Charles Marshall Movies

On December 6, 1941, a squadron of nine B-17 bombers takes off for Hickam Field, HI. The crew of the Mary Ann, including two new men, assistant radio man Private Chester (Ray Montgomery) and gunner Sergeant Joe Winocki (John Garfield), assembles for the flight, and in the first 20 minutes, the movie reveals certain things about the crew: the shadowy past of one, the mother of another, and the wife of a third; two of them are good friends with the sister of McMartin (Arthur Kennedy), the bombardier, who lives in Honolulu; the son of the senior member of the crew, Sgt. White (Harry Carey Sr.), is a pilot stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines. Then more characters make entrances: the aircraft commander Quincannon (John Ridgely); Weinberg (George Tobias), a Jewish mechanic from New York; and a man from a farm in the upper Midwest -- they all represent a broad cross-section of America as it saw itself, and the "regular guys" in the Army Air Force as it existed in 1941. The flight proceeds without incident. Winocki, an embittered, washed-out flight school candidate who accidentally killed another pilot, is about to leave the service when the weather report from Hickam Field is interrupted, and the radio man begins picking up transmissions in Japanese. The Mary Ann and the rest of the squadron fly right into the middle of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor unarmed and out of gas, and nearly crack up landing on an emergency field; no sooner do they make repairs than the crew comes under attack, and the plane takes off and makes for Hickam Field, which they find a flaming shambles. They fly on to the Philippines, stopping at Wake Island just long enough to meet a few members of the doomed Marine garrison, taking their company mascot, a dog, with them. At Clark Field, the Mary Ann and her crew finally go into action against the enemy, flying in alone against a Japanese invasion force; Quincannon is mortally wounded in the brief action, which leaves the plane damaged seemingly beyond repair. The remaining crew won't give up the plane, however, even when ordered to abandon and destroy her; they get the bomber off just ahead of the advancing Japanese, and survive to help bring retribution to the invading fleet and the Japanese empire. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A transport pilot is ordered to fly a risky mission. The pilot, Scott, refuses the dangerous mission and is fired from his job. Scott starts up a pilot school which struggles to stay in business. As an inspector for the government, Foster gives Scott trouble about his school, Scott hopes a new government pilot program will help him out. ~ All Movie Guide

This suspense drama was based on a novel by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Riviere (John Barrymore), who operates an air delivery service, is fanatical in his dedication to service, putting prompt delivery before the safety of his men or his fleet after receiving a contract to help transport the mail. Riviere's risk-taking earns him the contempt of his pilots, including Jules (Clark Gable), who, despite his misgivings, does his best to satisfy Riviere's punishing schedule. When Jules is lost after a dangerous mission, Riviere has to tell his wife (Helen Hayes) that her husband has died, but despite losing another pilot (William Gargan), Riviere responds by demanding that more pilots be called up to ensure that the letters will be delivered on time. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Clark Gable was officially elevated to stardom with this airborne MGM action-adventure, but good old Wallace Beery (whom Gable disliked in real life) ended up with more screen time. They played Naval officers training in the newfangled art of dive bombing while spending a great deal of time squabbling over who is more macho. The two rivals, of course, end up crashing on a deserted atoll only to discover that behind the tough veneer they share a common goal. In the end, the gruff but lovable Beery sacrifices himself so that Gable and the stolid Conrad Nagel may live. As usual in this kind of testosterone-driven action fare, the girls are given short shrift and have to literally shout to be heard above the din. Dorothy Jordan is forgettable as Gable's love interest, but both Marjorie Rambeau and Marie Prevost, as a couple of goodhearted floozies, make the most of their all too brief moments. Hell Divers is the kind of film where action in the skies makes up for the lack of any real drama and where characters are constantly uttering such lines as "Gee honey, I'm just goofy about you!" The film was produced with full co-operation from the U.S. Navy on-location at San Pedro and in Panama. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Richard Arlen more or less revives his aviation-ace role from Wings in the Paramount programmer Sky Bride. Arlen plays Speed Condon, the star attraction of a barnstorming troupe of stunt flyers. When his best friend Eddie (Tom Douglas) is killed during a staged "dogfight," Speed quits the troupe and takes a job as an airport mechanic. By chance, he boards a plane already occupied by Eddie's mother (Louise Closser Hale), who is as yet unaware of her boy's death. Now feeling even more responsible for Eddie's demise, Speed breaks his promise to himself and takes to the air again when Eddie's parachutist kid brother Willie (Robert Coogan) gets stuck in the landing gear of a plane in flight. As was customary in the Paramount product of this period, Jack Oakie supplies the good-natured comedy relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Flying Fleet was one of the first script-writing efforts of Lt. Commander Frank "Spig" Wead, who came to Hollywood after the crippling accident that ended his naval career (Wead's life story was later romanticized in the 1957 John Ford picture The Wings of Eagles). Evidently, Wead's favorite story involved two military men who have a falling out over a beautiful woman. In this instance, six U.S. Naval Academy graduates argue over "dames" while attending flying school. Foremost among the cadets are Tommy (Ramon Novarro) and Steve (Ralph Graves, who showed up in several Wead films), while the romantic bone of contention is Anita (Anita Page). The rate of attrition amongst the six would-be flyboys is astonishing, and as a result only Tommy and Steve are able to complete the training process. In time-honored tradition, our heroes forget their personal problems when lives are at stake. The film is distinguished by its first-rate aviation scenes, superbly photographed by Charles A. Marshall. A silent film, Flying Fleet was released with a synchronized music and sound-effects track; a "restored" version of the film debuted over the Turner Classic Movies cable service in the mid-1990s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide