| Dive Bomber | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Dive_Bomber_-_Poster.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Screenplay by | Frank Wead Robert Buckner |
| Story by | Frank Wead |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis |
| Starring | Errol Flynn Fred MacMurray Alexis Smith Ralph Bellamy |
| Cinematography | Bert Glennon Winton C. Hoch |
| Edited by | George Amy |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 133 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,201,000[1] |
| Box office | $2,613,000[2][page needed][1] |
Dive Bomber is a 1941 American aviation drama film directed by Michael Curtiz,[3] and starring Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray and Alexis Smith. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. The film is notable for both its Technicolor photography of pre-World War II United States Navy aircraft and as a historical document of the U.S. in 1941.[4] This includes the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one of the best-known U.S. warships of World War II.
The film was the last of a collaboration between director Curtiz and actor Errol Flynn, which began in 1935 and spanned 12 films.[5] The cast also includes Fred MacMurray, on loan from Paramount Studios and Alexis Smith in her first credited screen performance. Flynn portrays a Harvard-educated doctor who is involved in heroic medical research on pilots, with MacMurray as the skeptical veteran aviator who gets swept up in the project. The plot is not historically accurate, but depicted in a near-documentary style, the film contains elements of true events that were involved in period aeromedical research, as well as real contemporary medical equipment.[6]
The vivid cinematography prompted the tagline: "The stunning spectacle of color rides with you into the heavens!"[7] Bert Glennon was nominated for an Oscar for Best Color Cinematography at the 14th Academy Awards in 1942. The film is dedicated to the flight surgeons of the U.S. armed forces "in recognition of their heroic efforts to solve the immensely difficult problems of aviation medicine".The film was a big hit at the box office, rounding out as the 19th-highest grossing film of 1941.
- ^ a b Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 20 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
- ^ Tranberg 2014
- ^ Dolan 1985, p. 63.
- ^ Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, pp. 57–58.
- ^ Kinnard and Vitone 1986, p. 74.
- ^ Beck, Sanderson. "Dive Bomber (1941)." san.beck.org, 2002. Retrieved: September 4, 2009.
- ^ Dive Bomber DVD, 2007.