''Flat Top'' (also released as ''Eagles of the Fleet'') is a 1952 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

filmed in

Cinecolor Cinecolor was an early subtractive color-model two-color motion picture process that was based upon the Prizma system of the 1910s and 1920s and the Multicolor system of the late 1920s and the 1930s. It was developed by William T. Crispinel and ...

, directed by

Lesley Selander Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Westerns and adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to 1968. Before that, Selander was ...

and starring Sterling Hayden, with early appearances from Phyllis Coates,

Jack Larson Jack Edward Larson (February 8, 1928 – September 20, 2015) was an American actor, librettist, screenwriter and producer best known for his portrayal of photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on the television series '' Adventures of Superm ...

, Richard Carlson, and

William Schallert William Joseph Schallert (July 6, 1922 – May 8, 2016) was an American character actor who appeared in dozens of television shows and films over a career spanning more than 60 years. He is known for his roles on '' Richard Diamond, Privat ...

. The film earned William Austin an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for Best Film Editing in 1953.

Plot

The film begins on board an aircraft carrier off from the coast of Korea during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. Commander Collier (

Hayden Hayden may refer to: Places Inhabited places in the United States *Hayden, Alabama *Hayden, Arizona *Hayden's Ferry, former name of Tempe, Arizona *Hayden, California, former name of Hayden Hill, California *Hayden, Colorado * Hayden, Idaho *Hayd ...

) is the Commander Air Group (CAG), or Air Boss, in charge of air operations on the carrier, or 'flat top'. When asked about how he first handled his job, he goes back to the time of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, where the rest of the film takes place. Told in flashback form, Collier recounts the war in the Pacific, working flight ops on the same carrier as the Fighter Squadron Commander with a new Executive Officer, LT Joe Rogers ( Carlson), and getting a group of fighter pilots ready for the tough fight to come against the Japanese.

Cast

* Sterling Hayden as Cmdr. Dan Collier * Richard Carlson as Lt. (j.g.) Joe Rodgers * William Phipps as Red Kelley (as Bill Phipps) * John Bromfield as Ens. Snakehips McKay * Keith Larsen as Ens. Barney Smith / Barney Oldfield *

as Ens. Longfellow *

Todd Karns Roscoe Todd Karns (January 15, 1921 – February 5, 2000) was an American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for playing George Bailey's younger brother, Harry Bailey, in the 1946 film ''It's a Wonderful Life''. Early life Karns was the so ...

as Judge * Phyllis Coates as Dorothy Collier * Dave Willock as Willie * Walter Coy as Air Group Commander *

as "Scuttlebutt" Sailor

References

External links

* 1952 films 1952 drama films 1950s war drama films 1950s English-language films American war drama films Films directed by Lesley Selander Films produced by Walter Mirisch World War II aviation films Cinecolor films Pacific War films Monogram Pictures films 1950s American films {{war-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links