Air Force (1943)

A movie from 1943 that covers Pearl Harbor and the early days of our involvement in World War II, focusing on one bomber (the “Mary Ann”) and its crew.  Even after extensive damage and a sentence of demolishment -- to keep anything usable out of Japanese hands -- the remaining crew works to repair it and get it airborne again.  There's a lot to like in the movie, but it relies too heavily on shortcuts in the "personality" department (e.g. "the soon-to-be-redeemed apathetic guy" the "angry at a recent loss guy" the "sad at a recent loss guy" and the "inspiring leader," to name a few).

Robert Osborne said that after the movie debuted, the Mary Ann was once again pressed into service and subsequently lost in battle -- which made it sound like this might be a true story. Huh? Really?

C+