Flight Command

Great aerial action courtesy of stunt director Paul Mantz and Wally and Ruth are always welcome presences if only to get the ratty, tatty taste of Bob Taylor out of one's mouth. Otherwise this is one of auteurists' darling Frank Borzage's many lesser efforts. C plus. PS...Best non flying scene of this 1940 film for me was the one set at the commandant's house when the fliers are invited over for card games and cups of tea. Talk about your prewar innocence!

The script is so full of stilted military jargon and rah rah 'Murcia tripe that it's distracting. Yes, I'm aware of what was going on in the world in 1940 and Hollywood had to sell tickets, but this one is ridiculous. Walter Pidgeon is just awful in his role; he appears to be consciously "acting" in almost every scene. The speech he has to deliver (script) to "Pensacola" (Taylor) when he hands in his resignation is laughable, just like his "keep the flag flying" garbage that he pukes to his wife. Taylor and Hussey never became bigger stars due to their own limitations. Neither are very convincing as actual people. Good patriotic score from Waxman.

'Flight Command' may not be the type of film that would be typically seen on a regular basis by me, but the story did sound really interesting and there are films that have similar subjects that are very good. Frank Borzage was also a very gifted director, though 'Flight Command' is more serious than what was usually characteristic of him. The cast are similarly talented, have always liked Walter Pidgeon especially and one of the interest points was seeing Red Skelton in his second film. Seeing 'Flight Command', it struck me as a very good and overlooked film with many truly great things. Not a masterpiece by all means or perfect, though actually flaws are few. It is a good example of somebody doing something different doing it well (with Borzage actually seeming at ease with a serious story), which is great considering that there have been a lot of misfires when people step out of their comfort zone (i.e. Sidney Lumet with 'The Wiz', as an at the top of my head example). There really isn't that much wrong at all here in 'Flight Command'. It is routine at times, the ideas here are not novel even for back then and are executed more than dependably if lacking in freshness. Did think too that Skelton had too little to do, meaning that he doesn't really register in a role that doesn't play to his strengths, and felt out of place. Borzage's direction though is professional and as said he doesn't seem uncomfortable with the material and engages with it. The acting is very good, with Robert Taylor's sincerity being quite touching here and Pidgeon plays the type of role that he always did beautifully and better than most at the time with a lot of authority and dignity. The biggest revelation for me though was Ruth Hussey in one of her best performances, one of her meatiest character played with intense poignancy. While the script is not extraordinary, it is still very solid and honestly written with characters that may be cliched but are worth investing in. What are extraordinary are the truly impressive special effects and the exciting flying sequences, staged with much tension and emotion. 'Flight Command' is well made visually, especially good in the flying sequences, and beautifully photographed. The story does have a good deal going on and did risk being over-crowded and bloated, but the way the subject is handled has much sincerity and packs an emotional wallop. While not being dreary or taking itself overly seriously. Overall, didn't completely bowl me over and was actually still very impressed. 8/10

A pre-World War II melodrama starring Robert Taylor as an ensign dubbed "Pensacola", the Navy's flight school location, by the seasoned "Hell Cat" pilots who land on aircraft carriers. Walter Pidgeon plays the squadron's commander who's too busy for his wife (Ruth Hussey) such that one of his lieutenants (Shepperd Strudwick) keeps her company. But this lieutenant dies after his invention to enable pilots to land in the fog fails and his plane crashes. When Pensacola fills the vacancy left next to the commander's wife, suddenly the other pilots (Paul Kelly, Red Skelton, Dick Purcell, etc.) have a problem with the arrangement. But Pensacola's ability to fix the fog device (with help from Nat Pendleton's character) and his later associated heroics redeem him in the end. The film, which features primitive yet Academy Award nominated Special Effects, was directed and co-produced by Frank Borzage (with J. Walter Ruben), and written by Harvey S. Haislip and Wells Root. The lovely Marsha Hunt appears as a Southern Belle who entertains some of the pilots; Lee Tung Foo and John Hamilton are among those who appear uncredited.

Ensign Alan Drake (Robert Taylor) joins the Hellcats Squadron in the early days of the war. Bill Gary (Walter Pidgeon) is his squadron commander and Lorna (Ruth Hussey) is his beautiful wife. This is one of the first Hollywood military movies after Pearl Harbor. It also follows the long tradition of adding an unnecessary melodramatic romance into a war movie. There are some interesting flying sequences but they are flying biplanes. There is an aircraft carrier. I rather they go to war sooner and skip the melodrama. It's just wasting time with the boring love entanglement.

Pretty good movie. I'm watching a bunch of war movies on TCM, as of December 7th. They did not have an affair....they were just friends. He was keeping her busy and happy after her friend die in an air accident. He knew she was married and didn't do anything to jeopardize her marriage. This was all in her mind even before she meets Pensacola. She doesn't say anything about him when she tells her husband she's leaving. She was very upset and depressed after Banning died and her husband wasn't around to comfort and console her. Drake was just spending time with her when she was trying to isolate herself. Men and women don't have to be having an affair to spend time together. He would have stayed away if her husband wasn't away; he was being a friend!

Lots of fun. Wells Root and Commander Harvey Haislip penned this screenplay from an original story Haislip also co-authored about an eager Naval Flight School cadet (Robert Taylor) in Pensacola flying solo out to Southern California to join Hellcat Fighters who have just lost one of their beloved teammates; he makes a colorful entrance (having to ditch his plane and parachute into the ocean because of fog!) and finds an early friend in a somewhat-emotional woman...the Skipper's wife! Camaraderie between the pilots on the ground is enjoyably written and played, with Taylor's charming self-assurance an interesting dynamic within the group (he isn't cocky, he's careful--though anxious to fit in). Subplot with Ruth Hussey's lonesome wife is soapy yet surprisingly skillful, while the aerial maneuvers are nicely photographed. An extra bonus: Red Skelton as a joshing lieutenant...and Walter Pidgeon looking younger than I have ever seen him. **1/2 from ****

I kind of enjoyed most of it. Robert Taylor, freshly out of Navy flight school at Pensicola, is assigned to the famous Hellcat fighting squadron in San Diego. He's an eager young boot. Like most, he tries too hard at first and receives various reprimands. When one of his mates is killed in a flying accident, Taylor tries innocently to comfort his buddy's sister, Hussey -- who happens to be the wife of the Hellcats' commander, Walter Pidgeon. The other Hellcats can't help but notice that Taylor is squiring around the commander's wife. He does things like fly her around upside down. It looks more than ordinarily suspicious because Pidgeon is conveniently off somewhere on duty. The other Hellcats get ideas and give Taylor an even rougher time. In a high dudgeon, Taylor initiates his resignation from the Navy. Well, things look pretty gloomy. Taylor and Hussey are guilty of nothing but Hussey has been made to question the kind of relationship she has with Pidgeon. ("Keep the flag flying," he always tells her.) And Taylor is being what the Old Order Amish call "shunned." This is 1940 and not yet wartime, but the moment has come for Taylor to perform some heroic deed and prove himself -- his flying skills and his moral stature -- in the eyes of his comrades. He does so. The triad of Pidgeon, Hussey, and Taylor is more textured and nuanced than it usually is in these routine stories. Hussey and Taylor, with a little less effort, could have fallen in love. That would require Pidgeon to die a hero's death. But Hussey and Taylor DON'T fall for each other, and the marital relationship is subject to some subtle questioning that almost resembles real life. The flying scenes, and there are three or four big ones, are exciting. They cry out for color. The pre-war paint schemes on these airplanes were really exuberant -- bright yellows, reds, and greens. When war came they got rid of the flamboyance and gave them colors with names like "sea gray" and "dull blue." A terrible loss. And you ought to see these stubby little biplanes. They're Grumman F-3-Fs. They're as unstable as inverted pendulums and they wobble all over the place when they fly in formation off the San Diego coast. The film misrepresents them slightly. They were armed with one .50 caliber and one .30 caliber forward-firing machine guns, whereas the movie gives them two guns of the same size. And when the aviators talk about "cruising at 350 miles an hour" they're dreaming. Two fifty was about it. Ugly suckers, they were quickly replaced by Grumman's single-wing Wildcat, and a good thing too. The performances are about what you'd expect in a more or less routine story about pilots, love, and the challenge of flight. No one stands out, except maybe Walter Pidgeon who, as always, stands out for not standing out. He always reminds me of some iron statue in the park. That's not necessarily bad. We need statues. Red Skelton is in the cast but has little to do. Paul Kelly, as "Dusty" Rhodes, is on hand to provide intensity.

Robert Taylor plays a flier assigned to the famous "Hell Cats" in "Flight Command" from 1940. Taylor plays Alan Drake, who excitedly joins the Hell Cats and then realizes he has a lot to learn from his commander, Billy Gary (Walter Pidgeon) - Alan met Billy's wife Lorna when he landed off-course en route to join the Hell Cats. Though he feels left out by the guys, he finds acceptance at a party given at Billy's and Lorna's (Ruth Hussey) house and blends in well. He helps Billy's brother-in-law Jerry (Shepperd Strudwick) with a device he's working on that allows one to fly in the fog; unfortunately, Jerry is killed testing the device, leaving his sister Lorna devastated. While Billy is out of town, Alan does what he can to cheer Lorna up. She starts to fall for him, and in a panic, she leaves Billy. The Hell Cats assume that Alan is having an affair with her and turn on him. Pretty routine with some wonderful flying sequences and some lovely performances, particularly from Pidgeon and Hussey. Strudwick, a young man here, was a Broadway actor who went on to continue on Broadway and also prime time television and soap operas, best remembered as Victor Lord in One Life to Live. He gives an energetic performance. Taylor is handsome and debonair and does a good job as Alan. He was a solid actor, not given to introspection, and capable of better work than he was often given. He loved being at MGM, took the pathetic money the studio gave him (he was supposedly the lowest paid contract player in history), and played whatever parts he was handed. The parts got better after the war. We lost so many of these leading men way too young, thanks to the habit of smoking. Taylor was a three-pack-a-day man who died at the age of 57. Pretty good, nice performances, great effects for 1940.

ROBERT TAYLOR plays a cocky air cadet who must prove to his commander and teammates that he's really a good guy when their perception of him is unclear due to a few plot circumstances. WALTER PIDGEON plays the commander with his usual poise and elegance, smoothly mature as the husband of RUTH HUSSEY. Hussey has never had a better share of close-ups but her role is really peripheral to the main story of camaraderie among the men. Frank Borzage has directed with a good eye for the aerial sequences during the period just before WWII. Carriers with planes landing on them and various formations while on maneuvers are all well photographed and realistically presented. Taylor gives an admirable performance in the kind of role that would have gone to John Payne if the film had been made at Fox. His subtle awareness of how the men perceive him (after a misunderstanding) shows that he was capable of being more than just a pretty face. Although well done and enjoyable to watch, the script prevents it from being anything more than a routine aerial film with some nice touches.