''Flying Cadets'' is a 1941 American adventure film directed by Erle C. Kenton and written by

George Waggner George Waggner (September 7, 1894 – December 11, 1984) was an American actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for producing and directing the 1941 film '' The Wolf Man''. For some unknown reason, Waggner sometimes configured his ...

, Roy Chanslor and

Stanley Rubin Stanley Creamer Rubin (October 8, 1917 – March 2, 2014) was an American screenwriter and film and television producer born in New York City. He was the recipient of the Television Academy's first Emmy in 1949 for writing and producing (in colla ...

. The film stars

William Gargan William Dennis Gargan (July 17, 1905February 17, 1979) was an American film, television and radio actor. He was the 5th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1967, and in 1941, was nominated for the Academy Award for Be ...

Edmund Lowe Edmund Dantes Lowe (March 3, 1890 – April 21, 1971) was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. Biography Lowe was born in San Jose, California. His father was a local judge. His childhood home was a ...

, Peggy Moran,

Frank Albertson Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'' (1960). Early life Albertson was a nat ...

Frankie Thomas Frank Marion Thomas Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006), was an American actor, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II radio, and in early television. He was ...

and Riley Hill. ''Flying Cadets'' was released on October 24, 1941, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Plot

At the Monarch Airport, Bob Ames (

) is excited his new flight school to train future military pilots, is ready to open. His partner, "Trip Hammer" (

), tells him that financing has come from Bob's girl friend, Kitty Randall ( Peggy Moran)and her father. Kitty is currently taking flying lessons from Trip. Trip gets a phone call from Bob's brother, Captain Rodcliffe "Rocky" Ames (

), a World War I hero now a soldier of fortune, who agrees to help with the flying school, in exchange for Trip taking care of his gambling debts in New York. Trip convinces Bob that the school needs Rocky's name to attract customers, as well as a government training contract. Trip is right, the school begins attracting students from across the country, but Rocky has immediately annoyed Bob when he flirts with Kitty. Rocky takes Kitty up for a flying lesson, but he is forced to make a sensational landing when Kitty breaks off a wheel during a simulated forced landing. With the cadets begin flying training, Bob provides the classroom instruction, Trip the mechanics, and Rocky the flight training. The top student is Newton Adams (

), Rocky's long-lost son. Trip found out the secret and agrees to keep it to himself. Problems soon arise with Newton having a hard time learning to fly from Rocky, who also is jilted when Kitty declares he is "old enough to be her father." With "Pinkie" Taylor ( John Maxwell), a government inspector on the premises, a future aircraft design contract is in jeopardy with Rocky considering quitting to fight in China. Trip accuses him of running away from every responsibility he has ever had and the next morning, a drunken Rocky returns to the flight school. Later, Rocky flies Bob's new experimental design but fears the aircraft is unsafe. If equipped with a parachute to stop spins, it could be made safe to fly. Newton, trying to prove himself to his father, takes the experimental aircraft up. Trip breaks the news to Rocky that the boy is his son. Realizing that inexperienced pilots will die in a spin, Rocky flies to his son, tells him by radio, how to activate the spin 'chute, but Rocky is distracted and crashes. Bob later redesigns his aircraft to be safe and receives a contract from the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

. Newton graduates, and, with other cadets, goes to enlist at air bases. Rocky recovers from his injuries and is finally reunited with his wife Mary (

Louise Lorimer Louise Lorimer (born Louise Knapp Pinkham, July 14, 1898 – August 12, 1995) was an American actress who played character roles on Broadway, in films, and on television in a career lasting over six decades. Life and career Born Louise Knapp Pi ...

Cast

as "Trip" Hammer *

as Captain Rockcliffe Ames * Peggy Moran as Kitty Randall *

as Bob Ames *

as Newton R. Adams * Riley Hill as Barnes * Charles Williams as Mr. Prim * John Maxwell as "Pinkie" Taylor *

George Melford George H. Melford (born George Henry Knauff, February 19, 1877 – April 25, 1961) was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMil ...

as Train Conductor * Arch Hendricks as Army Colonel *

as Mary Adams Ames

Production

''Flying Cadets'' was produced in the years before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when the United States government encouraged Hollywood studios to produce films that would encourage youth to join the resurgent armed forces, especially the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. ''Flying Cadets'' joined '' 20,000 Men a Year'' (1939), ''

I Wanted Wings ''I Wanted Wings'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and based on a book by Lieutenant Beirne Lay Jr. The film stars Ray Milland and William Holden. The supporting cast includes Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy, Constance Mo ...

'' (1941), '' Give Us Wings'' (1940) and others of that genre, as a patriotic "flag-waver".Wynne 1987, p. 161. Principal photography on ''Flying Cadets'' took place from May 12, to late May 1941. The aircraft featured in the film included: *

Stearman C3B Stearman is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975), American aviation pioneer * Richard Stearman (born 1987), English footballer * William Stearman (1813–1846) English cricketer * William L. Stearman (b ...

* Ryan STA * Fairchild 24C-8C * Brown B-3 * Harlow PJC-5 *

Taylorcraft B The Taylorcraft B is an American light, single-engine, high-wing general aviation monoplane, with two seats in side-by-side configuration, that was built by the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation of Alliance, Ohio.The Pittsburgh PressMove Sta ...

Reception

The contemporary film review of ''Flying Cadets'' by

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', noted, "For this low-budget Universal picture, which is like a hundred others off the line, is no more than a routine program-filler, no stronger than its weakest cliché, about a free-and-easy old-time flier who teaches at an aviation school and discovers — at the fearful climax, naturally — that his most neglected pupil is his own son." Aviation film historian James M. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984), had a similar reaction, saying that ''Flying Cadets'' (was) "a low-budget formula piece."Farmer 1984, p. 307.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * * {{Erle C. Kenton 1941 films American aviation films American adventure films 1941 adventure films Universal Pictures films Films directed by Erle C. Kenton American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films