Air force pilot Dennis Morgan desperately wants to get off the ground, and finds that even the most supposedly dull mission can turn into something dangerously exciting. Whether it's God in the copilot's seat with him or chaplain Alan Hale (Sr.), you know that when the mission he's praying for does strike, God will be with him, the point of many a bit of a war drama. Leading them with determination to complete their mission is veteran actor Philip Ahn as the Tokyo radio announcer harassing them in order to break their spirit.
"OK you Yankee Doodle Dandy's, come and get us!", one Japanese pilot (Richard Loo) roars, sounding a bit like Cagney as he refers to the flying tigers as gangsters. It's a clichéd premise of World War II that fills the script, perhaps not as subtle as some of the genuine war classics, but I can't imagine this giving thrills to the home-front and a few unintended laughs to post war audiences. Seeing this several times over the years, I forgot that this was the film that often documented line came from in dramatizing the war years.
So in spite of the clichés and obvious late war propaganda, this was a guaranteed crowd pleaser of its time, showing the Japanese as crafty but determined and equal as patriotic as the Americans, only less villainized than the Germans but equal as a foe. It has the Warner Brothers know how of technical excellence and a fine supporting cast including Andrea King as Morgan's wife, Raymond Massey as the commander and Dane Clark as one of the most determined of pilots. Little time is wasted for frivolity, making this direct and determined by its own mission. For a record of the war we hoped would end all wars, what else would you want?
"OK you Yankee Doodle Dandy's, come and get us!", one Japanese pilot (Richard Loo) roars, sounding a bit like Cagney as he refers to the flying tigers as gangsters. It's a clichéd premise of World War II that fills the script, perhaps not as subtle as some of the genuine war classics, but I can't imagine this giving thrills to the home-front and a few unintended laughs to post war audiences. Seeing this several times over the years, I forgot that this was the film that often documented line came from in dramatizing the war years.
So in spite of the clichés and obvious late war propaganda, this was a guaranteed crowd pleaser of its time, showing the Japanese as crafty but determined and equal as patriotic as the Americans, only less villainized than the Germans but equal as a foe. It has the Warner Brothers know how of technical excellence and a fine supporting cast including Andrea King as Morgan's wife, Raymond Massey as the commander and Dane Clark as one of the most determined of pilots. Little time is wasted for frivolity, making this direct and determined by its own mission. For a record of the war we hoped would end all wars, what else would you want?