Thunder Birds (1942)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (writer)
Darryl F. Zanuck (story)

Release Date:

19 October 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

Prestiged pilot takes young amateur under his wing, soon discovering he's falling head over heels for the woman he loves.

Plot Keywords:

Acrophobia

Cast

Gene Tierney	...	Kay Saunders
Preston Foster	...	Steve Britt
John Sutton	...	Peter Stackhouse
Jack Holt	...	Colonel 'Mac' MacDonald
Dame May Whitty	...	Lady Jane Stackhouse
George Barbier	...	Col. Cyrus P. 'Gramps' Saunders
Richard Haydn	...	George Lockwood
Reginald Denny	...	Barrett
Ted North	...	Cadet Hackzell
Janis Carter	...	Blonde
C. Montague Shaw	...	Doctor
Viola Moore	...	Nurse
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. Blake
Joyce Compton	...	Saleswoman
Bess Flowers	...	Nurse

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Quotes:

Peter Stackhouse: I hope you're not angry?
Kay Saunders: That you were interested in my legs? Why not at all. That's what they're there for.

Viewer likes Technicolor flying shots and delightful story line

A well done Technicolor story about flight training at Thunderbird Field, Arizona in 1942 at the height of WWII. Great cast of supporting players, with main stars Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, and John Sutton well suited for their roles. Beautiful flying shots with the Arizona desert as background. The dialogue in some spots is not too realistic in terms of aviation, e.g. when Preston Foster, playing the role of a civilian flight instructor at a military training school exclaims that a student's "motor conked out" while viewing the incident from the ground with his former sweetheart, Gene Tierney. Hilarious scene early in the movie where civilians are learning to be "civilian defense" first aid workers: Preston Foster, leg in cast, is loaded into an ambulance that then races away with the back door unlatched ejecting him out the back door and allowing him to fall attached to a stretcher onto the street. Touching brave sentiments portrayed by famed English actress, Dame May Whitty, on the loss of her son in combat. Jack Holt as the C.O. of the school, and Reginald Denny, as the British officer in charge of English cadets, add greatly to the overall quality of the picture, and Holt's facial expressions when he is dancing with Gene Tierney are particularly funny in the dance scene late in the picture. Peter Lawford has an uncredited bit part as a cadet in the movie. Overall, a very enjoyable movie if the viewer is interested in WWII aviation pictures, especially for the color quality.

TRIVIA NOTE: Famed aviation ace Richard Bong is one of the pilots flying the formation of North American AT-6s ("Texans") in the movie (uncredited), done before he shipped out to the Pacific to become the "Ace of Aces" by shooting down 40 Japanese planes, more than any other US pilot in WWII. (He died 8/6/45 at Burbank, California while taking off in a P-80 "Shooting Star" jet which lost power on takeoff.)

GOOF: in the water tower scene early in movie, Preston Foster, in a trainer from the base, buzzes water-bathing Gene Tierney and drops her his flight suit from the plane to use for cover/clothing when she gets out of the water tower. Film editing mistake shows her catching the flight suit, but then a shot of Foster's plane flying away shows the flight suit being thrown out from the plane (after she already has it!).