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Home , Alan Ladd, Clark Gable, Command Decision (play), Fay Wray, George Kenney, George Peppard

Eight Decades Over 66 tive rolethatmoviescouldplay, both his interestinfilms.Beforeanddur- However, "Hap"Arnoldneverlost to biggerthings—commandingUS running loveaffairwithflyingand the startofmovieindustry'slong- mine ofstory material.Manypic- ered thatmilitary aviationwasagold public supportforthewareffort. a meansofwinningandmaintaining as trainingaidsforthetroops andas ing thewar,herecognized effec- II andbecomingafive-stargeneral. Army AirForcesduringWorldWar movies, LieutenantArnoldwenton Hollywood's topstars. span thecenturyandtakeinmanyof the military—aromancethatwould modestly successful,anditmarked out tobeablockbuster,butitwas tion andthemovies. encounters betweenmilitaryavia- tary Scout."Thiswasoneofthefirst cruited himtoserveasaflying when afilmmakingcompanyre- ing partinaLongIslandairmeet stuntman inamovietitled"TheMili- I For itspart,Hollywooddiscov- After hisownbriefstintinthe "The MilitaryScout"didnotturn N named HenryH.Arnoldwastak- 1911, a youngArmylieutenant By BruceD.Callender picture. Forsomeactors, Academy Awardforbest bomber. Jimmy Stewart(opposite) aviation storycouldbring took thecontrolsofa life, asinthe1955movie technology amilitary history, andinteresting early onthedrama, Hollywood recognized when formerB-24pilot the moviesreflectedreal to thescreen,awarding "Strategic AirCommand," "Wings" (above)thefirst to resistthe filmmakers have Since 1911, drama inherent in militaryflying. been unable AIR FORCE Magazine/ July1996

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nn selves portrayed by , ttma , and Robert Taylor. Be is- Four years later, Britain' s Ralph b r Richardson and Merle Oberon starred / Co er in a similar story about RAF train- ing r ees, "The Lion Has Wings," released Sp while Europe stood on the brink of war. During World War II, Hollywood saw military movies as its contribu- tion to the war effort. The services did what they could to help. With the troops busy on several conti- nents, however, producers often had to settle for filming training exer- cises or using stock footage. As a result, Hollywood' s presentation of the war often was limited. A film's hero might be shown taking off for a mission in a P-40 and coming home triumphantly in a P-51. To- day ' s USAF technical advisors would have cringed at such inaccu- racies, but civilian audiences at the While technical errors sometimes cropped up in Hollywood's Army Air Forces, the industry did strive for realism. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo"—in which Spencer time didn't seem to notice. Tracy portrayed —contained footage from the actual mission. The typical script took farm boys and young city slickers through the rigors of flight training into a sani- tures followed that first effort. In cated fighters and bombers. Air war- tized version of combat. Extras fell, 1929, the industry awarded the first fare became harder and harder to but the hero rarely received more best-picture Oscar to "Wings," star- simulate on Hollywood's back lots. than a scratch. Enemy pilots were ring , Buddy Rogers, Film companies needed professional sinister but inept, and, if our side , and a young Gary Coo- help, and the armed services, strug- didn't always win the battle, it was per. The film focused on the US gling to build or even maintain their sure to win the war. Army Air Service of strength, saw films as good promo- For all their shortcomings, some and was followed by several look- tional tools. of the films weren't bad, even by alikes, such as "Dawn Patrol," "Crim- In 1935, Hollywood sent an all- today's standards. "Air Force" (1943) son Romance," and "The Lost Squad- star cast to Randolph Field, Tex., to told a convincing story about a B-17 ron." Later, movie pilots in Jennys film "West Point of the Air." Flight landing at Pearl Harbor during the battled the bad guys in Saturday se- students and instructors saw them- Japanese attack. In one scene, John rials, and Air Corps airplanes even helped rescue by shooting off the Empire State Building. Today, the Air Force probably still would OK Lieutenant Arnold's par- ticipation in the movies, because it took place on his own time and at no cost to the government, but the ar- rangement would involve consider- ably more than buttonholing a pilot at an air show [see box, p. 71].

Beyond the Back Lot Through the earliest years, the military cooperated with Hollywood on an informal basis. Surplus war- planes were cheap, and many World War I veterans were looking for work. As a result, producers needed little technical or logistical help from the military services. By the mid-, "Air Force" (1943) director had two USAAF officers as techni- however, the Army Air Corps had cal advisors on the project, starring (left). It was filmed primarily begun to fly much more sophisti- at Drew Field, Fla.

68 AIR FORCE Magazine/July 1996

Garfield shot down an enemy fighter 2 from the ground with a waist gun cradled in his arms. Today, an Air Force liaison officer probably would tell the director that this was pretty farfetched, but in wartime the audi- ence liked to believe it could hap- pen. "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (1944), are-creation of Ted Lawson' s book about the famous 1942 B-25 raid led by Jimmy Doolittle—por- trayed by —also may have had its flaws, but it was mov- ing. The same could be said of "Fly- ing Tigers" (1942), starring . On a few occasions, Hollywood shot the war "live." One film crew went to wartime to fly with crews and came One of the movie industry's better efforts at portraying the military, "Twelve home with a documentary that Gen- O'Clock High" showed the pressures of the air war in Europe. Here, Gregory eral Arnold ordered distributed to Peck (standing) speaks to his aircrews, many of them Eglin Field, Fla., extras.

Culver City, Calif. The unit had been established by Arnold. served a few months with an Air Force line unit before receiving a medical discharge. tried to trade his civilian flying time for a pilot's commission but wound up as a civilian flight instructor. served in air intelligence. A handful of stars saw air com- bat. , for example, flew missions with the 351st Bomb Group, gathering material for a train- ing film for aerial gunners. Jimmy Stewart served a full tour as a B-24 pilot with the 445th Bomb Group. After the war, Stewart re- mained in the Reserve and eventu- ally retired as a general officer. He Along with rare combat footage, good acting contributed to the success of also was one of the twelve veterans "Twelve O'Clock High." (at the wheel, listening to ) who founded the Air Force Asso- won a best supporting Oscar for his performance. ciation in 1946. Hollywood probably made its best World War II films after the war had GI theaters. The original "The Mem- A Few Star Pilots ended, when it could stop pretend- phis Belle" (1944) still stands up Hollywood was not too generous ing it had all been a piece of cake. In better than the fictionalized version about providing manpower to the 1949, "Twelve 0' Clock High" had produced almost fifty years later with services. Many were too old Gregory Peck shaping up a bad-luck all the technology at the command for military duty, while others were bomb group. "Command Decision" of today' s moviemakers. more valuable wearing uniforms in in 1948 showed Clark Gable agoniz- Some movies turned out to be real films than they would have been in ing over heavy losses. Our side still duds—"Bombardier" (1943), for ex- combat. Of those who enlisted or won, but now we could admit how ample, which began with cadets were drafted, only a few gravitated high the cost had been. learning to run the Norden bomb- toward the air services. Ronald W. Moviemakers did not display the sight and ended with their bombing Reagan and were same enthusiasm for portrayals of Tokyo from a B-17 with their former two who chose the Army Air Forces air operations in the Korean War as instructors (Pat O'Brien and Ran- and served most of the war with the they had during the two world wars. dolph Scott) at the controls. AAF' s 1st Motion Picture Unit at Beyond filming a few quickies show-

AIR FORCE Magazine/ July 1996 69 (1964), a dark comedy starring in three roles. The movie fea- tured a SAC B-52 headed for Russia on an irretrievable mission and ended with the pilot (Slim Pickens) riding an atomic bomb down to the target to begin World War III. During this period, even Holly- The true owe story wood's retelling of old war stories of carried an antimilitary message. "The oe McConnell America's Blue Max" (1966) showed a World first triple War I German ace () Jet Ace* becoming a national hero, then be- ing killed by an ambitious superior. "Catch-22" (1970) presented a bi- zarre collection of reluctant crew- men, bumbling commanders, and scheming ground officers. The Air Force lent little coopera- tion to such films, and its efforts to In 1955, Gen. George Kenney (right) escorted to the premiere of put more positive images of the ser- "The McConnell Story," about Korean War ace Joseph McConnell. Hy Aver- vice on the screen were largely fruit- back (center) interviewed them at the event for "The Tonight Show." less. During the era,

ing new jet fighters, producers large- NUCLEAR waS N 't,,A1 ly ignored that fight. An exception 1,4010LE wt1,4 was Warner Brothers, who put out bi "The McConnell Story," a 1955 film / Cor biography of Capt. Joe McConnell, er ing a triple jet ace in Korea who died in r a 1954 crash. The film, with Alan Sp Ladd in the title role, had its world premiere at AFA' s ninth annual National Convention in San Fran- cisco. The war had been over for five years when Hollywood unveiled "Bat- tle Hymn," the true story of Dean Hess, a minister who became a World War II fighter pilot, flew in the Ko- rean War, and befriended an orphan- age. The movie did not score well at the box office. Films about the "new" Air Force did better. In "Strategic Air Com- Some Hollywood productions carried an antimilitary message in the . At mand" (1955), Jimmy Stewart, back the climax of one of the most famous of these, "Dr. Strangelove," actor Slim from combat, commanded a SAC Pickens rode an atomic bomb to earth, bronco-style, to start World War III. outfit while his film wife, June Ally- son, bit her nails. It inspired other films about SAC, including "Bomb- Madmen and Nukes Hollywood, like much of the public, ers B-52" (1957). The pro-SAC movies of the seemed unable or unwilling to dis- The year 1963 saw the opening of gave way to more equivocal portray- tinguish between a politically un- "A Gathering of Eagles," a remake als. "Fail Safe" (1964) was the fic- popular war and the men and women of the classic "Twelve O'Clock tional tale of a B-52 mission gone who were trying to make the best of High." awry, culminating in the nuclear de- a bad situation. Then came the Vietnam War, how- struction of Moscow and Soviet re- The problem may have been less ever, and the beginning of an anti- taliation in kind against New York about ideology than it was about the war, antimilitary era in filmmaking. city. Also put on the screen were studios eyeing the bottom line and As public opinion turned against the fantastic tales of military madmen deciding that Vietnam didn't sell. war, Hollywood veered from the pro- running amok with nuclear weapons. Charles Davis, chief of the Entertain- duction of films supporting the ser- The most famous of these was "Dr. ment Division, Region Of- vices toward those portraying mili- Strangelove, or: How I Learned to fice of USAF Public Affairs in Los tary leaders as villains. Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" Angeles, Calif., sums it up this way:

70 AIR FORCE Magazine /July 1996 "Vietnam was an unhappy story head- ing for an unhappy ending, which breaks the basic rule of entertain- ment." 0 The bitter taste lingered well after the Vietnam War ended, but, gradu- ally, public support for the military returned. With it came a reconcilia- tion of sorts between Hollywood and the armed forces, especially mili- tary aviation. A breakthrough came in the 1980s with release of the highly suc- cessful "Top Gun," starring . The film was about Navy F- 14 Tomcat crews, but it rekindled Hollywood's enthusiasm more gen- erally for military aviation. The ser- vices now could provide new and startling "props"—such as high-tech fighters and supersonic bombers— With some exceptions, moviemakers paid less attention to Korean War air as well as new combat scenarios operations than they had to previous wars. Even with as the packed with action. star, the Korean War movie "Battle Hymn" was not a big success.

Less Impressed These days, however, the Air Force about a father and teenage daughter Unlikely to gain cooperation, say is not as star-struck as it was in the trying to teach a flock of Canada DoD instructions, are projects that 1930s, and approval of projects is geese to migrate south. Flying two "appear to condone activities by pri- not easily won. ultralight airplanes in formation with vate citizens when such activities USAF' s Western Region Office the flock, the pair puts down at an are contrary to US government pol- recently considered a proposal for a Air Force base (played by Niagara icy." The director making a movie film about a disgruntled Air Force Falls IAP/ARS, N. Y.) and then flies about the macho loner who launches pilot flying a nuclear-armed F-11 7A to a happy ending. Columbia not a private war, for example, is un- toward Washington with a plan to only got to film at the base but had likely to get help from the services. shut down the government perma- access to a horde of extras who did On the other hand, comedies with nently. Officials suggested the screen- not need help from the wardrobe a military setting are not automati- writer rework the story or forget about department. Under DoD rules, mili- cally ruled out. The services bristle official cooperation. tary personnel may perform with the at stereotyping sergeants as wheeler- A recent pro- filmmakers during off-duty time. The dealers and generals as bumbling buf- posal sparked a different response. film (working title: "Father Goose") foons, but the antics of individuals The movie is a heartwarming story is set for release this year. coping with service life have been a Hollywood staple since the silent- movie days. The services draw the line when Movie Rules and Regs the laughs are at the expense of the military establishment. The Army Armed service cooperation with film and television productions now is gov- did not object to a script that fea- erned by a long DoD regulation (Instruction 5410.16). Each service has additional tured a female Army recruit strug- guidelines and an office to deal with producers throughout the life of a project. gling through the rigors of basic train- For the Air Force, the contact point is the Western Region Office of USAF Public Affairs, housed in the Federal Building in , Calif., and directed by Lt. ing, but it did balk at the portion of Col. Thomas Worsdale. It reviews scripts and recommends or advises against the script that called for her to deal service involvement. Final approval or disapproval comes from the Defense with a lecherous general officer. Secretary's special assistant for Audiovisual Media. The Air Force had no objection to Criteria for approval are comprehensive. The production must present an a Disney comedy about an enlistee authentic or at least feasible interpretation of military life. It must be informational and considered to be in the best interest of public understanding of the services. with a fear of dogs who winds up If a producer receives the Pentagon's official blessing, he can draw on service assigned to DoD' s dog-handling pro- resources ranging from technical advice on uniforms to the systems needed to re- gram at Lackland AFB, Tex. The create a full air battle. The film company must pay for expenses, such as a liaison difference, said Mr. Davis, is that officer's per diem costs, flying hours, and consumables. Costs can run into the millions, but service cooperation can make the difference between an authentic the humor lies in the individual's production and a routine shoot-'em-up created in the studio. being out of his element, not in ser- In return for its assistance, the service receives assurances from the producer vice life itself. that a film will approximate authentic military life and that the film might help spur Once approved, service coopera- recruiting and increase support for the service. tion can range from helping script- writers get a feel for military jargon

AIR FORCE Magazine / July 1996 71 and have no military background, so ttmann they appreciate the help." Be - Such was the case with "Apollo bis 13." This account of the 1970 moon / Cor

er mission that went wrong is mostly a ing r NASA story, but the Air Force as- Sp sisted through its 30th Audiovisual Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Vandenberg itself was the setting for "The Net," a film about a com- puter hacker trying to stop a satellite launch. The Air Force found the premise of that film believable and cooperated. The Defense Depart- ment, however, balked at a similar story line in "WarGames," the 1983 story of a teenage hacker (Matthew Broderick) who accidentally breaks into North American Aerospace De- fense Command computers. Clark Gable (with microphone) talks to a damaged bomber's crew in "Com- Military cooperation does not guar- mand Decision" (1948). He understood this perilous situation: As Captain antee commercial success, of course, Gable, he had flown bomb missions in World War II. but successful productions can be

to supplying a liaison officer and opening a base for location shots. However, the production company not only must pick up the tab for the use of the assets but also must re- store any government property in- volved to its original or better condi- tion. If the script calls for more action than the Air Force can justify as routine training, the producer must foot the bill for the extra amount. The Defense Department does not take IOUs. Producers must furnish a line of credit from a reputable bank, carry full insurance, and sign a state- ment absolving the government of liability. Even if a producer agrees to the conditions, approval comes only after lengthy negotiations, during which the Air Force may ask for major Paramount Director William Wellman had World War I flying experience, which script changes. enabled him to gain the War Department's cooperation in producing "Wings" (above). Today, a USAF public affairs office works with the movie industry. Unsalvageable In some cases, scripts can't be the Western Region Office. "It isn't rewarding for both the producers and doctored enough. For example, the something we could see happening the services. Studies have shown that focus of the recent blockbuster "Bro- in real life." movies are the best media for reach- ken Arrow" is a disgruntled Air Force At other times, producers welcome ing eighteen- to twenty-four-year- officer (John Travolta) who steals a Air Force suggestions in the interest olds who might consider Air Force bomber with nuclear weapons aboard. of accuracy. "The draft has been over careers. USAF worked with the producers for more than twenty years," said It requires only "a small invest- but still found the script unaccept- Mr. Davis. "Most of the people in ment," said Mr. Davis, but "that posi- able and withdrew support. In the the entertainment industry are young tive exposure is worth millions." • end, the producer used computers to create most of the aerial effects. "It was just too unrealistic to sug- Bruce D. Callender, a regular contributor to Air Force Magazine, served tours gest that an Air Force officer would of active duty during World War II and the Korean War. In 1952, he joined Air do the kinds of things Travolta did," Force Times, becoming editor in 1972. His most recent article, "And Now, the said Lt. Col. Thomas Worsdale of Pilot Shortage," appeared in the April 1996 issue.

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