''We've Never Been Licked'' (or ''Texas Aggies'', ''Texas to Tokyo'', and ''Fighting Command'') is a 1943 World War II

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

film produced by

Walter Wanger Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...

and released 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 ...

. Released in the UK under the title, ''Texas to Tokyo'', it was re-released in the US as ''Fighting Command''. The cast features

Richard Quine Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...

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 ...

Martha O'Driscoll Martha O'Driscoll (March 4, 1922 – November 3, 1998) was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chic ...

, Noah Beery, Jr., and

William Frawley William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom ''I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy series ...

Plot

In 1938, Brad Craig (

), the son of a famous Army colonel, starts his freshman (

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

) year at the Agricultural & Mechanical College of Texas (now

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

). After spending the past four years in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, he has acquired both an intimate knowledge of

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ance ...

and a desire to invest in the modernization of Asia. At the train station, Brad is met by cadet “Cyanide” Jenkins ( Noah Beery, Jr.), his new roommate. He is also introduced to sophomore ( pisshead) cadet “Panhandle” Mitchell (

Robert Mitchum Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...

), who wastes little time in penalizing Brad for various violations of cadet conduct. As Brad adjusts to life on campus, he becomes romantically involved with Nina Lambert (

), the daughter of beloved chemistry professor “Pop” Lambert ( Harry Devenport). Following an artillery exercise, Brad observes that the brakes on his section's caisson appear to be damaged. Panhandle disregards Brad's concerns and orders the section to move out. When the brakes fail and the caisson goes careening out of control, Brad risks his life to improvise a solution and prevent a disaster. His actions save Cyanide's life and earn him Panhandle's respect. Brad is soon promoted to “fish sergeant” and his upperclassmen delight in exhausting him (smoking him out) by constantly staging fights and ordering Brad to intervene; he finally discovers the game and wreaks revenge. As Brad's college career progresses, he discusses marriage with Nina, who is secretly smitten with Cyanide (and he with her), though each is hesitant to disclose their feelings. During the Field Artillery Ball, Brad encourages Cyanide and Nina to dance together when they finally admit their mutual attraction. By the following year, they have become a couple with Brad's blessing. Meanwhile, Brad finds himself in a difficult position when his classmates are concerned about his support of Japan. Two

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asia ...

cadets, Kubo (Allen Jung) and Matsui (Roland Got), come to his aid, their justification of

Japanese war crimes The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have b ...

angers the others and earns Brad the contempt of his friends. While guarding the Chemistry Building one night, Brad discusses with Pop Lambert his invention that will protect servicemen from poison gas. Pop hides the formula in his office to prevent tampering, but after he departs, Brad is drugged and locked in a closet, but manages to escape, seeing Kubo and Matsui ransacking the professor's office. He trails the pair and confronts their employer, a traveling salesman (

) working for the Japanese. Having taken some papers from Pop Lambert's office, Brad offers to provide the formula in exchange for a bribe, but deliberately gives them a version of the formula missing a key element whose absence will render it useless. Brad is accused of treason for his actions, although the commandant does not have enough evidence to bring formal charges. Ostracized by the student body, Brad decides to leave the university. Months later, Brad is working for the

Japanese Navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

recording English-language propaganda for distribution in the United States. He is assigned to give radio commentary on an impending Japanese assault on the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

. The maneuver is detected and a U.S. Navy carrier group moves to intercept the Japanese fleet. While airborne to cover the battle, Brad manages to contact the U.S. fighter group, led by Cyanide, revealing his covert infiltration of the Japanese military and offering his services to the American forces. He crashes his own aircraft into the Japanese aircraft carrier, disabling the flight deck and giving the Americans the advantage. Brad dies as the carrier is destroyed and is posthumously awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

Cast

as Brad Craig *

as Nina Lambert *

as Deedee Dunhan * Noah Beery, Jr. as "Cyanide" Jenkins *

as Traveling Salesman * William Blees as Student * Harry Devenport as "Pop" Lambert *

Edgar Barrier Edgar Barrier (March 4, 1907 – June 20, 1964) was an American actor who appeared on radio, stage, and screen. In the 1930s he was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre and was one of several actors who played Simon Templar on ''The Saint'' ...

as Nishikawa *

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 ...

as Colonel Jason Craig *

Moroni Olsen Moroni Olsen (June 27, 1889November 22, 1954) was an American actor. Life and career Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Latter-day Saint parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Martha ( Hoverholst) Olsen, who named him after the Moroni found in the ...

as Commandant *

Roland Got Roland Got (1916-1948) was a Chinese American character actor who worked in Hollywood during the 1930s and 1940s. Biography Roland Got was born in San Francisco, California, in 1916 to William Got and Lilly Leong. His father, who immigrated fro ...

as Matsui *

Allen Jung Allen Jung (August 8, 1909 – September 12, 1982) was an American film and television actor who was active in Hollywood from the 1930s through the 1970s. Biography Allen was born in Oakland, California. He attended the University of Californi ...

as Kubo *

as "Panhandle" Mitchell (as Bob Mitchum) * Alfredo DeSa as Fortuno Tavares *

Bill Stern Bill Stern (July 1, 1907 – November 19, 1971) was an American actor and sportscaster who announced the nation's first remote sports broadcast and the first telecast of a baseball game. In 1984, Stern was part of the American Sportscaster ...

as Announcement * George Putnam as Army Hour Announcement

Production

Under the working title of ''Texas Aggies'', principal photography for the production took place from mid-November 1942 to early February 1943, Additional scenes were shot from March 30–31, 1943. ''We've Never Been Licked'' featured Lt. Commander

John Thach John Smith Thach (April 19, 1905 – April 15, 1981) was a World War II Naval Aviator, air combat tactician, and United States Navy admiral. Thach developed the Thach Weave, a combat flight formation which could counter enemy fighters of superior ...

as a technical advisor. The aircraft used in the film included

Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlan ...

fighters dressed up as Japanese aircraft,

Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/div ...

dive bombers,

Douglas TBD Devastator The Douglas TBD Devastator was an American torpedo bomber of the United States Navy. Ordered in 1934, it first flew in 1935 and entered service in 1937. At that point, it was the most advanced aircraft flying for the Navy and possibly for any na ...

, and

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

torpedo bombers. A group of training aircraft was also in the film: Beech AT-11 Kansan, Curtiss SNC,

North American AT-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

, and

Waco UPF-7 The Waco F series is a series of United States, American-built general aviation and military biplane Trainer (aircraft), trainers of the 1930s from the Waco Aircraft Company. Development The Waco 'F' series of biplanes supplanted and then repla ...

trainers.Farmer 1984, p. 334.

Reception

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 his review for ''

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 ...

'', noted ''We've Never Been Licked'', is: "'We've Never Been Licked', his (Wagner's) latest, which opened at Loew's Criterion yesterday, is a wildly romantic fiction based on the old rah-rah college formula." Aviation film historian Michael Paris in ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema'' (1995) dismissed ''We've Never Been Licked'', as "nonsensical".Paris 1995, p. 162. Aviation film historian James H. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984) agreed, stating that ''We've Never Been Licked'', was: "terribly contrived."''We've Never Been Licked'' earned a modest $283,724.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Bernstein, Matthew. ''Walter Wagner: Hollywood Independent''. Minneapolis, Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2000. . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema''. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. .

External links

* * * * {{Walter Wanger Texas A&M University 1943 films American aviation films American World War II propaganda films Films directed by John Rawlins Films produced by Walter Wanger American black-and-white films Films scored by Frank Skinner Films set in Texas Films set in universities and colleges Films shot in Texas American action films 1940s romance films Universal Pictures films 1940s English-language films