Dive Bomber (Warner Bros.) (1941)

PUBLICITY—DIVE BOMBER’ Still DB 169; Mat 207—30c DRAMA IN THE SKIES—Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray in an exciting test flight scene from the Strand's new picture, "Dive Bomber," the thrill-a-second flight drama, filmed in Technicolor. ‘Dive Bomber’ Opening At Epic of the Air ““ *"” Every type of fighting and observation plane used by the United States Navy, including the newest super-bombers and fastest pursuit and interceptor planes off the assembly lines, were used in filming the new picture opening at the Strand today — Warner Bros. “Dive Bomber,” all-in-color special in which Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray are co-starred. But what is more important from the Navy standpoint is that the entire picture was filmed without interruption of any training or flight routine necessary under the current emergency defense program. To see that this was so, and also to see that Warner Bros. got every possible help, official Washington assigned Commander J. R. Poppen and Commander Seth Warren, U. S. N., to work with director Michael Curtiz and the company in filming “Dive Bomber,” parts of which were made in Pensacola and at Pearl Harbor, in addition to those scenes made at the San Diego base. The cast, in addition to Flynn and MacMurray, includes Ralph Bellamy, Regis Toomey, Robert Armstrong, Allen Jenkins, Herbert Anderson, Craig Stevens and a score of other young leading men in minor cadet and pilot roles. Only woman in the cast is the startlingly lovely Alexis Smith who appears briefly but memorably to stir up a little trouble between Flynn and MacMurray. Real stars of the air epic are the planes themselves, and the big ships that serve them. Many of the scenes were made aboard one of the larger plane carriers, the Enterprise, which happened to be stationed at San Diego while the Warner Bros. company was on location there. Strictest rules governed all members of the film troupe while at the base. Members of the cast and crew, without exception, had to wear special photographic identification badges at all times, carry California automobile drivers’ licenses (which bear finger prints of the licencee), and stay within the area in which the company was working for the day. Warner Bros. studio location aides, under veteran Bill Guthrie, one-time federal “G Man,” say that the “Dive Bomber” location presented them problems they had never before en countered in their long and varied experience. One great headache came from providing adequate living quarters for the 150 members of the company, which was unusually large. Accomodations finally were arranged at the Del Coronado and two other hotels nearby. Flynn himself lived aboard his yacht, the Sirdcco, on which he sailed to San Diego several days before the picture’s start. Still DB 6; Mat 201—30c NAVY'S AIR ARM is shown in all its glory and strength in "Dive Bomber," opening at the Strand today. Shown in this hanger scene are Robert Armstrong, Ralph Bellamy, Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray. 18 (REVIEW) Dive Bomber’ At Strand Is Glorious Saga of U. S. Navy's Super Pilots Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray Head Brilliant Cast In Thrilling New Technicolor Flight Picture There's something thrilling in the air, and Warner Bros. have dramatized it, photographed it in wonderfully natural Technicolor, and served it up under the title of “Dive Bomber,” with two of the screen’s most dashing heroes, Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray for its costars. Made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, “Dive Bomber,’ which opened last night at the Strand, is the most gloriously exciting air drama the screen has yet given us. The super-pilots who. fly Uncle Sam’s super-planes, the dive bombers, are the heroes of this epic of the skyways, and theirs is a thrill-a-second drama. The tremendously high altitude, the terrific rate of speed at which they descend upon their targets makes dive-bombing the most hazardous type of flying. The main theme of the story is the work being done by the flight surgeons to lessen the physical hazards to the dive bomber pilots. Flynn is seen in the picture as one of these flight surgeons who is out to overcome pilot fatigue, and develops a flying suit, similar to those used by deep-sea divers, to relieve the pressure of high flying and dive bombing. MacMurray plays a seasoned pilot, who at first scoffs at the work Flynn is doing, but soon sees the importance of it and eventually makes the test flight that proves its worth. The personal rivalry be DOUBLE TALK KING AND JENKINS SUPPLY HUMOR IN AIR FILM A motion picture studio gets double its money’s worth when it hires Cliff Nazarro. He’s the double-talk king of the talkies. His specialty is saying nothing twice as fast as people who talk and make sense. It’s a profitable racket. He just fmished “Dive Bomber” with Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray and then went to Paramount for what he hopes will be a four week chore. In “Dive Bomber” Nazarro has several comedy scenes with Allen Jenkins. You’d hardly expect them to be serious, would you? Nazarro readily explains his technique of double-talk. Don’t talk too fast, just mix up a lot of familiar syllables, and now and then drop in intelligible words or phrases that will give the listener the impression that his hearing is at fault, that the speaker is making sense. Nazarro illustrates: _ “A fellow says to you, ‘I’m afraid my girl is going to leave me for another guy. What had I better do about it?’ So you say to him... .” “Well you just cabba on the ipswitch with a subway kipplepeak. She’ll like that. Thentha gibble deck’ll make her sadsa flicker flack and the other guy’ll doggle switch to Saratoga basatab. Then you sick a gimble, passa moba boy scout with a thimble gig and after that everything’! be all right.”’ Get it? * tween the two men is played up in a well-handled romantic episode which features Alexis Smith, a beautiful screen newcomer whose dramatic talents and photogenic qualities makes her excellent star material. The strong supporting cast includes the capable Ralph Bellamy in the first serious role he has played recently. Regis Toomey, whose splendid job in “Meet John Doe” won such wide praise is extremely well cast as a pilot to whom flying is more important that life itself. Allen Jenkins and Cliff Nazarro, (he of the double-tongue) inject a bright note of comedy, and Robert Armstrong, Craig Stevens, Moroni Olsen, Herbert Anderson and Louis Jean Heydt round out one of the year’s finest supporting casts. A better selection of stars for the two top roles cannot well be imagined. Flynn’s performance combines the reckless daring which has made him such a wide favorite with a depth and maturity that lends credence to his role of surgeon. MacMurray, natural as always, is completely at home in his pilot’s garb and the hard-bitten cynicism of the seasoned flyer. Direction laurels again go to Michael Curtiz who proves that he is just as adept at getting action in the skies as he has been in getting it on land and sea with such pictures as “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” “Adventures of Robin Hood,” “Santa Fe Trail’ and “The Sea Hawk.” The cooperation of the U. S. Navy on the filming of “Dive Bomber” gave him the opportunity to use navy planes and airplane carriers as_ well as the buildings and equipment at the San Diego Naval Base as background for the picture. The result is a completely realistic and authentic movie with the most breath-taking aerial photography the screen has ever presented. Frank Wead’s original story, which he adapted for the screen in collaboration with Robert Buckner is strong dramatic material, closely-knit, building steadily and surely to its powerful climax. Max Steiner’s musical score is brilliant. Just as the Navy’s dive bombers fill the sky with America’s glory, the picture “Dive Bomber” fills the screen with thrills. Flynn Stars as Flight Still DB 394; Mat 206—30c Errol Flynn plays the role of a flight surgeon who makes his own test flights to find a cure for "pilot black-out" in the new air drama, “Dive Bomber.” How is the I.Q. of your heart? Flight surgeons of the United States Navy can tell you. They are a small handful of specialists as far in advance of their professional field today as the Lockheed stratosphere interceptor plane is an advance over the model T Ford automobile. The duty and effort of the modern flight surgeon is to keep miltary and naval fliers in the air. They fail in their job when an aviator has to be grounded because he no longer is mentally or physically capable of flying a plane. This, then, is the dramatic premise of the Strand’s next feature attraction, “Dive Bomber,” in which Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray are co-starred, and in which Flynn is a naval doctor specializing in Schneider tests, high altitude sickness, chronic flier fatigue and the dread black-out that bomber pilots suffer when they pull out of a dive. The Schneider tests, standard with the United States Navy, and named after the man who evolved them, establish the norm that tells the I.Q. of your heart. And other things. If your pulse rate while you recline is somewhere between one to 18 beats per minute, yow’re still pretty good. But if, 50 and 70 beats to the minute, you’re still good. But if, after after standing, it jumps 35 or 40 beats, you rate a zero, and if it does worse than that, you rate a minus three. There, about as simply as it can be stated, is one of the principal controls of the flight surgeon’s check. One of the great specialists in this field, which must be called new, is Commander J. R. Poppen, medical corps U.S. N., who was assigned by the Navy department to watch technical details of “Dive Bomber.”