This is the third and last of the armed services morale films that Universal made in 1941. All were with Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. "Keep 'Em Flying" reached theaters for general release in the U.S. on November 28. It likely was still playing in most theaters around the country nine days later when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. While the antics of Abbott and Costello surely helped calm the anxiety and tensions of many people in the months leading up the war, after December 7, 1941, people wouldn't be in the mood for comedy for a few more months, especially regarding military service.
Still, America's favorite comedy team then had done much, and they would do one short of a dozen comedy films during the war years to provide the home front and troops away with laughter. In "Keep 'Em Flying," Martha Raye and Carol Bruce replace The Andrews Sisters for the musical portion. Bud and Lou, as Blackie and Heathcliff, get into all kinds of mishaps around aviation. They follow a friend, Jinx Roberts (played by Dick Foran) to Army pilot training camp, and wind up as ground support.
As with the earlier two service morale films ('Buck Privates" and "In the Navy"), this one has some historical value as well. The Army pilot training is done at Cal-Aero Flight Academy. It was a civilian aviation school that had been started before WWII. With the war spreading in Europe and Japan expanding in the Far East, the U.S. began building an Armed Forces from a peacetime military that was but a skeleton. The Army didn't have enough training pilots or facilities to quickly train the thousands of pilots that would be needed. It had pilot training schools in Alabama, California and Texas, but still needed more. So, the Army contracted with Cal-Aero to train pilots. The trainers were civilians, but they operated under a military command with military procedures. That's what we see in this film.
Cal-Aero was located near Chino, California, east of Los Angeles. The Cal-Aero Academy closed on Oct. 16, 1944. It had trained 10,365 fighter and bomber pilots for the war effort. In 1940, Army flight training had been reduced from nine to seven months in order to get more pilots ready. But that was reduced even further in early 1941 when flight training was set at 20 weeks, as is the case in this movie. Also, on June 20 of that year, the Army Air Corps was redesignated the US Army Air Forces. (USAF). It would be designated the U.S. Air Force and comprise a separate branch of the Armed Forces on Sept. 18, 1947.
At the end of the war, the Chino Air field became one of the large airplane bone yards for surplus planes. Today the Chino Airport has a large air museum.
One other historical note about this film is its introduction of the U.S.O. clubs. The United Service Organizations formed on February 4, 1941, to provide entertainment and comforts for American service men and women away from home. Six groups responded to a request from Pres. Franklin Roosevelt and formed the U.S.O. They were the YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, and National Travelers Aid Association. In this film, we see a U.S.O club with its doors open outside the Cal-Aero Academy. Martha Raye, playing twin sisters Gloria and Barbara, works at the USO, as does Carol Bruce, a singer who plays Linda Joyce.
After the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, young men flocked to recruiting stations around the country to sign up for military service. I can imagine that Cal-Aero had a flood of applicants for its pilot training. And, those pilots who graduated within two weeks of this film's release would be among the first wave of American aerial combatants to serve in Europe, as well as at Army installations in the Pacific.
"Keep 'Em Flying" has some excellent stunt flying sequences. The comedy, romance, flying, locale and historical notes all add up to a fine movie. It makes a good addition to any film library for students of wartime or American military history, or for those who have a comedy library.
Still, America's favorite comedy team then had done much, and they would do one short of a dozen comedy films during the war years to provide the home front and troops away with laughter. In "Keep 'Em Flying," Martha Raye and Carol Bruce replace The Andrews Sisters for the musical portion. Bud and Lou, as Blackie and Heathcliff, get into all kinds of mishaps around aviation. They follow a friend, Jinx Roberts (played by Dick Foran) to Army pilot training camp, and wind up as ground support.
As with the earlier two service morale films ('Buck Privates" and "In the Navy"), this one has some historical value as well. The Army pilot training is done at Cal-Aero Flight Academy. It was a civilian aviation school that had been started before WWII. With the war spreading in Europe and Japan expanding in the Far East, the U.S. began building an Armed Forces from a peacetime military that was but a skeleton. The Army didn't have enough training pilots or facilities to quickly train the thousands of pilots that would be needed. It had pilot training schools in Alabama, California and Texas, but still needed more. So, the Army contracted with Cal-Aero to train pilots. The trainers were civilians, but they operated under a military command with military procedures. That's what we see in this film.
Cal-Aero was located near Chino, California, east of Los Angeles. The Cal-Aero Academy closed on Oct. 16, 1944. It had trained 10,365 fighter and bomber pilots for the war effort. In 1940, Army flight training had been reduced from nine to seven months in order to get more pilots ready. But that was reduced even further in early 1941 when flight training was set at 20 weeks, as is the case in this movie. Also, on June 20 of that year, the Army Air Corps was redesignated the US Army Air Forces. (USAF). It would be designated the U.S. Air Force and comprise a separate branch of the Armed Forces on Sept. 18, 1947.
At the end of the war, the Chino Air field became one of the large airplane bone yards for surplus planes. Today the Chino Airport has a large air museum.
One other historical note about this film is its introduction of the U.S.O. clubs. The United Service Organizations formed on February 4, 1941, to provide entertainment and comforts for American service men and women away from home. Six groups responded to a request from Pres. Franklin Roosevelt and formed the U.S.O. They were the YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, and National Travelers Aid Association. In this film, we see a U.S.O club with its doors open outside the Cal-Aero Academy. Martha Raye, playing twin sisters Gloria and Barbara, works at the USO, as does Carol Bruce, a singer who plays Linda Joyce.
After the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, young men flocked to recruiting stations around the country to sign up for military service. I can imagine that Cal-Aero had a flood of applicants for its pilot training. And, those pilots who graduated within two weeks of this film's release would be among the first wave of American aerial combatants to serve in Europe, as well as at Army installations in the Pacific.
"Keep 'Em Flying" has some excellent stunt flying sequences. The comedy, romance, flying, locale and historical notes all add up to a fine movie. It makes a good addition to any film library for students of wartime or American military history, or for those who have a comedy library.