Hell Divers

Hell Divers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	George W. Hill (uncredited)
Produced by	George W. Hill
Written by	Frank Wead Harvey Gates Malcolm Stuart Boylan
Starring	Wallace Beery Clark Gable
Cinematography	Harold Wenstrom Charles A. Marshall
Edited by	Blanche Sewell
Production company	George Hill Productions
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Release date	January 16, 1932
Running time	109 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$821,000
Box office	$2,161,000

Hell Divers is a 1932 American film starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations on board the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga, including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.

Hell Divers was officially Gable's first "starring" role and filmed before he grew his trademark mustache. Gable had appeared in a minor supporting role in another Beery film, The Secret Six, earlier the same year. For Gable, Hell Divers was not a pleasant experience since he was again billed beneath Beery, an actor he personally disliked. Three years later, Gable would be billed over Beery in the lavish epic China Seas, one of only four films during the sound era in which Beery did not receive top billing. Other actors appearing include Conrad Nagel, Dorothy Jordan, Marjorie Rambeau and Marie Prevost. An uncredited Robert Young appears near the end of the film in a speaking role as Graham, a pilot.

Chief Petty Officer "Windy" Riker (Beery)is a veteran aerial gunner of a Navy Helldiver dive bomber and the leading chief of Fighting Squadron One, about to go to Panama aboard the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier. He loses his five-year title of "champion machine gunner" after young C.P.O. Steve Nelson (Gable) joins the squadron. Windy, notorious for using his fists to enforce discipline, is charged by local police with wrecking a Turkish bath. Windy is saved from arrest, however, when Lieutenant Commander Jack Griffin ( Miljan), skipper of the squadron, intervenes on his behalf. Griffin and his second-in-command, Lieutenant "Duke" Johnson (Nagle), agree that Nelson is the best candidate to replace Windy as he ponders retirement.