Bombardier (film)
| Bombardier | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Richard Wallace |
| Produced by | Robert Fellows |
| Written by |
John Twist Martin Rackin |
| Starring |
Pat O'Brien Randolph Scott |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
| Edited by | Robert Wise |
| Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2 million (US rentals) |
Bombardier is a 1943 film war drama about the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott. Bombardier was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for the special effects used in the film. It was largely filmed at Kirtland Army Air Field, New Mexico, site of the first bombardier training school.
The film follows the training of six bombardier candidates, seen through the differences between the two USAAF pilots in charge of their training over the efficacy of precision bombing.
Brigadier General Eugene L. Eubank, commander of the first heavy bombardment group of the U.S. Army Air Forces to see combat in World War II, introduces the film with the statement:
I want you to know about a new kind of American soldier, the most important of all our fighting men today. He is most important because upon him, finally, depends the success of any mission in which he participates. The greatest bombing plane in the world, with its combat crew, takes him into battle, through weather, through enemy opposition, just so he may have 30 seconds over the target. In those 30 seconds, he must vindicate the greatest responsibility ever placed upon an individual soldier in line of duty. I want you to know about him, and about those who had the faith and vision and foresight to bring him into being, to fit him for his task, long months before our war began.
In 1941, at a staff meeting in Washington, D.C., two officers of the U.S. Army Air Corps (and old friends) debate the importance of bombardiers. Major "Chick" Davis (Pat O'Brien) argues that a bombardier, using the top secret American bombsight will be the "spearhead of our striking force." After a year of observing the Royal Air Force fight the German Luftwaffe, Capt. "Buck" Oliver (Randolph Scott) is not convinced a bomber can get "so close that a bomb can't miss" and that new pilots are the priority. Davis challenges Oliver to a "bombing duel" to test their respective points of view. Oliver, using a dive bomber, misses the stationary target with all his bombs, while Davis, bombing from 20,000 feet in a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, succeeds in hitting his target with his first bomb.
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