the USS Langley) and continues his career through WWII until his retirement. The first section of the film focuses a lot on Cooper and his relationships with friends, his future wife and the navy brass.

Later, when WWII arrives, the film is much more of an action flick and gives a very competent overview of the war in the Pacific. While this did employ a lot of stock footage, it was unusual in that most all of the footage was used correctly. Unlike the ridiculously historically inaccurate film, MIDWAY (1976), TASK FORCE made sure to use clips that were accurate--featuring the correct model planes for each segment of the war (whereas in MIDWAY, they often showed planes that weren't even in the naval arsenal until well after the battle as well as had dive bombers magically turn into fighter planes in mid-flight due to horrid editing blunders).

This film really has widely different appeal depending on your perspective. If you are a history teacher and airplane nut like me, then it earns a 9 because it does a really good job of conveying the history of the American aircraft carriers from its inception in the early 1920s through WWII. However, if you are not, then you might find the film a bit cold (as it often focuses more on events than people towards the middle to the end of the film) and it might seem a bit confusing if you aren't familiar with the history of these great ships.

I thought I saw all of Gary Cooper's war movies, but I just caught this one today on TMC. As others have stated, Brennan and Cooper are a great pair and they were a very good pair in this movie. Except for the typical lack of bloody wounds (in forties war movies), it was impressive that the dramatic detail in this movie was more accurate than usual for this genre. The movie did a great job depicting the interaction in the CIC (combat information center) and elsewhere on the ships. However unusual it seemed, transitioning from black and white to color to show plot transition (The Wizard of Oz notwithstanding) was effective for me. Deep down, I think it might have been a way to sneak in color war footage. As I am also a Jane Wyatt (Spock's mother) fan, she was great as Scott's (Gary Cooper's character) wife. Although it did seem to be a bit incongruous that she dressed as well as she did considering her situation. (Sorry, you'll have to see the movie.) Summary: Whether or not you've seen Midway, see Task Force.

I have just watched this on TCM,and thought it was a very good film.It was a lot more realistic than most 1940s war films,and i was convinced that they were using real archive footage,which was the reason why the film suddenly changes to colour.I thought this was a great idea as special effects back then couldn't have shown the effects of mass destruction that was caused on US Naval ships.And this being a very important film needs to put its point across,so real archive footage does engross the viewer more.Gary Cooper was a fine actor of his generation,very convincing in his portrayal of Scott,the captain.Although i did have a chuckle when they said Scottie is on the Enterprise,i kept expecting someone to say beam him up.In all a very well made film shame its not on sale in the UK.