Directed by:
Michael CurtizComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Reginald Gardiner, Reginald Denny, Paul Cavanagh, Russell Arms, Clem Bevans (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
For several years, bush pilots Johnny Dutton, Tiny Murphy, Blimp Lebec and Scrounger Harris have shared the work in their area of Canada. To their dismay, they now find that they are often beaten to the jobs by a new flier, Brian MacLean. Determined to get their revenge, Johnny, Tiny, Blimp and Scrounger chase Brian's airplane and force him to land near the store owned by Foster and his gold-digging daughter Emily, who is also Johnny's fiancée. While leaving his plane, Brian slips and injures his head. When Johnny sees how bad the injury is, he flies to the nearest town to fetch a doctor. By the time Johnny returns, the lake is fogged in, so the other pilots light bonfires to guide him. Johnny lands safely with the doctor, who performs an emergency operation. Although Emily begs Johnny to take her with him when he leaves, Johnny is determined to earn enough money to start his own airline before they get married. Brian stays behind to recuperate, and during his convalescence, he and Emily grow attached to each other. When Johnny returns, he invites Brian to join him and Tiny in a job flying explosives to a mine. Brian agrees after he learns of the heroic effort Johnny made to save his life and breaks off his relationship with Emily for the same reason. The three pilots make enough money for Johnny to start an airline with his share. Brian warns Johnny that if he marries the gold-digging Emily he will not have the money for long, and Johnny angrily strikes out at him. Brian knocks Johnny unconscious in the fight and, determined to prevent his friend from making a serious mistake, marries Emily himself. Johnny follows them to Ottawa, but when he learns that they are married, he gives his pay to charity and joins the Royal Canadian Air Force. Now that he knows Johnny is safe from Emily, Brian gives her his pay and leaves her for good. Back in the woods, the other pilots, inspired by a speech by Winston Churchill, join the air force too, but are disappointed to learn that they are too old to fly fighter planes. Their experience makes them valuable teachers, however. Brian has trouble adjusting to military discipline and, after he crashes a plane, is dismissed from the service. Then, during a military ceremony, Brian buzzes the field and causes Tiny's death. When an urgent call goes out to all pilots to help fly planes to England, Brian volunteers using Tiny's name as a pseudonym. Just outside of England, the pilots encounter a German Messerschmidt, whose pilot shoots at the defenseless planes. When Scrounger, who is acting as Brian's navigator, is killed, Brian defies orders once again and crashes his plane into the German, killing them both. Thanks to his efforts, the rest of the squadron files safely into England. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Willie Fung](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/279/158279912_b311a0.jpg)
Willie Fung
China
Best movies:
Lost Horizon (1937)
China Seas (1935)
The Letter (1940)
Walter Brooke
USA
Best movies:
The Graduate (1967)
East of Eden (1981) (series)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
![Miles Mander](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505316_a77091.jpg)
Miles Mander
UK
Best movies:
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Madame Curie (1943)
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
![Charles Irwin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/004/158004149_d11696.jpg)
Charles Irwin
Ireland
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
![Frank Wilcox](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000142_001f18.jpg)
Frank Wilcox
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
The Sea Hawk (1940)
![Pat Flaherty](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000248_6efdc2.jpg)
Pat Flaherty
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
![Tom Dugan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/873/159873605_cd34c1.jpg)
Tom Dugan
Ireland
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
![John Kellogg](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/515/159515994_eeec6d.jpg)
John Kellogg
USA
Best movies:
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Out of the Past (1947)
Samson and Delilah (1949)
Ray Montgomery
USA
Best movies:
White Heat (1949)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
Johnny Belinda (1948)
![Emmett Vogan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/932/159932788_480a5e.jpg)
Emmett Vogan
USA
Best movies:
Edison, the Man (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Scarlet Street (1945)
![John Hartley](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/011/160011751_eb7e83.jpg)
John Hartley
USA
Best movies:
The Lady Eve (1941)
Captains of the Clouds (1942)
![Harry Lewis](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/343/160343406_696c57.jpg)
Harry Lewis
USA
Best movies:
East of Eden (1981) (series)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
James Bush
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Out of the Past (1947)
Air Force (1943)
![Henry Rowland](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/506/160506722_27af6e.gif)
Henry Rowland
USA
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
East of Eden (1955)
The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
![John Gallaudet](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/484/160484129_52a219.jpg)
John Gallaudet
USA
Best movies:
In Cold Blood (1967)
Pickup on South Street (1953)
Birth of the Blues (1941)
William Wilkerson
USA
Best movies:
North West Mounted Police (1940)
Juarez (1939)
Key Largo (1948)
![Leslie Denison](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/894/160894321_e418da.gif)
Leslie Denison
UK
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
The Court Jester (1955)
![Don Dillaway](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/913/160913817_e6d55a.jpg)
Don Dillaway
USA
Best movies:
Storm Warning (1951)
The People Against O'Hara (1951)
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932)
![Tod Andrews](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/965/160965002_ba8ebc.jpg)
Tod Andrews
USA
Best movies:
Action in the North Atlantic (1943)
They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Dive Bomber (1941)
Morton Lowry
UK
Best movies:
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
How Green Was My Valley (1941)