Fighter Squadron
"If it had wings, they'd fly it! If it had skirts they'd fight for it!"
During World War II, an insubordinate fighter pilot finds the shoe on the other foot when he's promoted.
"If it had wings, they'd fly it! If it had skirts they'd fight for it!"
During World War II, an insubordinate fighter pilot finds the shoe on the other foot when he's promoted.
Edmond O'Brien
Maj. Ed Hardin
Robert Stack
Capt. Stuart L. Hamilton
John Rodney
Col. William 'Bill' Brickley
Tom D'Andrea
M / Sgt. James F. Dolan
Henry Hull
Brig. Gen. Mike McCready
James Holden
Lt. Tennessee Atkins
Walter Reed
Capt. Duke Chappell
Shepperd Strudwick
Brig. Gen. Mel Gilbert
Arthur Space
Maj. Sanford
During World War II, an insubordinate fighter pilot finds the shoe on the other foot when he's promoted.
Henry Hull ("Gen. McCready") is determined to find new ways to attack the Nazi air bases and support the impending D-Day landings, but is fresh out of ideas. One of his squadron commanders "Brick" (John Rodney) has some plans, though - but that necessitates the promotion of "Ed" (Edmond O'Brien) into a job that most think him unsuited for. He's an undisciplined character who thinks the rules are for someone else. Can he mend his ways and take charge of his squadron at this crucial time of the war? There's plenty of internal squabbling, rivalries, soul-searching, sabre-rattling and a slew of black cats - but, essentially this is really a post-war feel-good feature for domestic audiences with little actual jeopardy to what limited plot there is. It features plenty of exciting airborne actuality to keep it moving and the last fifteen minutes make the rest of this plodding wartime drama worth watching. It's curious that there are no women here at all to temper the testosterone!
Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into World War II. Gordon must send his outnumbered band of fighter pilots out against overwhelming odds while juggling the disparate personalities and problems of his fellow flyers.
Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root of the problem is the second in command, Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin. Griff is the best flier in the group but Kirby finds him a poor commander who is not prepared to make the difficult decision that all commanders have to make - to put men in harm's way knowing that they may be killed.
When the Great War breaks out, brothers Roy and Monte Rutledge, each attending Oxford University, enlist with the Royal Flying Corps.
Air Force reservist Lt. Col. Robert "Dutch" Holland is recalled into active duty at the peak of his professional baseball career.
A WWII veteran escapes his care home in Northern Ireland and embarks on an arduous but inspirational journey to France to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, finding the courage to face the ghosts of his past.
On Christmas Eve, a fighter pilot on his way home becomes lost while flying over water and needs a miracle to land safely.
In 1915 France, Major Brand commands the 39th Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. The young airmen go up in bullet-riddled "crates" and the casualty rate is appalling, but Brand can't make the "brass hats" at headquarters see reason. Insubordinate air ace Captain Courtney is another thorn in Brand's side...but finds the smile wiped from his face when he rises to command the squadron himself. Everyone keeps a stiff upper lip.
During the harrows of WWII, Jo, a young shepherd along with the help of the widow Horcada, helps to smuggle Jewish children across the border from southern France into Spain.
The first World War is in its third year and aerial combat above the Western Front is consuming the nation's favored children at an appalling rate. By early 1917, the average life-span of a British pilot is less than a fortnight. Such losses place a fearsome strain on Gresham, commanding officer of the squadron. Aces High recreates the early days of the Royal Flying Corps with some magnificently staged aerial battles, and sensitive direction presents a moving portrayal of the futilities of war.
Based on the true story of Oberleutnant Franz von Werra, the only German prisoner of war captured in Britain to escape back to Germany during the Second World War.