Aviation Movies

[Guest]

Brrrr.nasty nip in the air this mornin` ....Tora Tora Tora !

[Guest]

" The Right Stuff " ( training astronauts, Chuck Yeager types) and " Black Sheep Squadron" (Pappy Boyington`s mob, Corsairs in Pacific). George Peppard again " Operation Crossbow", (looking for doodle-bug sites). How could we forget "Memphis Belle" :shoot:

[Guest]

Blimey! You lot're working overtime!

Nip in the air, hehehee!

Got Pappy Boyingtons book - bored me to death, never finished it.

Dyareckon Apollo 13 could get in?

Anyway, all added.

[Guest]

Just put the list in alphabetical order to make it easier when you check if a film is already on the list.

[Guest]

What was the one where a bunch of convicts hi-jack the plane transporting them from one jail to another? Very violent.

[Guest]

Ah yes! My son adores that film for some perverse reason. It's got Nicholas Cage starring and wotsisname Malcovich and is called Con Air.

Added to list.

[Guest]

My daughter says little girl with geese and microlights MAY be called "Fly Me Back Home" or very similar. Was it a Disney movie?:noidea:

[Guest]

If you are into older movies how about "A Guy Named Joe" made in 1943 with Van Johnson and Spencer Tracy. Anbout a rookie fighter pilot inspired by a ghostly tracy who died in combat. Has a lot of good P-38 footage.

Then there was "Above and Beyond" 1953 supposedly the story of Paul Tibbets and the 'Enola Gay". Excellent stock footage of the Enola Gay but not much action flying.

Next under "A" might be "Aerial Gunner" a B grade wartime movie with Ricahrd Arlen about training air gunners. Some scenes of T-6, T-11s and Hudsons.

Last for this post is "Air Force" made in 1943. Directed by Howard Hawks its a flag waving film about the first flight of B-17s to arrive over Hawaii during the pearl harbour attack. Excellent B-17D action with T-6s doing the honours (again) as Zeros.

I'll give you some more later.

[Guest]

Missing titles for:

Talking of Cary Grant, what's that one where he's chased around in the corn by a crop spraying Stearman (I think)? :dontknow:

Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"

[Guest]

Some more old movies:

"Air Strike" (1955) Navy commander tries to molud his squadron. More like a recruiting film for thr U.S.Navy!

"Appointment in London" (1955) starring Dirk Bogarde.Realistic story about Bomber Command in 1943. Good Lancaster footage.

"The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) Fred March and Dana Andrews. Not a flying film but contains some great scenes of B-17s and P-40s awaiting scrapping at Chino. Enough to make grown men weep (especially at today's prices for these aircraft)

"Battle Hymn" (1957) Rock hudson. Korean War movie about a pilot who bombs an orphanage by mistake and then looks after the kids afterwards. Based on true story of Dean Hess. Lots of good Korean War P-51 footage.

"Breaking The Sound Barrier" (1947) Fictionalized story line of the de Havilland family. Excellent flying of early Hunters and Comets.

"Big Lift"(1950) Montgomery Clift. Berlin Air Lift and romance. Good stock USAF footage of air to air C-54s and C-47s.

"Bombardier" (1943) Randolph Scott. Typical ww II story about trining failed pilot trainees to become bomb aimers. Worth watching to see the B-18s flying. Good AT-11s too.

More later.

[Guest]

thats a fair list you are building there kiwi !!

i`m afraid i ran out of ideas weeks ago lol

i`ll put it down to my "young age"

[Guest]

Ok then, here's some more from my list:

"Bridges at Toko-Ri "(1954) William Holden,Grace Kelly and Mickey Rooney. Korean war epic, model work on the bridge explosions could be better but lots of superb carrier action with lots of F-9f Panthers. The attack scene down the ravine was the inspiration for George Lucas' Death Star attack scene in the original "Star Wars"

Definitely worth staying up late for.

"Canyon Crossroads" (1955) Made in Utah with one of the first good guy/bad guy helicopter chase scenes with early Bell 47s

"Captain Eddie" (1945) Fred MacMurray and Lloyd Nolan. Eddie Rickenbackers life story told in flashbacks after his survival on a raft after a wartime ditching in the Pacific. Good flying shots of Spads but a "flat" movie.

"Ceiling Zero" (1934) James Cagney. Lots of old aircraft, not a bad story or acting either (which makes a change from some old movies)

"Captains of the Clouds" (1942) James Cagney A wise guy American bush pilot who joins the RCAF , gets his cockiness taken out of him and eventually becomes a hero. Footage of Hudsons, Harvards and bush planes.

"Catch 22" (1970)A real dog of a movie, only worth watching for the B-25 scenes, the rest is just about incomprehensable.Made in Mexico.

"China Clipper" (1936) Humphrey Bogart God Story of the first Pan Am Clipper to the Orient. Good factual drama, worth watching for to see the old flying boats. First aviation movie made without a crash scene.

"Command Decision" (1948) Clark Gable, Van Johnson Excellent movie, good dialogue. Full of B-17s

"Court Martial of Billy Mitchell" (1955) Gary Cooper, Rod Stieger. Fascinating story, not too much flying, more on the aspects of the trial. Chance to see some authentic OX-5 Jennies, DH-4s

I'll start on the "D"s later. Keep scouring those late night shows in the mean time.

And the movie about Mosquitos in Burma? That was "The Purple Plain" made in 1955 with Gregory Peck, he crashes one after an engine fire and walks back to civilization

[Guest]

Heres a few more to fill in some of the gaps in my list so far

"Air Cadet" (1951) Rock Hudson Usual plot about pilot training.

"Air Mail" (1932) Actors I've never heard of but lots of period aircraft.

"Amelia Earhart" (1976) Susan Clark and on the same theme

"Amelia Earhart- The Final Flight" (1994) Diane Keaton.

"Angels One Five" (1954) with Jack Hawkins as a Hurricane pilot . This was the first film that I remember my dad taking me to see. Can't rememeber any of the film though.

"Bat 21" (1980) Viet Nam story about an intelligence staff officer (Gene Hackman) shot down in a B-66 (or A3-D?) who is guided out by a Bird Dog pilot(Danny Glover)

"Bombers B-52" (1957) Efrem Zimbalist jnr and Natalie Wood. Lots of earlier Jets flying scenes.

"Devil Dogs Of The Air"(1935) James Cagney as a cocky stunt flier who joins the Marine Corps. C3B Stearman, Boeing F4B-4 Travelair 4000. A classic.

"Dive Bomber" (1941) Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray. pre Pearl Harbour helmet and goggles, white scarf stuff. early Vought dive bombers and Grumman F3Fs

[Guest]

"They Flew Alone" was on BBC daytime last week. (Amy Johnson and Jim Mollison).

[Guest]

Here is a few more from my list of Aviation Movies, be warned, some are pretty old but you might catch them if a channel runs a "James Cagney Season" or (or John Wayne or similar sorts of series).

"Dragonfly Squadron" (1954) USAF Major sent to train South Koreans, unless you are a big Stinson L-5 fan don't bother with this one.

"Dr Satan's Robot" (1940) Eduardo Cianelli, Errol Flynn. Full length version of an early serial. Earns a listing fot the early Stinsons and Ryan ST

"Eagle And The Hawk" (1933) Cary Grant, Carole Lombard, If you can get to see this one - do so. Story of an observer squadron in WW1. Plenty of DH-4s, Travelairs and Wacos dressed up to look like Fokkers

"Eagle Squadron" (1942) Robert Stack, Eddie Albert. Fair story about Americans in the RAF. Plenty of Spitfires and Hurricanes but the 109s had to be faked.

"Fate Is The Hunter" (1964) Glenn Ford, Rod Taylor, Susanne Pleshette. Not as good as the book, Has a C-54 masquerading as a jet! Little real flying, mainly done in the studio.

"Fighter Squadron" (1948) Robert Stack, Edmund O'Brien Good story about the value of low level attacks,probably the only P-47 footage apart from newsreel with P-51s painted up as the baddies. Good action with inter-cutting of wartime gun camera footage.

"Flat Top" (1952) Sterling Haydyn,Richard Carlson. Saga of carrier training done in the usual "B" flick style of using stock wartime footage to keep the action going.

"Flight From Asiya" (1964) Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, George Chakaris. Story of USAF Rescue Service that falls flat with too many flashbacks and sub-plots SA-16s and H-19s are good but poor miniature effects make it ho-hum.

"Flight Command" (1940) Robet Taylor, Walter Pidgeon. Thin plot about naval aviation with an overworked love story. Redeeming factor is lots of great footage of the early Grumman F-3F biplanes.

"Flight Commander" (1930) Douglas Fairbanks, This is the first 'Dawn Patrol' with Fairbanks playing the part that Errol Flynn did later, script is identical too. Most of 'Dawn Patrol's' flying shots originated in this inferior flick.

"Foreign Correspondent" (1940) Joel McCrea, more of a spy film rather than a flying film but the crash scene of a Boeing Clipper is one of the best ever.

"Flying Tigers" (1942) John Wayne Not an actual P-40 was used in the movie. All were made at paramount from wood with car engines, Some actual AVG footage use and that good old standby, the Capelis XC 12 with its biplane tail.

I'll do the "Gs" later, happy viewing.

Nev