Dive Bomber

Although the ending was not expected, the success of the test proved important to pilots in the future.

I remember back when I was a kid this movie would occasionally come up on our B&W TV. I didn't know it was in COLOR until we got a color TV , maybe 40 years ago, now. When it came out in VHS , I bought it and discovered it was in COLOR , showing the spectrum of late Pre-War USN aircraft (Douglas TBDs, Grumman F3Fs,Vought SB2Us, NAF N3Ns,Northrop BT-1's, etc) that were later overshadowed and obsoleted by the WWII Generation of USN machines. my VHS equipment eventually died and I waited, and waited for it to be released in DVD / Blue-Ray. Finally it is here ! From a visual standpoint , this is a feast for the markings historian and aviation enthusiast !. The Story - allegedly a paean to the Flight Surgeons of the USN - is a little thin, though. The comparatively crude medical equipment seen in the movie is a reminder of just how far Aviation Medicine has come since 1939. As a pilot, I was intrigued with the fact that all the pilots and doctors smoked (!) in practically every scene - even in the ambulance after the obligatory crash scene. Ralph Bellamy (was he EVER young?) stars as the crusty Flight Surgeon who inspires Errol Flynn (also an M.D.) to volunteer for flight training. When I started my own flight instruction years later, I was scared to death that my "Schneider Index" ( the Bogey Man of this movie) would ground me too, until I was told (by a kindly AME) that there was no such thing! I also had to laugh over the scenes where Navy Aircrew suited up with high altitude diver-like suits, then crawled into the Douglas TBD ( a low altitude torpedo bomber) so they could make low altitude formation passes over NAS North Island.. The scenes of the Grumman F3F ( Fred MacMurray - in the above-mentioned high altitude rig - piloting) climbing to altitude (with the canopy open) , are alone worth the price of the movie ! But - notwithstanding the above gaffes, this is one of the best (if not THE Best) of the late Pre-War movies about U.S. Airpower. Highly recommended!

Film might have been better titled "Flight Surgeon" since it follows Flynn's character. A Navy doctor in Honolulu is on hand as the air group from Enterprise flies in with a show for the brass. The oldest member of a trio that won a trophy for the Navy at the Cleveland air races is about to settle down in Hawaii with his wife that he met in Ohio. He blacks out in the demonstration, crashes, and dies on the operating table later from severe spinal cord injury. His buddies blame the doctor for insisting on an immediate operation. He is later challenged by the two to put in the hours and become a full fledged flight surgeon. He decides to do just that and meets up with them again, as they are assigned to San Diego as flight instructors, After earning his wings grudgingly from them, he decides to stay with the resident researcher and tackle g-force blackouts and altitude sickness.There are so many planes to be seen here in prewar squadron colors and neutrality gray. Continuity is sometimes sacrificed in editing.Most of the footage involves N3N, F2A, F3F, TBD, SB2C, SB2U and what might be a Ryan ST-A Special with a cowled radial engine and fixed gear as a lend lease plane being ferried to England via Canada from the American manufacturer. You can also spot BT, F11C fixed gear, PBY, PB2Y, SNJ and who knows what else in the background. Near the end, it is hard to tell if we are seeing the XC-35 painted o.d. overall with black Navy and "X" markings, or a Lockheed 10 intended to look like it.

Well made with great characters! 👍👍

This showed what led up to and the development of the G-Suit.

Fun movie to watch. Lots of old Navy planes, decent acting. I haven't seen it since I was a teenager, nice to see again.

Overlooked oldie. An extraordinarily well filmed story about the pre-WWII Naval aviation struggle to come up to par immediately before Pearl Harbor. Great background shots of San Diego, the Del Coronado Hotel, and North Island Naval Air Station. Some of the plot and dialog is foirmulaic, but consider that the Second World War in Europe was already in its second year. Some of the science and high altitude pressurization concerns were genuine. Errol Flynn was never better, and the supporting cast is sold. Good depiction of the social life and the Night and Officers Clubs in San Diego. A sobering thought; some of the pilots and crews from the squadrons flying the TBDs, Buffalos, and Vindicators off the SARATOGA and the ENTERPRISE in the movie would be lost at Midway a little more than a year later..The technicolor restoration is very well done; probably only the Wizard of Oz and GWTW were as good. A flag waver but in a good cause; the firstof the "preparation" movies and maybe the best. (The nit pickers and revisionists will have a field day, but that crowd can never be happy: remind yourself that none of the great movies could have enchanted us but for a dependency on a "willing suspension of disbelief").

A average movie to watch

amazon sempre puntuale e preciso, il film buono trama bella e commovente ,film d'altri tempi ,un FLINT datato ma godibile

very fast! As described. Bravo!

this film is absolutly superb from start to finish well acted this was one of the finest perfomances from the legendary errol flynn as a doctor serving with the us navy looking at ways to get rid of g forces when these type of planes dived on to there targets although no combat this film spotlights on all aspects of this technical itch but finally overcome set just before pearl harbour that day when this brought america into war highly recomended

Vous voulez voir Errol Flynn avec une moustache encore plus fine que d' habitude en médecin militaire obsédé par les recherches sur « le voile noir », symptôme des aviateurs (ils tombent dans les pommes) qui survient lors de leur bombardement en piqué, ou sur le mal d' altitude ? ce film est pour vous !Durant les 127 mn de la projection de "Dive Bomber" (1941), on est passionné par la pugnacité d' Errol Flynn à vouloir solutionner ces questions physiologiques avec l' aide de son supérieur Ralph Bellamy, et celle beaucoup plus difficile à gagner de Fred MacMurray. Même la belle Alexis Smith, sa future partenaire dans "Gentleman Jim" (1942) de Raoul Walsh (celui qui n' a pas vu ce film ne sait ce qu' est le cinéma. Vive Raoul !), n' arrive pas à le détourner de son travail.La réalisation de Curtiz est au cordeau. La qualité des transparences et des surimpressions est de premier ordre. On peut y admirer aussi de belles formations aériennes. De gros moyens ont été mis à la disposition du Hongrois. Belle photographie en Technicolor aux tons pastels de Bert Glennon et Winton C. Hoch. L' histoire bénéficie de la caution de Frank Wead de l' aviation de la Marine américaine. À noter qu' il y a dans les dialogues de grosses charges contre le mariage. La musique de Max Steiner est par moment insupportable.Bonus:1) Un petit documentaire « Dive Bomber : Laissez-les voler » d' une durée de huit minutes avec des sous-titres français.2) La bande-annonce du film.Film en couleur de 1941. Durée de 127 mn environ. Format en 4/3.Version audio anglaise sous-titrée française. Pas de version audio française.Excellente copie.

Great colour film of pre-war US Navy air component.