''Operation Haylift'' is a 1950 American aviation film by

William Berke William A. Berke (born October 3, 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – died February 15, 1958 in Los Angeles, California) was an American film director, producer, actor and screenwriter. He wrote, directed, and/or produced some 200 films over a ...

starring Bill Williams,

Ann Rutherford Therese Ann Rutherford (November 2, 1917 – June 11, 2012) was a Canadian-born American actress in film, radio, and television. She had a long career starring and co-starring in films, playing Polly Benedict during the 1930s and 1940s in the And ...

, and Tom Brown. The film - a fictionalized account of a true story - documents the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

mission in 1948–49 to save thousands of cattle caught in the snowdrifts of a sudden winter storm in northern Nevada. "Operation Haylift" involved scores of cargo aircraft delivering hay to the stranded animals.

Plot

With their 10-year-old son Roy (Tommy Ivo), Bill ( Bill Williams) and Clara Masters (

) live in a ranch near

Ely, Nevada Ely (, ) is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. In 1906 copper was discovered. Ely's mining boom came later tha ...

. Bill's brother Tom ( Tom Brown), recently returned from serving as a pilot in the United States Air Force, is home to work on the ranch. When Bill and Tom capture rustlers, they earn a $5,000 reward from George Swallow (Joe Sawyer) of the Stockman's Association. Bill wants to use the money to buy more ranch land but he senses Tom does not have his heart in working at the ranch. When Bill sends for Tom's girlfriend Pat Rogers (Jane Nigh), they marry and leave for their honeymoon in Tahoe. On the way, the married couple meet Tom's old service buddy Max Maxwell (

Richard Travis Richard Charles Travis, (born Dickson Cornelius Savage; 6 April 1884 – 25 July 1918) was a New Zealand soldier who fought during the First World War and was posthumously decorated with the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry ...

) and his wife. Max has rejoined the Air Force and is about based on true story, He and his dog had to leave for Germany to take part in the

Berlin Airlift The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

. Tom also rejoins and leaves with Pat for Germany. When his tour finishes in 1948, he's back home, where the United States is experiencing first a drought, then a massive series of 18 blizzards in 27 days, which cripples Nevada. A state of emergency is declared and the U.S. Army and

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

units from Nevada and neighboring states are called out. In the winter, many sheep and cattle experience freezing temperatures and die of starvation. George Swallow calls ranchers proposing to seek the Air Force's help in dropping hay to the stranded animals. Bill is skeptical that the scheme will work. A fleet of 18

Fairchild C-82 Packet The C-82 Packet is a twin-engine, twin-boom cargo aircraft designed and built by Fairchild Aircraft. It was used briefly by the United States Army Air Forces and the successor United States Air Force following World War II. Design and develo ...

s arrive at Fallon Airport, with Tom scheduled to fly the first mission. The first flight is a great success and, while President Harry S. Truman requests emergency funds for the ranchers, the 62nd Troop Carrier Group continues its haylift operation. When Bill gets stuck in a snowdrift, he has to ride on horseback into Ely for help. Tom flies a mission to drop hay to Bill's animals and eventually, with the successful conclusion of Operation Haylift, thousands of tons of hay dropped over an area of 85,000 square miles saved a million head of cattle and two million sheep.

Cast

* Bill Williams as Bill Masters *

as Clara Masters * Tom Brown as Tom Masters *

Jane Nigh Bonnie Lenora "Jane" Nigh (February 25, 1925 – October 5, 1993) was an American actress. Early years Her sister Nancy was also an actress, and her mother worked in research at a film studio. Career She was discovered in 1944 by Arthu ...

as Pat Rogers * Joe Sawyer as George Swallow *

as Max Maxwell *

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

as Sandy Cameron * James Conlin as Ed North *

Tommy Ivo Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fi ...

as Roy Masters * M'Liss McClure as Mary Fairchild C-82

Production

Production of ''Operation Haylift'' took place in Ely, the center of the actual operation."Notes: 'Operation Haylift'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: May 24, 2016. The opening credits include the following written prologue: "This production was photographed entirely in Ely, Nevada, and was made possible through the cooperation of the Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force and the Department of Agriculture." In the months prior to production, producer Joe Sawyer and cameraman Benjamin Kline made six trips to Ely to arrange filming locations. Filming began on January 11, 1950, and was expected to last at least eight days. Primary filming locations included Ely's main street, the office of United Stockmen, various ranches, and Ely Airport. Ely's Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall was also used as a filming location, and also served as headquarters for the cast and crew. For filming, the United States Air Force provided C-82s from

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...

in Ohio. More than 200 local residents appeared in the film, primarily in crowd scenes. The film premiere took place in Ely on April 10, 1950. George N. Swallow, who was involved in the actual operation and served as a technical advisor for the film, was also largely responsible for getting the film to shoot in Ely. Swallow was also primarily responsible for the film's premiere taking place in Ely.

Reception

''Operation Haylift'' was a modest

B movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

whose "... most interesting moments come during sequences of the Flying Boxcars, lent by the Air Force for the film."Pendo 1985, p. 232. Aviation film historians Jack Hardwick and Ed Schnepf cynically dismissed ''Operation Haylift'' as "... good if you like to watch C-82s dropping hay."Hardwick and Schnepf, 1989, p. 60.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''The Making of the Great Aviation Films'', General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989. * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * * {{William Berke 1950 films 1950s adventure drama films Films set in Nevada American aviation films American adventure drama films Films directed by William A. Berke Lippert Pictures films American black-and-white films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films