TYRONE POWER doesn't play his usual brand of hero, he's an irresponsible self-centered (but charming) heel -- the kind who usually gets the girl. This is a serious war film but it focuses mostly on a light hearted romance between Tyrone Power and Betty Grable. Set in the era just before America entered the war, it was up to the Brits to put a halt on Hitler. Quite a few Americans joined this effort and the story reflects the long challenge ahead -- long before victory.
Interesting to see BETTY GRABLE in a 1941 film. She was the #1 pin-up girl of the World War II GI's. She wouldn't have been my choice but she was an inspiration to thousands of my betters; the older guys who fought the war while I was in grade school.
Darryl F. Zanuch (producer/writer) and Henry King (director) were a hard pair to beat in terms of excellence. Looking back on 20th Century- Fox in the 1940's, Fox only made two kinds of pictures: pretty darn good and excellent. They set the most consistent high standard in film history and I defy anybody to name a bad movie by Fox in this decade -- or a good one in 2007.
These days young people see dreadfully unpatriotic and dishonest films about the war. PEARL HARBOR "justified" the Japanese attack on the USA in the opening minutes --- and this was done for the stated purpose of insuring good box office in Japan. Equally bad in terms of patriotism was SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, wherein linguine-spined Steven Spielberg painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the Normandy Invasion heroes as well as the Sullivans, upon whose true story the film was cribbed. For the real story, look for THE LONGEST DAY and THE SULLIVANS, both on DVD.
Seeing A YANK IN THE RAF" reminded me that Hollywood was once a pro-American industry, strongly patriotic, with numerous real war heroes working there and bragging not-at-all about their service to their country.
Interesting to see BETTY GRABLE in a 1941 film. She was the #1 pin-up girl of the World War II GI's. She wouldn't have been my choice but she was an inspiration to thousands of my betters; the older guys who fought the war while I was in grade school.
Darryl F. Zanuch (producer/writer) and Henry King (director) were a hard pair to beat in terms of excellence. Looking back on 20th Century- Fox in the 1940's, Fox only made two kinds of pictures: pretty darn good and excellent. They set the most consistent high standard in film history and I defy anybody to name a bad movie by Fox in this decade -- or a good one in 2007.
These days young people see dreadfully unpatriotic and dishonest films about the war. PEARL HARBOR "justified" the Japanese attack on the USA in the opening minutes --- and this was done for the stated purpose of insuring good box office in Japan. Equally bad in terms of patriotism was SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, wherein linguine-spined Steven Spielberg painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the Normandy Invasion heroes as well as the Sullivans, upon whose true story the film was cribbed. For the real story, look for THE LONGEST DAY and THE SULLIVANS, both on DVD.
Seeing A YANK IN THE RAF" reminded me that Hollywood was once a pro-American industry, strongly patriotic, with numerous real war heroes working there and bragging not-at-all about their service to their country.