Fighter Squadron (1948) on Netflix
Fighter ace Major Ed Hardin ignores the rules of engagement his commanders set at his English base in 1943. His friend and commanding officer, Colonel Bill Brickley, has the headaches.
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- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.2/101,143 votes
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Plot summary
In England in 1943, Sergeant Dolan connives and manipulates the men around him at their American air base. Major Ed Hardin is an insubordinate fighter ace who ignores the rules of engagement laid down by Brigadier General M. Gilbert. Hardin's friend and commanding officer, Colonel Bill Brickley, has to put up with it. When Major General Mike McCready promotes Brickley to get a new squadron into shape, Brickley names Hardin as the officer to take his place, and McCready agrees despite his doubts.
Cast
- Bill McLeanas Pvt. Wilbur
- Mickey McCardleas Jacobs
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Fighter Squadron (1948)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Rock Hudson made his film debut in an uncredited pilot role while under personal contract to director Raoul Walsh, who rode him hard on set. It took 38 takes to get a good version of Hudson's first line, "You've got to get a bigger blackboard."
- The film's rule barring pilots from marrying came from the real-life 4th Fighter Group, whose fliers called themselves "Blakeslee's Bachelors"; when one married, the group's commanding officer, Col. Donald J. M. Blakeslee, had him transferred to another unit.
- Warner Bros. recycled Max Steiner's main theme from the Errol Flynn film Dive Bomber (1941) as Fighter Squadron's main theme, then reused the same march for Operation Pacific (1951) and again, in 1959, for Up Periscope.
- The fighter group flew 16 Republic P-47 Thunderbolts provided by Air National Guard units in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, while eight North American P-51 Mustangs from the California Air National Guard, wearing ersatz German markings, played the Luftwaffe fighters.
- Some of Fighter Squadron's aerial combat scenes used previously unreleased color footage shot by director William Wyler for his documentary, Thunderbolt! (1947).
