Escadrille Panthère

One look at the opening of this movie lets you know thta is not the work of MGM boss Louis B Mayer but his replacement Dore Schary whose job was to cut costs and make profits which MGM had stopped doing, leading in grosses but last in profits. Schary brought his penchant for reality with him starting with Battleground and once more here again. The star of the first is the star of the latter and by that I mean Van Johnson. This movie is about the Korean war which in the movie is referred to as a police action because an official war was never declared. True story taken from the Saturday Evening Post tells the tale of bomber planes on a Naval tanker during the war. It is very matter of fact with little plot but the lives of the men and their difficulty destroying a rail track that just seems to get rebuilt every time. Walter Pidgeon provides good support as the commander and everyone else is just fine and a thirty minute rescue scene is so impressive, it makes you wonder if this people had not been watching the Europen movies; the droll delivery, the spacial pacing, the voice over that is a third character, the actual footage of attacks because any attack or firing is actual footage. Fine movie all around that needs to be seen by more.

If you don't mind mid-fifties melodrama, there's a whole lot of good action, suspense, and some nice, patriotic touches in Men of the Fighting Lady, an 80 minute long recruitment poster for being a fighter-bomber pilot, especially in an unpopular war. There's actually so much as-realistic-as-you-can-get-for-1954 action in the movie that the human element almost trips up the gun-camera footage of things being strafed and napalmed.

Yet, even if you find the talk-talk irritating (I didn't because it rang true), you can't dismiss the home movie sent to the air group on the carrier for Christmas or the blinded Panther pilot fumbling with a morphine syringe, trying to drive back the pain of his injuries so he can listen to his wingman talk him down.

I'd tune in the next time Turner Classic Movies shows Men of the Fighting Lady, and even if you don't believe in the Iraq War, you'll really get a taste of the flesh and blood reality of being a carrier pilot, dropping ordnance on things that don't seem particularly important to blow up.

Author James A. Michener visits the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany during the Korean War. He is tasked to write the crew's Christmas story. He is brought to flight surgeon Kent Dowling who recounts the story.

Released a year after the war, this is adapted from a magazine story by Michener. The use of the real thing and some real footage helps heighten the intensity. Seeing the real thing is fascinating even all these years later. Seeing the real bombing runs must have been compelling back in the day. I do remember the plane explosive crash on the carrier deck from somewhere else. I wonder if this is where it came from. Otherwise, the story is simple and the characters don't really stand out. These are good character actors and they do a solid job. As for the climatic story, it's just not that dramatic. The drama is concentrated on the landing and it's not that in doubt.

Surprisingly enough, most of the action scenes were from real wartime footage which is incorporated very well, its reality adds to the suspense instead of subtracting. The fact that James Michener is one of the characters makes it more interesting, but there's just too much talk about bravery and duty to make this film really shine. Well worth watching, good stars, but not above the routine.

A thirty-ish Van Johnson as Lt. Howard Thayer is excellent in his talk-talk scenes with the blinded pilot, his friend Ken. Johnson's character is confined in the fighter pilot's seat, encased in flight gear and helmet, with the actor having only his voice and facial expressions to convey his depth of concern. The flying sequences have been very positively reviewed by veterans on a fighter pilots information sharing website, Korean War veterans sharing website, and military movie catalog website; always noted to be realistic. Actors dialog in the talk-down scene was transcribed from the actual pilots radio transmissions, with very few exceptions (actual is posted online). Bombing scenes are actual, but not graphic compared to modern special effects scenes. Should not be disturbing to younger viewers. Not a celebration of war, this film deals with loss of pilots lives, it's effect on friends and family. Touching but not soapy or sorrowful. The film has variety of action, and keeps moving along well. Noted to be the best Korean War action film, and Carrier film ever produced.