Aerial Gunner

"A bomber plane limps home from a dangerous mission and the wounded pilots recounts, in dramatic flashbacks, the story of one soldier's bravery. Sworn rivals in civilian life, Sgt. Davis (Richard Arlen) and 'Foxy' Pattis (Chester Morris) are shot down behind enemy lines. Surrounded by hostile Japanese troops, they must put aside their deep hatred of one another in order to survive. Featuring convincing aerial dogfight footage and authoritative performances by Morris and Arlen, this wartime propaganda extravaganza depicts men facing certain death roused to a higher calling," say the good folks at Alpha Video.

Popular "Henry Aldrich" series star Jimmy Lydon (as Sanford "Sandy" Lunt) makes a good dramatic impression. Playing Mr. Lydon's sister, attractive Amelita "Lita" Ward (as Peggy) makes her film debut; her second film co-starred William "Billy" Benedict (who is featured herein as a sleepy private) and future husband Leo Gorcey. Dependable Dick Purcell (as "Gadget") has the best comic relief scenes. Rugged Robert Mitchum receives special billing on present purchases of "Aerial Gunner" but appears very briefly (it is a speaking part, though). At least one of the fun bit and supporting players became Superman.

***** Aerial Gunner (3/20/43) William H. Pine ~ Chester Morris, Richard Arlen, Jimmy Lydon, Amelita Ward

Hollywood during World War II was slightly schizophrenic as it alternated releasing escapist movies that allowed theater-goers to momentarily forget about the war and patriotic "B" films that reminded all of the continuing threat and the cost of fighting.

"Aerial Gunner" is in the latter category, reflecting Tinseltown's desire to showcase every branch of the service and virtually every specialty (no film that I can recall honored the Graves Registration units nor were black contributions to victory the subject of main features. I wonder why.).

"Aerial Gunner" deals with - aerial gunners, those enlisted men whose skill with machine guns in swerving aircraft under furious attack often made the difference between getting back to base or going down in flames.

The government generously supported these film projects and in this movie the producer, director and cast were given not only stock footage but also a base, hundreds of servicemen as extras and planes to film.

Ex-New York City assistant district attorney John Davis (Richard Arlen) was quite hated before the war by Coney Island barker "Foxy" Pattis for prosecuting his dad, leading to the old man killing himself. Big surprise, both men wind up at aerial gunnery school where SGT Pattis is SGT Davis's instructor. And he's determined to wash the lawyer out. Real original plot.

But then the scriptwriter came up with something truly novel. Both Pattis and Davis fall in love with the same girl, Peggy Lunt, played by Lita Ward. I don't think this had ever been done before in a war movie.

Pattis and Davis are sort of reconciled and, somehow, both wind up in the same unit in the Pacific where Pattis has become both an officer and a pilot (beyond highly unlikely for a noncom who graduated aerial gunnery school).

The rest of the drama is predictable. "Aerial Gunner" offers hefty shots of patriotism and reminds all that Americans make great sacrifices at the front.

What truly enraged me, and I'm sure will infuriate other viewers, was the scene when a gunner calls out that Japanese Zeros were attacking and there immediately is shown a single-engine monoplane with FIXED landing gear. Is there an American kid today who doesn't know that the vaunted Mitsubishi fighter had retractable gear?

5/10 (but it does recapture a time in which movies made the war more immediate and, dare I say it, entertaining).

... It's 1943 and just about every film made that year involved some aspect of WWII. Even an MGM short about the weather called "Storm" hearkened back to that conflict. But I digress.

This low-budget war picture concerns airmen training to be tail gunners in bomber planes. Sgt. Foxy Pattis (Chester Morris) and Sgt. Jon Davis (Richard Arlen) have bad blood going back to before their military service, and things only get worse during the pressure of training. Can these two put their grudges aside in order to make the grade and become tail gunners?

This is corny and cliched, and the threadbare budget shows through quite often. The performances from Morris and Arlen are simply adequate, while young Jimmy Lydon gets to overdo it quite a bit as an emotionally-fragile recruit. Robert Mitchum has about three lines and shows up in one scene. This was one of nineteen movies in which he appeared in 1943, his debut year in pictures.

It is a propaganda war drama shot in 1943. There is romance, action, and nothing special besides that. Chester Morris and Richard Arlen are both worth the watch. Not a rare film though but that doesn't justify not to try it. If you are a gem digger, you should watch it. I don't know the director, never heard of him, but this film is really entertaining and brings however a good ending, in the pure tradition of those years or fight and sacrifice. Yes, a good light hearted propaganda feature to help audiences to forget the horrors of war or at least watch them in a smooth way. Good little film. I recommend it.

After making his screen debut, Robert Mitchum continued to fill our screens by appearing in this film. He's probably eye-candy for a female American audience, or a Western audience who thought all American were tall and broad shouldered like him. There isn't much range in his acting and he doesn't take you by surprise.