''Ladies Courageous'' (also called ''Fury in the Sky'' in a 1950 Realart re-release) is a 1944 war film based on the novel ''Looking For Trouble'' (1941) by Virginia Spencer Cowles. Directed by John Rawlins, the film stars Loretta Young and Geraldine Fitzgerald. It tells the story of the paramilitary

Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) (also Women's Army Service Pilots or Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots) was a civilian women pilots' organization, whose members were United States federal civil service employees. Members of WASP became t ...

formed in the United States during

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 opposin ...

. Film historians and scholars consider ''Ladies Courageous'' an '' à-clef'' story of famed

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

Jacqueline Cochran Jacqueline Cochran (May 11, 1906 – August 9, 1980) was an American pilot and business executive. She pioneered women's aviation as one of the most prominent racing pilots of her generation. She set numerous records and was the first woman to br ...

and test pilot

Nancy Harkness Love Nancy Harkness Love (February 14, 1914 – October 22, 1976), born Hannah Lincoln Harkness, was an American pilot and airplane commander during World War II. She earned her pilot's license at age 16. She worked as a test pilot and air racer in th ...

's work to mobilize women pilots to contribute to the war effort.

Plot

In World War II, Roberta Harper (Loretta Young) leads the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), made up of 25 women who ferry aircraft across the United States allowing male pilots to be released for combat service. Despite their success, her commanding officer, Colonel Andy Brennan ( Richard Fraser) says that her pilots may not be able to handle dangerous missions. Roberta also has to contend with her impetuous sister, Virginia "Virgie" Alford (Geraldine Fitzgerald), and other concerns such as an affair involving Nadine Shannon ( Diana Barrymore), one of her pilots. Famous aerobatic pilot Gerry Vail (

Anne Gwynne Anne Gwynne (born Marguerite Gwynne Trice; December 10, 1918 – March 31, 2003) was an American actress who was known as one of the first scream queens because of her numerous appearances in horror films. Gwynne was also one of the most popula ...

), a member of "The Flying Vails", is afraid that her 100th flight may be her last, a fate that befell her father and brothers during their 100th performance. Roberta assures her that her 100th flight has already taken place. The WAFS soon have a real tragedy when one of their own, Jill Romilly ( Lois Collier), dies in a crash. With the depression that sets in among the women, a top-secret mission to deliver aircraft to "Easy Queen Island," a front line air base in the Pacific, appears to be the way to prove their worth to their army superiors. Roberta is mortified when publicity-seeking Virgie crashes her aircraft on purpose and is "washed-out" by her older sister. Roberta accepts the blame for tolerating Virgie's reckless behavior, and resigns from the WAFS. She then learns her husband Tommy (

Phillip Terry Phillip Terry (born Frederick Henry Kormann, March 7, 1909 – February 23, 1993) was an American actor. Early years Terry was born in San Francisco, California, the only child of German Americans, Frederick Andrew Kormann and Ida Ruth Voll. Hi ...

) is "missing in action". Virgie tries to make things right, but after stealing an aircraft to fly to army headquarters in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, crashes and nearly kills herself. Although the WAFS seems to be in disarray, a surprise announcement by Brigadier General Wade (

Samuel S. Hinds Samuel Southey Hinds (April 4, 1875 – October 13, 1948) was an American actor and former lawyer. He was often cast as kindly authority figures and appeared in more than 200 films until his death. Early years Hinds was born in Brooklyn, New Y ...

), a high-ranking Pentagon officer, changes everything. He informs Roberta, who has recently returned as their leader, that the unit is to be part of the military as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS). The ferry mission to the Pacific has also been reinstated. As the squadron readies for their new mission, Roberta is reunited with her husband, who returned home safely. The squadron is finally able to take off and head to the Pacific to deliver much-needed combat aircraft, including the latest fighter and bomber aircraft from American factories.

Cast

* Loretta Young as Roberta Harper * Geraldine Fitzgerald as irginia"Virgie" Alford * Diana Barrymore as Nadine Shannon *

as Gerry Vail *

Evelyn Ankers Evelyn Felisa Ankers (August 17, 1918 – August 29, 1985) was a British-American actress who often played variations on the role of the cultured young leading lady in many American horror films during the 1940s, most notably '' The Wolf Man'' (1 ...

as Wilhelmina Von Kronk *

as Major Tommy Harper * David Bruce as Frank Garrison * Lois Collier as Jill Romilly * June Vincent as Mary Frances Wright *

as Brig. General Wade * Richard Fraser as Colonel Andy Brennan *

Frank Jenks Frank Jenks (November 4, 1902 – May 13, 1962) was an acid-voiced American supporting actor of stage and films. Biography Early years Jenks was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and his mother gave him a trombone when he was 9 years old. By his ...

as "Snapper" Anthony Walgreen * Janet Shaw as "Bee Jay" * Kane Richmond as Alex Anderson

Production

''Ladies Courageous'' featured the onscreen notice, "... sanctioned by the United States Army Air Forces as the official motion-picture story of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron, now known as the Wasps, Women's Air Force Service Pilots." The genesis of the film came in 1942 when Colonel Mason Wright, the head of the War Department Bureau of Public Relations motion picture branch, contacted producer Walter Wanger to make a film about the WAFS. After approval of the script, under the working title of "When Ladies Fly", pre-production began with the choice of Loretta Young, under contract at Universal Pictures, as the lead, with Geraldine Fitzgerald, on loan from

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

, playing her younger sister. While director John Rawlins was about to begin principal photography, the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

reviewed its commitment to the project, demanding major script revisions and threatening to have the film closed down. Although the initial script had been approved, the USAAF was worried the film treatment was unsympathetic to women and that the film subject was no longer relevant, since on August 5, 1943, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) had absorbed the earlier organization."Notes: Ladies Courageous (1944)."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: August 14, 2014. Wanger argued that considerable financial commitment had already been made, but faced with opposition from the military, relented and agreed to the 13 changes that were demanded. Principal photography for ''Ladies Courageous'' at both Universal Pictures Studios and location shooting at the Long Beach Army Air Field in California began on August 23 and continued to early November 1943."Original print information: Ladies Courageous (1944)."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: August 14, 2014. With the renewed cooperation of the USAAF, a large number of operational aircraft were made available, including

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

and

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bombers, as well as Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, North American P-51 Mustang and

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

fighters and North American T-6 Texan trainers."Ladies courageous."
''Aerofiles''. Retrieved: August 14, 2014. The film was the first screenplay of prolific radio writer Doris Gilbert, daughter of Louis Wolfe Gilbert.

Reception

By the time the troubled production reached the screen, ''Ladies Courageous'' was already the subject of a congressional review of the formation of the Women Airforce Service Pilots. The film also struck a discordant tone with viewers and critics alike, who were not pleased with what '' Variety'' characterized as "... over-theatricalized" portrayals. Reviewer Thomas M. Pryor emphatically noted 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 ...

'' that "... 'Ladies Courageous' represents a very curious compliment to the WAFS on the part of its producer, Walter Wanger, and the Army Air Force, which sanctioned and participated in the making of the picture, now at Loew's Criterion. Such hysterics, such bickering and generally unladylike, nay unpatriotic, conduct on the part of a supposedly representative group of American women this reviewer has never before seen upon the screen."Pryor, Thomas M
"Ladies Courageous (1944); At Loew's Criterion."
''

'', March 16, 1944. A group of WASPS fliers happened upon the film being shown in an

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

, theater in 1944, and were astonished at the soap-opera histrionics exhibited by the characters on screen. They immediately dubbed the film "Ladies Outrageous". After ''Ladies Courageous'' recorded a net loss of $186,691, it was reissued postwar as ''Fury in the Sky'' in 1950, but did not fare much better with the public. More recent evaluations ranged from a lukewarm Leonard Maltin review - "Well-meant idea fails because of hackneyed script and situations ..." – to noted aviation film historian Bruce Orriss, who dismissed the film as "... little more than an embarrassment to the members of this earnest group of pilots."Orriss 1984, p. 86.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Bernstein, Matthew. ''Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Press, 2000. . * Dick, Bernard F. ''Hollywood Madonna: Loretta Young.'' Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2011. . * Haynsworth, Leslie and David Toomey. ''Amelia Earhart's Daughters''. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1998. . * Koppes, Clayton R. and Gregory D. Black. ''Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profits and Propaganda Shaped World War II Movies.'' New York: The Free Press, 1987. . * Merryman Molly. ''Clipped Wings: The Rise and Fall of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) of World War II.'' New York: New York University Press, 2001. . * Orriss, Bruce. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II''. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. .

External links

* * {{Walter Wanger 1944 films American drama films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films based on American novels Films directed by John Rawlins Universal Pictures films World War II aviation films World War II films made in wartime Films produced by Walter Wanger 1944 drama films 1940s English-language films