Dive Bomber
by Michael Curtiz
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alexis Smith, Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy, Robert ArmstrongDirector: Michael Curtiz
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Bert Glennon
Cinematographer: Winton C. Hoch
Editor: George Amy
Producer: Hal B. Wallis
Producer: Robert Lord
Writer: Frank Wead
Writer: Robert Buckner
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 132 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Movie Reviews of Dive Bomber
Movie Review: Golden Wings are the Star
Summary: 3 Stars
"Dive Bomber" has become somewhat of a cult film for aviation history buffs. The Hollywood quality color filming of Navy aircraft during the last days of golden wing schemes and some aircraft in pre-WWII gray make this DVD well worth it as a documentary. Now, if you are more inclined for film history and great past performances, I doubt thus will ever rate as a must see classic. Flynn's role as a dedicated Doctor with little other interest in wild adventure or women certainly makes an interesting footnote to casting, but otherwise, the aircraft have the most solid performance. That cigarettes play such a part in virtually every non-flying scene - no wonder these guys were passing out. Well worth it for aviation history but perhaps "Citizen Lame" for a classic film.
Summary of Dive Bomber
Visually exciting WWII drama about two naval officers who are trying to understand and prevent altitude sickness. The two men must get past their personal differences in order to conduct the experiments necessary to save lives.It's not the most he-manly endorsement imaginable, but Dive Bomber must be the prettiest aviation movie ever made. Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, and Ralph Bellamy top the cast, but the real star is Technicolor--in particular, a special Monopack developed to take the color process airborne without the cumbrous three-strip cameras used in the studios. Bert Glennon and Winton C. Hoch (once and future cameramen to John Ford) were Oscar-nominated for best color cinematography of 1941, but the flying footage was shot by Howard Hawks's aerial go-to guy Elmer Dyer (The Dawn Patrol, Only Angels Have Wings, Air Force) and Charles Marshall. For his part, director Michael Curtiz set up as many dialogue scenes as possible to include low-level flyovers by U.S. Navy Air Force squadrons. The onscreen results are often breathtaking (and beautifully served by the DVD mastering).
The drama is something else again. Dive Bomber is a bridge between the carefree service comedy-dramas of the '30s and the combat-themed movies that would kick in following December 7, 1941. Warner Bros. knew war was coming (their 1940 Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk had allegorically engaged Hitler!); the heroes here are the flight surgeons and test pilots racing to lick high-altitude sickness so that U.S. flyers would be able to get the drop on their Axis foes once "the main event" started. The best scenes are the lab tests, including an oxygen-deprivation experiment that makes striking use of Technicolor. But the script by aviation-ace-turned-screenwriter Frank "Spig" Wead alternates between two tiresome strategies: nonstop dissing of medicos Flynn and Bellamy by macho flyboys MacMurray and pal Regis Toomey, and low-comedy interludes deploring how exasperating women can be (Alexis Smith is a sacrificial victim in her stellar debut). In this last connection, John Ford's Wead biopic The Wings of Eagles would make an illuminating companion piece for Dive Bomber. --Richard T. Jameson
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