Task Force (Warner Bros.) (1949)

THE STORY (not for publication) As Gary Cooper, an admiral, leaves his ship for retirement he recalls the struggle of a handful of Navy men in 1921 striving to prove the importance of carrier-launched aircraft. At that time, Cooper and Lt. Comdr. Walter Brennan were among the few eager Naval officers who had learned to land on the short deck of the Langley. On duty in Washington principally to make friends for naval aviation, Cooper is reunited at a party with Jane Wyatt. widow of a flying buddy. That same evening, while arguing with a publisher over the practicability of the carrier, Cooper insults a Japanese diplomat. He is shipped off to “flying a desk’’ in Panama. A year later Cooper gets his orders to report on board the new carrier, U.S.S. Saratoga. During a fleet problem, he is injured and when Jane visits him, they decide to get married. Cooper returns to the Naval Academy as an aviation instructor but soon incurs the disapproval of his superiors when he discounts surface ships’ importance in favor of the carrier. He is back at sea when the Japs strike Pearl Harbor. From then on he rises to commanding officer of his own carrier as the Navy continues to play an increasingly important part in the war. At the climactic Okinawa battle Cooper’s ship is badly damaged by kamikaze planes, but he refuses to abandon ship and she limps back te New York harbor a symbol of American determination to fight always for freedom. IS, IN TODAY! } Pa THING — EVER 3 LiKE ITY NOTHING YOU EVER LIKED MOREY! GARY COOPER LEADS THE WAY! ~Wieggy, JANE WYATT WAYNE MORRIS WALTER BRENNAN corveetsine art wen | Uritten and Directed by DELMER DAVES JERRY WALD the Baltimore smile! Original Music by Franz Waxman Ad Mat 402—4 cols. x 1034 inches (600 lines) Also in 3-column size. See page 10.