International Squadron
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Lewis Seiler
Ronald Reagan
Olympe Bradna
James Stephenson
William Lundigan
Joan Perry
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
American flying ace Jimmy Grant is a daredevil when it comes to flying airplanes, but when his friend, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Charles Wyatt, encourages him to join the International Squadron of the RAF, Jimmy turns him down flat, saying that he intends to stay safe at home. Faced with a breach-of-promise suit, however, Jimmy agrees to deliver a new American-designed airplane to the RAF and leaves for Europe with his mechanic, "Omaha" McGrath. Over the airport, a heavy fog rolls in, and Charlie advises Jimmy to bail out of his plane, but Jimmy manages to land safely. The pilots who make up the squadron come from everywhere in Europe that the Nazis have invaded. The international crew even includes Americans such as Jimmy's friend, Lt. Rog Wilkins. Jimmy tries to interest his two friends in a night on the town, but both Charlie and Rog are now happily married and have no interest in chasing women. Left to his own devices, Jimmy pursues Jeanette, the young French woman who is assigned as his driver. While they are having dinner, the city is bombed by the Germans. Impressed by British courage and pluck and moved by the death of a child, Jimmy joins the RAF. Military discipline does not completely curb Jimmy's independent streak. During an air patrol, Jimmy's grandstanding results in the downing of a German bomber, but also causes the death of an RAF flyer. Only Charlie's intervention saves Jimmy from dismissal. Jimmy fails to take this lesson to heart, however, and when a dinner with Jeanette interferes with his patrol duty, he asks Rog to substitute for him. Even though Rog is exhausted by twenty uninterrupted hours of duty, he agrees and is shot down. After Rog dies, Jimmy wants to quit, but Charlie convinces him that it is his duty to continue Rog's job. Later Michele Edmé, Jeanette's boyfriend, draws the lot for a difficult mission. Jimmy, who believes he should be the one to risk his life, knocks Michele unconscious and takes the flight. Jimmy successfully completes the bombing mission, but is attacked by German planes before he can return home. After shooting down several planes, Jimmy is himself shot down and crashes to his death. At the airbase the squadron drinks a toast in tribute to him.
Cast
Ronald Reagan
Olympe Bradna
James Stephenson
William Lundigan
Joan Perry
Reginald Denny
Cliff Edwards
Julie Bishop
Michael Ames
John Ridgely
Charles Irwin
Addison Richards
Selmer Jackson
Holmes Herbert
Crauford Kent
William Justice
Tony Marsh
Dewolfe Hopper
Robert Winkler
Harry Harvey Jr.
Sonny Bupp
Shirley Coates
Marjorie Whately
Frank Faylen
Lucia Carroll
Jean Ames
Ann Edmonds
Gerard Cavin
Marten Lamont
Guy Kingsford
Tom Stevenson
Tom Skinner
William Roberts
Helmut Dantine
Ernest Lenart
John Meredith
Knud Kreuger
Ivan Molnar
George Kirby
Vernon Downing
Ernie Stanton
Doris Lloyd
Brenda Henderson
Frank Baker
Leyland Hodgson
Ottola Nesmith
Henry Rowland
Frederick Giermann
Pat O'hara
David Thursby
Cyril Thornton
Hugh Huntley
Louise Brien
Lowden Adams
Leslie Denison
Harry Lewis
Alice Talton
Will Stanton
Crew
Robert Burks
Kenneth Gamet
Edmund Grainger
Esdras Hartley
Jesse Hibbs
Byron F. Kennerly
Robert B. Lee
Frank Magee
Ted Mccord
Howard Shoup
Barry Trivers
James Van Trees
Perc Westmore
Harold Winston
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film begins with the following written dedication and quotation: "To the men of the Royal Air Force...and to those exiled flyers who still fight for their homelands in England's skies...this story is respectfully dedicated. 'Never before in the field of human conflict have so many, owed so much, to so few....'-Winston Churchill."
The film's working title was Flight Patrol. News items in Hollywood Reporter add the following information about the production: Both Dennis Morgan and Humphrey Bogart tested for parts in the film. Footage of actual fighting between British Spitfires and German Messerschmitts and Heinkels and a London air raid were shot by technicians from Warner Bros.' Teddington studios in London and shipped to the United States for inclusion in the film. This was the last film of actor James Stephenson, who died soon after the film finished shooting. A press release dated April 16, 1941 identifies technical advisor Byron Kennerly as a pilot officer in the Eagle Squadron of the RAF. Lothar Mendes is listed as director in the early Hollywood Reporter production charts and, although Lew Seiler is credited on the screen, both Film Daily and New York Times reviews give directing credit to Mendes. Frank Wead's play was also the basis for the 1936 Warner Bros.' film Ceiling Zero, starring James Cagney and Pat O'Brien and directed by Howard Hawks (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.0640).
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1941
Released in United States 1941
