Old Dude, OId Movies - "Bombadier"

I was dragging a bit on Monday, so I stayed in and watched a couple of movies I'd DVR'd. "Bombadier" was one of them.

Released in 1943, it's one of those World War II movies I like so much. Stars such as Pat O'Brien, Randoph Scott, Eddie Albert, Robert Ryan and Barton MacLane make it work.

Like a lot of movies in that era, it starts with an "alpha male" tug of war. Two opposing views, two stubborn guys, one problem to be solved.  The views revolve around relative merits of high-altitude bombing (doable with some top-secret bomb-sight doohicky) or dive bombing (conventional but hugely dangerous & not always accurate). The two stubborn guys are old flying buddies/rivals, "Maj 'Chick' Davis" (O'Brien) and "Captain 'Buck' Oliver" (Scott). The problem to be solved is improving bombing accuracy. Davis supports high-altitude bombing, which is yet to be proven. Oliver supports dive-bombing, but the Army Air Corps can't absorb the great losses of life and aircraft. A flying test is ordered, and the results push the rest of the movie.

The staff meeting in the opening scene hearkened back several memories of my time as a staff guy, listening to differing sides of an argument, hearing the passion and commitment from both sides of an issue.

Davis is quickly installed as commander of a start-up bombadier school. Influential generals have come on board supporting the need for this training with the new bomb-sight, and fully support a school to be set up at fictional Hughes Field in Almansor, New Mexico (think Kirtland Air Force Base, back in the early 1940s). The first class rolls in, and it's a typical cross-section of Americana (wise-guy city type, naive but earnest farm boy, shy guy who needs confidence, one ethnic type for comic relief, one guy destined to fail as example of how this endeavor is tough & dangerous). Davis pushes the class hard. He's gruff and distant, but is passionate about his mission. The class scenes reminded me of the days when I was navigator training. The flying training, board reviews and off-duty activities also were pretty cool reminders as well.

Given the era of the film's release, the bombing of Pearl Harbor was accessed as a transition point in the plot, ramping up the danger and purpose. How else do you "ops check" this secret bomb-sight capability except in wartime?

Anne Shirley is the female lead, "Burt", secretary to the commander and granddaughter of the field's namesake. She is contractually guaranteed a job supporting the field's leadership as long as it's open, and a romantic quadrangle immediately forms with her, Chick, Buck and one of the cadets ("Jim Carter", played by Walter Reed). She held her own in the picture, but this film wasn't much about the romance. It was about changing the culture of military bombing.

Flyers in uniform have to fight, so there is a scene where the training has to be challenged in the crucible of combat. Go get 'em, boys! Some live, some sadly die. All serve with honor. It is a feel-good film, no doubt.

I hadn't heard of it before, but I liked it. I probably won't go out of my way to buy it, but I'll watch it again when it's on.