Bombardier *** (1943, Pat O’Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley) – Classic Movie Review 11,016

‘Get on the target of Romance and Thrills! – when you see the picture that shows the making of the men making it hot for the Axis!’.

Cadets find out about the realities of war when they are trained for missions over Japan in director Richard Wallace’s 1943 black and white wartime film Bombardier, with a good mix of action, drama and romance. It stars Pat O’Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley, Eddie Albert, Walter Reed, Robert Ryan and Barton MacLane. It was an Oscar nominee for Best Special Effects.

Major Chick Davis (O’Brien) has set up a school to train the USAAF’s first generation of high-level bombardiers. Meanwhile, Major Chick Davis and Captain Buck Oliver (Scott} argue the importance of pilots versus bombardiers and compete for the favours of the lovely Burton Hughes (Shirley).

This World War Two wartime recruiting movie from RKO Radio Pictures is unsurprising material but it is well enough done and has a script that rattles along to a big finish. O’Brien and Scott are excellent. Understandably, the WW2 public liked the film, maybe finding the occasional clichés reassuring.

Randolph Scott is best known as a Western hero, but this is more evidence, if it is needed, of his range as a good, solid, dependable actor.

Also in the cast are Leonard Strong, Richard Martin, Russell Wade, James Newell, John Miljan, Charles Russell, Joseph King, Lloyd Ingraham, Abner Biberman, Neil Hamilton, and Robert Middlemass.

The twist in the story is that it is written by John Twist (and Martin Rackin), along with the screenplay.

Lambert Hillyer (uncredited) directed the flying sequences.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,016

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