A Yank in the RAF

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Movie
Original title A Yank in the RAF
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1941
length 98 minutes
Rod
Director Henry King
script Darrell Ware
Karl Tunberg Original Story
: Melville Crossman
production Darryl F. Zanuck
( 20th Century Fox )
music Leo Robin
Ralph Rainger
camera Leon Shamroy
cut Barbara McLean
occupation

A Yank in the RAF is a 1941 American war film directed by Henry King . The leading roles are cast with Tyrone Power and Betty Grable .

The producer and head of 20th Century Fox Darryl F. Zanuck wrote the template for the story, which takes place in World War II , under his pseudonym Melville Crossman, at a time when the United States was still neutral. An American pilot who joins the Royal Air Force is at the center of the action.

action

The American pilot Tim Baker, selfish and daring, is always on the lookout for adventure and money. Since the United States has not yet entered the ruling Second World War, he takes on the task of transporting a bomber from Canada to England. In London, he unexpectedly meets his former girlfriend Carol Brown, who works in an Air Force women's aid organization during the day and in a nightclub in the evening. Carol is torn between the joy of seeing Tim again and the disappointment of how their relationship broke up a year ago. Tim, however, is determined to win back the young woman and therefore joins the Royal Air Force. However, he quickly shows himself bored when he is supposed to deal with the basic flight techniques.

When Carol visits Tim at the airfield one afternoon, she aroused the interest of Squadron Commander John Morley. In the evening he watches Carol's nightclub show and then accompanies her home. The other day she lets Tim know that there is a new man in her life. Nevertheless, she continues to meet with both men. After Tim completed his training with the RAF, he was assigned to the Morley squadron. The men are not yet aware that they are rivals for Carol's favor.

One of his first challenges is to work with Corp. Throwing Harry Baker leaflets over Berlin. Tim, who would have wished for more exciting tasks, is annoyed, especially since he thinks this action is pointless. After he gets back, he throws his friends Al Bennett and Roger Pillby for a drink and forgets about a date with Carol. She then accepts Morley's invitation to spend a weekend with him at his country estate in Kent, where he proposes to her.

When Carol tells Tim that John wants to marry her, he proposes to her too, but in such a flippant way that Carol throws him out of her apartment. Shortly after this unfortunate event, the men were ordered to go to Dortmund on an emergency mission because Germany had invaded Holland and Belgium. During their nightly action, their airplane bomber was hit, with one of the two engines failing. Pillby, who tries to help them, is shot down. Tim defies Morley's orders and lands the damaged plane on a Dutch beach. There Tim, Morley and Baker are discovered by a German patrol. Baker sacrifices himself for his comrades so that Tim and Morley can escape in a motorboat.

After Tim is back, he acts like a victim to Carol and pretends to have broken his arm. He surprised her with an engagement ring, which he slipped onto Carol's finger without being asked. Since an incoming emergency call ordered Tim back to the airfield, Carol has no way of having a clarifying conversation with Tim.

Tim Baker is given the chance to fly a Spitfire on this mission over Dunkirk . After he can shoot down two German planes, one for Roger Pillby and one for Harry Baker, he finds himself in a precarious position and seems lost. When Carol learns that no one knows if Tim is still alive, she can't hide her pain about it. Morley realizes that Carol's feelings for Tim are deeper than they are for him. Together with Carol he rushes to the harbor when boatloads of evacuated soldiers are expected there. After both have almost given up hope, Tim appears as one of the last. Carol shows him tearfully that she is still wearing his ring. Morley shows himself to be a gentleman and congratulates. Arm in arm, the trio leaves the port.

background

The film was shot between the end of April and July 21, 1941; additional shots were shot in mid-August 1941. The musical direction was Alfred Newman , sound: Bernard Freericks and Roger Heman .

In the foreword to the film, the head and the staff of the Royal Air Force are thanked for their cooperation under difficult conditions, which made the filming much easier, especially with regard to the aerial photos. The aerial recordings in England were made by Ronald Neame , Jack Whitehead and Otto Kanturek under the direction of Major Herbert Mason. Kanturek and cameraman Jack Parry died while shooting this film when a Hawker Hurricane collided with an Avro Anson .

In Zanuck's original story, Tim Baker met his death at the end of the film. The story is based on the fate of the former American Olympian and pilot Billy Fiske , who was recruited by the British Air Force in September 1939, was shot down in an operation in August 1940, and died of injuries sustained in an encounter with German bombers . According to Zanuck's notes on November 25, 1940, the death of Tim Baker would mean that someone other than Power would have to play the role, as the audience expected him to have the wife in the end. So the idea arose whether to entrust either James Cagney or Fred MacMurray with the role. An alternate ending with the death of Tim Baker was apparently filmed but discarded after an early preview with a protesting audience. The scenes that showed the elaborately filmed wedding between Tim and Carol at the end of the film have been deleted. The PCA also objected to scenes that suggested a sex affair between Tim and Carol and scenes in which a lot of alcohol was drunk. However, these problems were resolved and the film was approved. Henry Fonda , Don Ameche, and Mary Beth Hughes were named for the film, but ended up not in the party.

According to the Hollywood Reporter , parts of the film were shot at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank. The Dunkirk sequences were created at Point Magu near Oxnard in California and on an artificial lake on the Twentieth Centurg-Fox site. There were over 1,100 extras on set, most of whom were American Army veterans. It took more than 2,000 special effects explosions, which cost between $ 190 and $ 250. Further filming took place in Santa Ana , California. A German Messerschmitt aircraft that was shot down by the RAF and used in the film was later shown in an exhibition, the proceeds of which went to British war victims. On January 24, 1942, it was reported that Lt. Harold Barlow, who doubled Tyrone Power in the flight scenes, was shot down and taken prisoner in Germany. Some of the film's footage was later used in documentaries.

Soundtrack
  • These Foolish Things , music: Jack Strachey and Harry Link, can be heard several times in the film
  • Hi-Ya, Love, music: Ralph Rainger, text: Leo Bobin, performed by Betty Grable and choir
  • Another Little Dream Won't Do US Any Arm, everything as before
  • She'll Be Comin 'Round the Mountain When She Comes , played after Baker's plane landed in Canada and several times in the film
  • Bless' em All , written by Fred Godfrey, played as Baker waits backstage for Carol
  • I've Been Working on the Railroad , played when Baker drops the leaflets over Berlin
  • RAF March Past , music: Walford Davies

Theatrical release

  • USA : September 25, 1941 (premiere in Chicago in Illinois + in Hollywood)

Hollywood Reporter reported that Power and Grable attended the film's Hollywood premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theater , which attracted 10,000 people.

  • USA: September 26, 1941 (in theaters generally)

The working titles in the USA were a) The Eagle Flies Again b) The Eagle Squadron ; as an alternative to A Yank in the RAF , the spelling was also A Yank in the RAF or, for information, A Yank in the Royal Air Force .

  • In Australia the title was spelled: A Yank in the RAF
  • Sweden: February 9, 1942, Title: En Yankee
  • Mexico: February 26, 19442, Title: Un Yankee en la RAF
  • Portugal: April 4, 1942, Title: Um Americano na Aviação
  • Finland: June 28, 1942, title: Meidän lentäjien kesken
  • France: November 8, 1946, title: Un yankee dans la RAF
  • Hong Kong: March 27, 1947
  • Italy: June 13, 1947, title: Il mio avventuriero
  • Brazilian title: Um Yankee na RAF
  • Chilean title: Un americano en la RAF
  • Spanish title: Un americano en la RAF
  • Greek title: Stin kolasi tis Dougerkis
  • Polish title: Jankes w RAF-ie

criticism

TimeOut found the film to be hasty and superficial in the action sequences, as well as in the scenes involving personal relationships. Grable routinely offers a few songs and dance numbers that are also not convincing, to say the least.

Variety felt that Tyrone Power played the role with a slightly nonchalant demeanor, which earned it the attention of the general public. Grable play, as usual excellent, the girl who contradicts Power but ultimately has nothing to oppose it.

Award

Fred Sersen and Edmund H. Hansen were nominated for an Oscar in the category "Best Special Effects / Visual Effects" for their work in this film at the 1942 Academy Awards , but could stand up to the film I Wanted Wings and their colleagues Farciot Edouart , Gordon Jennings and Louis Mesenkop do not enforce.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d A Yank in the RAF at TCM - Turner Classic Movies (English)
  2. ↑ A Yank in the RAF at TCM (English)
  3. ↑ A Yank in the RAF article at TCM (English).
  4. ↑ A Yank in the RAF at timeout.com, accessed January 8, 2016.
  5. ↑ Review: A Yank in the RAF In: Variety, accessed on January 8, 2016.