A Guy Named Joe

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

YOUR RATING

Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne in A Guy Named Joe (1943)

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Supernatural Fantasy Drama Fantasy Romance War

A dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite ... Read allA dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory.A dead World War II bomber pilot, Pete Sandidge becomes the guardian angel of another pilot, Ted Randall. He guides Ted through battle and helping him to romance his old girlfriend, despite her excessive devotion to Sandidge's memory.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.9/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 nominations total

James J. Rourke
(as Don De Fore)

Charles Smith

Sanderson

Addison Richards

Maj. Corbett

Kirk Alyn

Officer in Heaven
(uncredited)

Bill Arthur

Cadet
(uncredited)

Martin Ashe

Sergeant in Chinese Restaurant
(uncredited)

George Atkinson

Waiter
(uncredited)

Irving Bacon

Cpl. Henderson
(uncredited)

Dora Baker

Charwoman
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
A Guy Named Joe (1943) was reportedly director Steven Spielberg's favorite and remade by him in 1989. Spielberg's film, entitled Always (1989), starred Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and Brad Johnson in the principal roles, as the same Pete Sandich, Durinda Durston and Al Yackey. The characters of "Ted" and "Nails" were also included. The setting of that film was updated to the present and centered on the activities of forest fire-fighting pilots. Spielberg also included a clip from 'A Guy Named Joe' in his film Poltergeist (1982).

Goofs
Late in the movie Dorinda (Irene Dunne) is wearing the uniform of a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP), apparently still ferrying airplanes. However, WASPs never ferried planes to overseas locations, especially combat areas such as New Guinea, which is in the Southwest Pacific. Earlier in the movie she is in England; however, she was wearing a British uniform and women regularly ferried planes there and even encountered combat conditions.

Quotes
The General: No man is really dead unless he breaks faith with the future, and no man is really alive unless he accepts his responsibility to it.

Crazy credits
The film ends with the following written inscription: "To Families and Friends of Men and Women in Our Armed Forces. The picture you have just seen is being shown in combat areas overseas with the compliments of the American Motion Picture Industry."

Connections
Featured in MGM Parade: Episode #1.10 (1955)

Soundtracks
The Army Air Corps Song
(uncredited)
Written by Robert Crawford
Played during the opening credits and partially sung by an off-screen male chorus
Played as background music often and at the end

User reviews42

Review

Featured review

Interesting comparison with "Always" by Spielberg.

As many viewers I saw "Always", actually several times, before I even learned about "A Guy Named Joe." It is factual that the later film was a remake of the earlier one, but being in more modern times a significant story difference was depicted. I have no reason to compare the two against each other, for each one is a fine film on its own.

Set in WW II England, "A Guy Named Joe" gets its title from a comment made by one of the British children waiting to talk to Pete after one of his bombing runs over Germany. He told one of the other children, "that's what all American soldiers are called, guys named Joe." There was no actual character named Joe in the film.

I had never seen Spencer Tracy in his prime, and he was quite a handsome actor. Now I understand why he was so popular. He plays Pete, the pilot who takes unapproved chances to get difficult jobs done. In "Always", Dryfuss as Pete does the same for putting out forest fires. In both films Pete dies during a heroic mission and in heaven is sent to help a novice pilot, who ends up romancing his old girlfriend, Drinda.

I understand that at least one viewer who was in WW II thinks this is not a very good or realistic film. Maybe not, but it is still entertaining, and for me interesting to see a film made the year before I was born. Worth seeking out, for anyone who also enjoyed "Always" to see where it came from. Two different films from two different times, both excellent.