Men of the Fighting Lady ** (1954, Van Johnson, Walter Pigeon, Louis Calhern, Dewey Martin, Keenan Wynn, Frank Lovejoy) – Classic Movie Review 13,034

MGM’s 1954 film Men of the Fighting Lady is based on the true-life story The Forgotten heroes of Korea by James A Michener , and stars Van Johnson, Walter Pigeon, Louis Calhern, Dewey Martin, Keenan Wynn, and Frank Lovejoy.

‘TORN OUT OF A TORTURED SKY! ‘ ‘MGM presents the heroic story of what happened to the MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY’

Director Andrew Marton’s 1954 MGM colour war film Men of the Fighting Lady is based on the true-life story The Forgotten heroes of Korea by James A Michener , and stars Van Johnson, Walter Pigeon, Louis Calhern, Dewey Martin, Keenan Wynn, and Frank Lovejoy.

Fleshing out their meagrely drawn characters, MGM’s top-line players put some much-needed oomph into this modest Korean wartime adventure centring on the life of US Navy bomber plane pilots on an aircraft carrier.

Alas, Art Cohn’s script – based on a true-life story by James A Michener who was there at the time – is not very exciting and the production is not up to MGM’s finest. But the film is unexpectedly short (only 79 minutes), sincere and intense, and always watchable for the planes, action and the stars (especially Pigeon as the commander Kent Dowling and Calhern as the famous writer James A Michener). Main star Van Johnson is less interesting as Lieutenant Howard Thayer. It is easy to view it as a forces recruitment film, but it still feels quite realistic, and it is notable as an unusual kind of film for escapist minded studio MGM.

Also in the cast are Robert Horton, Bert Freed, Lewis Martin, George Cooper, Dick Simmons, Ann Baker, Jerry Mathers, Dorothy Patrick, Steve Rowland, Sarah Selby, Paul Smith, Ed Tracy, Chris Warfield, Teddy Infuhr, and Jonathan Hale.

Art Cohn’s script is also based on the story The Case of the Blind Pilot by  Commander Harry A Burns USN.

Men of the Fighting Lady is directed by Andrew Marton, runs 80 minutes, is made and released by MGM, is written by Art Cohn, is shot in Anscocolor by George J Folsey, is produced by Henry Berman, is scored by Miklos Rozsa, and is designed by Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse.

It premiered on May 7, 1954 in New York City.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,034

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