View source for Fighter Squadron

{{Short description|1948 American war film directed by Raoul Walsh}}
{{for|the computer game|Fighter Squadron: The Screamin' Demons Over Europe}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}{{italic title}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Fighter Squadron
| image          = Fighter-squadron-poster.jpeg
| caption        = [[Film poster|Theatrical release poster]]
| director       = [[Raoul Walsh]]
| writer         = {{Plain list|
* [[Seton I. Miller]]
* [[Martin Rackin]]
}}
| producer       = Seton I. Miller
| starring       = {{Plain list|
* [[Edmond O'Brien]]
* [[Robert Stack]]
* [[John Rodney]]
}}
| cinematography = {{Plain list|

* [[Wilfred M. Cline]]
* [[Sidney Hickox]]
}}
| editing        = [[Christian Nyby]]
| music          = [[Max Steiner]]
| studio         = [[Warner Bros.]] Pictures, Inc.
| distributor    = Warner Bros.
| released       = {{Film date|1948|11|27|U.S.}}
| runtime        = 96 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = [[English language|English]]
| budget         = $1,597,000<ref name="warners">Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 29 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551</ref>
| gross          = $1.75 million<ref name="top">{{cite magazine|author=Staff|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety177-1950-01#page/n58/mode/1up|title=Top Grossers of 1949|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=January 4, 1950|page=59}}</ref> or $3,086,000<ref name="warners"/>
}}

'''''Fighter Squadron''''' is a 1948 American [[World War II]] aviation [[war film]] in [[Technicolor]] from [[Warner Bros.]], produced by [[Seton I. Miller]], directed by [[Raoul Walsh]],<ref>Staff (November 24, 1948) "Film review: 'Fighter Squadron'. ''[[Variety Film Reviews|Variety]]'', p. 6</ref><ref>Staff (November 20, 1948) "Film review: 'Fighter Squadron'. ''[[Harrison's Reports and Film Reviews|Harrison's Reports]]'', p. 186</ref> that stars [[Edmond O'Brien]], [[Robert Stack]], and [[John Rodney]].
{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Plot==
At an American air base in England in 1943, conniving, womanizing Sergeant Dolan (Tom D'Andrea) manipulates everyone, while insubordinate, maverick pilot fighter ace Major Ed Hardin ([[Edmond O'Brien]]) gives his commanding officer and close friend, Colonel Brickley ([[John Rodney]]), headaches by ignoring the out-of-date [[rules of engagement]] formulated by Brigadier General M. Gilbert ([[Shepperd Strudwick]]). When Major General Mike McCready ([[Henry Hull]]) promotes Brickley to whip a new squadron into shape, Brickley also recommends Hardin as his replacement.

Despite his misgivings, McCready agrees. To everyone's surprise, Hardin strictly enforces the rules. One rule in particular, forbidding pilots to marry, irks his friend and wingman Captain Stu Hamilton ([[Robert Stack]]). As a result, when his tour of duty ends, Hamilton does not sign up for another, and instead goes home to marry his sweetheart. He later returns a married man, however, hoping to persuade Hardin to overlook his transgression.

Hardin refuses to let him back into the squadron, but does weaken enough to let him fly one last mission. Unfortunately, Hamilton is shot down and killed; he admits to Hardin over the radio as his burning aircraft plummets to Earth that he had been distracted during the mission by thoughts of his wife.

McCready decides that he needs Hardin for his staff, but allows him to first finish his current combat tour. Hardin's next mission is providing [[close air support]] for the Allied landings on [[Normandy landings|D-Day]]. His aircraft is hit by flak and goes down in a slow spiral. Hardin's final fate, though, is never revealed, as his squadron continues to support the D-Day invasion.

==Cast==

{{colbegin}}
* [[Edmond O'Brien]] as Major Ed Hardin
* [[Robert Stack]] as Captain Stu Hamilton
* [[John Rodney]] as Colonel Bill Brickley
* [[Tom D'Andrea]] as Sergeant Dolan
* [[Henry Hull]] as Major General Mike McCready
* [[James Holden (actor)|James Holden]] as Lieutenant Tennessee Atkins
* [[Walter Reed (actor)|Walter Reed]] as Captain Duke Chappell
* [[Shepperd Strudwick]] as Brigadier General M. Gilbert
* [[Arthur Space]] as Major Sanford
* [[Jack Larson]] as 2nd Lieutenant "Shorty" Kirk
* Bill McLean as Private Wilbur
* [[Lilian Bond]] as English lady
* Mickey McCardle as Jacobs
* Claude Allen as Stunt Pilot
{{colend}}

'''Cast notes''':
*[[Rock Hudson]] has an uncredited role as a pilot in his film debut. Hudson, a former truck driver by the name of Roy Fitzgerald, was under personal contract to director [[Raoul Walsh]], who rode him unmercifully, saying "You big dumb bastard, don’t just get in the center of the camera and stay there like a tree, move!"  It took 38 takes to get a good version of Hudson's first line, "You’ve got to get a bigger blackboard." He had another line after the raid on Berlin, as they celebrate in the bar with their lucky mascot black cat, "You're sure it's the same one?".<ref name=tcmart>Fristoe, Roger. [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/1663/fighter-squadron#notes "Notes: ''Fighter Squadron'' (1948)."] ''[[TCM.com]]'', Retrieved: May 28, 2022.</ref>

==Production==
In ''Fighter Squadron'', the fighter group is equipped with 16 [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt]]s provided from the Air National Guard units in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, which were still equipped with the type.<ref name="Orriss p. 134">Orriss 1984, p. 134.</ref> To portray [[Luftwaffe]] fighters, the film used eight [[North American P-51 Mustang]]s from the California ANG, with ersatz German markings.<ref>Beck 2016, p. 84.</ref> The film was shot for two weeks at [[Oscoda Army Air Field]] on [[Lake Huron]], [[Michigan]], a location that approximated the terrain of the fictional English air base where the fighter groups were located. The ANG units that were assigned to the film also were able to take their active duty training while flying with the film company<ref>Pendo 1985, p. 169.</ref>

''Fighter Squadron'' used previously unreleased aerial combat color footage shot by [[William Wyler]] for his documentary, ''[[Thunderbolt!]]'' (1947).<ref>Paris 1995, p. 138.</ref> Additional location shooting took place at [[Van Nuys Airport]], California.<ref>Beck 2016, p. 85.</ref> {{#tag:ref|While on location, a fatality occurred when a P-47 began to break up in mid-air; the pilot, Lt. Louis Mikell baled out successfully but drowned in Lake Huron.<ref>Orriss 1984, p. 135.</ref>|group=Note}}

''Fighter Squadron'', while fictitious, is based on the exploits of the fighter groups based in England before the D-Day [[Normandy landings]]. Screenwriter Seton Miller based the film on the actions of the 4th and 56th Fighter Groups.<ref>Orriss 1984, p. 133.</ref> In the 4th Fighter Group, the men called themselves "Blakeslee's Bachelors"; when one got married, it was followed by ordered transfers to other units. The transfer policy was decided by the unit's commanding officer, [[Donald Blakeslee|Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee]]. The technical advisors for the film included Major Joseph Perry, a veteran of the 56th Fighter Group and Major Leroy Gover, an ace with the 4th Fighter Group.<ref name="Orriss p. 134"/>

===Film music===
Warner Brothers recycled Max Steiner's main theme music from their [[Errol Flynn]] naval aviation film ''[[Dive Bomber (film)|Dive Bomber]]'' (1941) as the main theme for ''Fighter Squadron.'' This rousing march was used again, three years later, as the main theme music for Warner Bros. World War II submarine drama [[Operation Pacific]] (1951). It would appear yet again, in the 1959 submarine film [[Up Periscope]].

==Reception==
''Fighter Squadron'' was reviewed by [[Bosley Crowther]] in ''[[The New York Times]]''. He disparaged the "lurid adventure episodes" in the film story, and commented: "The glamour-repute of the Air Forces and the 'hot rocks' who flew the fighter planes, which was cause for much ironic jesting among the lowly 'doughfeet' during the war, is the stuff that Warner Brothers has exclusively put upon the screen in its loud, Technicolored ''Fighter Squadron'', which came to the Strand yesterday".<ref>[[Bosley Crowther|Crowther, Bosley]] (November 20, 1948) [https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E06E6DE1031E531A15753C2A9679D946993D6CF "The screen in review: ''Fighter Squadron'', Warner Film dealing with wartime action, arrives at the Strand."] ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved: March 26, 2017.</ref>

===Box Office===
According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $2,252,000 domestically and $834,000 foreign.<ref name="warners"/>

==References==
'''Informational notes'''
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|45em}}

'''Bibliography'''
* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-4766-2293-4}}
* Orriss, Bruce. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II''. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. {{ISBN|0-9613088-0-X}}
* Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-7190-4074-0}}
* Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. {{ISBN|0-8-1081-746-2}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Fighter Squadron}}
* {{AFI film|25536}}
* {{IMDb title|id=0040353|title=Fighter Squadron}}
* {{tcmdb title|1663}}

{{Raoul Walsh}}

[[Category:1948 films]]
[[Category:1940s war films]]
[[Category:American war films]]
[[Category:World War II aviation films]]
[[Category:World War II films based on actual events]]
[[Category:Films about the United States Army Air Forces]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Raoul Walsh]]
[[Category:Films scored by Max Steiner]]
[[Category:Films set in England]]
[[Category:1940s American films]]