. . . America needed to win WWII themselves, the U.S. Military ordered Hollywood to help recruit the other countless thousands of fliers necessary to defeat Hitler and Hirohito. The plan they came up with was fiendishly simple. In the 1940s those American high school boys who didn't make the football squads had to do marching band instead. As everyone knew that nearly 100% of the "gridiron heroes" would jump at the chance to join the regular army (the rules are almost the same), the U.S. Navy, Marines, and Army Air Corps had to fill their ranks with the clarinetists, drummers, and Sousaphone tooters of the countless prep marching bands. Therefore, Warner Bros. was commissioned to make a series of musical live-action shorts to be shown in the theaters sprinkled throughout every U.S. city and town. These pieces were carefully crafted to imply that most sailors, Marines, and Army fliers spent all their time playing and singing patriotic songs near national monuments. Though planes are seen for a few seconds here and there, trumpets and trombones get much more screen time in AIR FORCE BAND. Future U.S. President Joe Kennedy, Jr., was one of many who may have perished as a result.
2 Reviews
Since James Stewart and Hank Greenberg couldn't fly ALL the planes . . .
oscaralbert6 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Nice Short
Michael_Elliott3 July 2009
United States Army Air Force Band, The (1942)
*** (out of 4)
Pretty much as the title says, the U.S. Army Air Force band plays several songs while we get to see some footage, which includes landsmarks in Washington D.C., as well as paratroopers doing their job and various other sequence dealing with what these men do as part of their training. I've seen a couple of these films but anyone familiar with Turner Classic Movies will know that countless WW2 films were being produced during this time and we also get countless shorts dealing with various subjects. I always found these musical shorts to be quite interesting because we got to see something other than fighting. Seeing the troops taking a break from the action was a nice thing to take it and you can't help but think some of the folks we see here ended up dying months later. "The Army Air Corps Song", "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "I Am an American" are the songs performed and they are done very well.
*** (out of 4)
Pretty much as the title says, the U.S. Army Air Force band plays several songs while we get to see some footage, which includes landsmarks in Washington D.C., as well as paratroopers doing their job and various other sequence dealing with what these men do as part of their training. I've seen a couple of these films but anyone familiar with Turner Classic Movies will know that countless WW2 films were being produced during this time and we also get countless shorts dealing with various subjects. I always found these musical shorts to be quite interesting because we got to see something other than fighting. Seeing the troops taking a break from the action was a nice thing to take it and you can't help but think some of the folks we see here ended up dying months later. "The Army Air Corps Song", "Polly Wolly Doodle" and "I Am an American" are the songs performed and they are done very well.
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