There’s no question that Air Force is sheer propaganda — we were in the midst of fighting World War II, a war we couldn’t afford to lose, not only for ourselves, but for the world as a whole — and so the film is brutal, racist, and full of the anger and violence of combat. But it’s also a compelling document of a nation at war, ready to fight to the finish, and of the Hawksian ethos of personal responsibility, professionalism, comradeship, and shared sacrifice. The film’s plot mirrors the beginning of the war: the Mary Ann, a B-17 Flying Fortress, takes off from California for Hawaii on a routine training flight on December 6, 1941. En route, they learn of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Subsequently the crew mans the Mary Ann through action at Wake Island, the Philippines, and the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Impeccably photographed mixing nearly undetectable — for the period — miniature work with actual combat photography, Air Force is, along with Lloyd Bacon, Raoul Walsh and Byron Haskin’s wartime submarine drama Action in the North Atlantic (also 1943) — one of the greatest films to come out World War II from Hollywood, and one that, even today, in the naturalistic performances of John Garfield, John Ridgely (usually cast as a second lead), Harry Carey, Gig Young and the other players, holds both one’s attention, and remains a compelling drama of exactly what it takes to win a war — blood, sweat, and tears. There are some sentimental moments, and the entire film is shot through with flag waving moments that may make some uncomfortable, but as a document of the time and the era, it remains unmatched, and is yet another example of Hawks’ superb craftsmanship as a director, no matter what the genre.
Tags: Action in the North Atlantic, Air Force, Gig Young, Harry Carey, Howard Hawks, John Garfield, John Ridgely, Raoul Walsh, World War II films
