Aerial Gunner

• Continuity: When the Japanese fighters attack the bomber, we can clearly see that there are five of them. Foxie also confirms there are five enemy planes, and the planes are counted during the attack as they are shot down by the gunners. But when we cut to a close-up of the Japanese pilot, more than five planes can be seen on the far side of his fighter.

2) I rented this and another latter-day Chester Morris vehicle – GAMBLER'SCHOICE (1944) – on the strength of his vintage work in the Pre-CodeRED-HEADED WOMAN (1932) which I have recently watched. As denoted bythe title, the film is a Grade-B war flick indistinguishable from thecontemporary spate of routine efforts – other than by the fact that itstwo leads (Morris and Richard Arlen) were way past their prime! It wasquite cringe-inducing to see men obviously in their forties act like acouple of schoolboys, by outwitting one another in an attempt to win adate with the much younger leading lady!

Otherwise, it offers nothing new but is also, essentially, painless tosit through: Morris and Arlen bear a lifelong grudge against oneanother, so the former obviously picks on him when the latter enlistsand finds out that Morris is his superior officer! Eventually, thetables are turned and Morris is demoted – for unwittingly causing thedeath of the brother (who was driven to prove himself) of the girl bothMorris and Arlen are in love with…but, in a surprisingly good climax,Morris ultimately atones for this by sacrificing his life fighting theJaps (when the plane he and Arlen are flying on is downed), thus alsopaving the way to romance for Arlen. AERIAL GUNNER also marks one ofthe first appearances of Robert Mitchum in a brief role as thecommanding officer of Morris' rival squad of gunners.

3) I had never even heard of this movie, but I bought the DVD because myfather-in-law was a WWII aerial gunner on B-17s in Europe and I'd justrecently begun getting him to tell his stories onto audiotape forposterity. I thought that this might add to my knowledge of what he hadexperienced.

Based on my father-in-law's first hand accounts, I can tell you thatthe aerial gunnery school sequences in this film are relatively closeto what the training was like. (For example, they really did make themassemble a 50 caliber machine gun while blind-folded.) However, thecombat/action sequences at the climax of this film miss the mark by amile.

I'd recommend this film to you if you are a fan of Robert Mitchum andwant to see one of his early (uncredited), bit-part roles.

I'd also recommend this film to any fans of Jimmy Lydon, who starred as"Henry Aldrich" in the many "Henry Aldrich" films of the 1940's. UnlikeMitchum, Lydon has a large dramatic role in this picture and since thiswas filmed during the same era as the Aldrich movies, you could havegiven this film the alternate title "Henry Aldrich Goes to War".

Unfortunately, sub-par writing, acting, directing, and budget allcontribute to the anemic quality of this film. If you're looking for aWWII story with real entertainment value, stick to the period piecesstarring John Wayne. I'm giving this film 4 stars based on it'scuriosity value alone.

4) ***SPOILERS*** 1943 war movie involving two army men who knew eachother on the outside on different sides of the law. Having his fathersent away in prison where he later committed suicide Foxy Pattis,Chester Morris,had it in for the young assistant DA responsible for hisdads death Jon David, Richard Aplen. Davis joining the army after theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor surprisingly meets Foxie who turns outto be his instructor in aerial gunnery school at camp Hags Texas, youcan just imagine what happens next.

The movie actually begins when Davis, now a lieutenant in theUSAAF,flies his disabled bomber back to the American lines in thePacific. Badly wounded with almost all his crew-mates, with theexception of Pvt. "Gadget" Blaine (Dick Purcel), dead Davis goes into along monologue about what happened From that point on we get the storyabout Foxie's courage under fire and how both David & Blaine owe theirlives to him.

We get the usual war story, from Davis, about him having all kinds oftrouble with Foxie, who does everything to wash him out of GunnerySchool, at Hags and the added attraction of both Foxie and Davis vyingfor the love of Peggy Lunt, Amelita Ward. It turns out that Peggy'sbrother the quite and sensitive Pvt. Sandy Lunt, Jimmy Lyndon,is alsoat Gunnery School and is in Foxie's class. Sandy panic-stricken atshooting his off tail-gun at the school's qualifying finals is given asecond chance by the understanding Foxie. The next day Sandy afterhitting his target goes psycho and blows up his planes tail sectionsending it into a free fall and crashing into an empty field. Sandy isvisited by Foxie at the hospital and forgives the very guilty strickengunnery instructor for sending him up in the air to shoot off his gunand then suddenly expires.

The movie then moves to the Pacific Theater of War where we now seeDavis in charge of a bomber crew and guess who's his newest crewmember, Foxie! Not only is Davis reunited with Foxie but the samepeople at Hags who were instructed by Foxie in aerial gunnery schoolare members of Davis' crew, what are the odds of that happening!

Hated by everyone on the bomber crew for what he had to do with Sandy'sdeath which was really nothing at all since Sandy was determined to goup in the air, and how the hell did Foxie know that he'd blow himselfand his plane up. Foxie gets his big chance to redeem himself later inthe movie in a dog fight with a half dozen Japanese zeros in the airand well as a full company of Japanese troops on the ground. Foxieheroically ends up giving his life to save his fellow crew members whoboth hated and despised him.

Nothing really out of the ordinary here when it comes to war propagandafilms released by Hollywood during WWII. There's also a very young, andruggedly handsome, Robert Mitchum in a small part in the movie, playinga tail gunner, that makes "Aerial Gunner" something of a curiositypiece.

5) Hollywood during World War II was slightly schizophrenic as it alternatedreleasing escapist movies that allowed theater-goers to momentarily forgetabout the war and patriotic "B" films that reminded all of the continuingthreat and the cost of fighting.

"Aerial Gunner" is in the latter category, reflecting Tinseltown’s desire toshowcase every branch of the service and virtually every specialty (no filmthat I can recall honored the Graves Registration units nor were blackcontributions to victory the subject of main features. I wonderwhy.).

"Aerial Gunner" deals with – aerial gunners, those enlisted men whose skillwith machine guns in swerving aircraft under furious attack often made thedifference between getting back to base or going down inflames.

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

Ex-New York City assistant district attorney John Davis (Richard Arlen) wasquite hated before the war by Coney Island barker "Foxy" Pattis forprosecuting 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’sinstructor. And he’s determined to wash the lawyer out. Real originalplot.

But then the scriptwriter came up with something truly novel. Both Pattisand 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 thesame unit in the Pacific where Pattis has become both an officer and a pilot(beyond highly unlikely for a noncom who graduated aerial gunneryschool).

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

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

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

6) It conforms to all the conventions of its particular genre or rathercombination of two sub-genres: (1) the training camp movie, and (2) thewar movie. Two city guys grew up together but don't like each othermuch. The guy who turned out good is Richard Arlen. The guy who turnedsort of mean is Chester Morris. They both wind up in the Army Air Forcegunnery school in Texas. Both are sergeants but, by virtue of hishaving run a shooting gallery, Morris is an instructor and Arlen is oneof his dozen students.

It's kind of interesting watching the training regimen. The studentslearn to assemble machine guns blindfolded, shoot skeet, shoot at amoving target, and finally do some practice in the air at a targetsleeve being towed behind another airplane. I could never understandhow they could hit anything moving in three dimensions from a shootingplatform that was also moving in three dimensions. Imagine a formationof lumbering Flying Fortresses flying at 250 mph. being attacked by ahorde of Messerschmidts zipping around at 325 mph. Then put yourself inone of the gun turrets. It would be like trying to shoot a fly with abeebee gun while jumping on a trampoline.

As in all training camp movies, the two acquaintances have a beef overa local girl. And among the students there is the dummy, the washout,the weakling who gives it his best effort and dies trying.

Then it's overseas for a crack at those Japs. By this time, the goodRichard Arlen has become a commissioned officer and a pilot. The meanChester Morris is still a gunner. A bombing mission. They are attackedby five Japanese fighters after they've dropped their bombs.Rat-a-tat-tat. All the fighters are gone, but the Lockheed bomber isseriously shot up. Two men are dead, pilot Arlen is wounded, and "themotors are gone." (I have to insert here that they are called"engines", not "motors," and that Maxwell Shane, the writer, wasevidently not in the Air Force nor an engineer.) A landing on anisolated airstrip in Japanese territory while the mechanic repairs theengines and wounded Arlen gets patched up. They're almost done whenJapanese troops appear in the brush and start popping rifle shots intothe plane. Morris deplanes with his Tommy gun and mows them down,giving his life, while the others barely manage to escape.

It's not a bad movie, given its intent and its modest budget. ChesterMorris was a stalwart B-movie actor, a decent Boston Blackie. He's onlyof medium height but tough as hell. Morris always seems to be bitinghis lower lip and glowering. He puffs up his beefy chest, tucks hischin in, and struts around with his arms swinging manfully at his side,a kind of parodic masculinity. As an actor, Richard Arlen causes agreat big hole to appear wherever he is on the screen. The role of thebabe is perfunctory. Some of the supporting players can't act as wellas I can — and I can't act.

I don't think a heck of a lot of thought or effort went into thisquickie. At times it's almost painful to hear the corny dialog. Yetit's not without interest. It probably helps if you like airplanes butif you're looking for originality, look elsewhere.

7) After making his screen debut, Robert Mitchum continued to fill ourscreensby appearing in this film. He’s probably eye-candy for a female Americanaudience, or a Western audience who thought all American were tall andbroadshouldered like him. There isn’t much range in his acting and he doesn’ttake you by surprise.