Men of the Fighting Lady (1954)
Director: Andrew Marton
Starring: Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Louis Calhern
Synopsis:
A writer visits an aircraft carrier to hear an account of the exploits of a fighter-bomber squadron during the Korean War.
Impressions:
I wanted to see this because it was a story about carrier-based operations. Also, you don't see too many movies about the Korean War, so that was enough to get me in the door. The story is a mashup of two Saturday Evening Post articles. I liked the squadron dynamics and I was surprised with the overall cynicism about the war given the film's Pentagon backing, but I guess the way the DoD saw it, the story was a demonstration of how regardless of the politics our servicemen do what they have to do and get the job done. There's a lot of stock footage used plus footage of a harrowing crash on the Midway. It's not superlative cinema, but it's worth a watch at least.
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