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As a general rule, stories set aboard aircraft carriers
tend to focus on flyers rather than on sailors. Still, this
is an interesting group of movies.
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| Air Strike (US, 1957, 63 mins) |
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| Commander instils spirit of co-operation
in his carrier-based fighter squadron. With Richard Denning,
Gloria Jean, Don Haggerty. Dir Cy Roth |
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| An Annapolis Story (aka The Blue and
the Gold) (US, 1955, 85 mins) |
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| Two brothers train at the Annapolis
naval academy, and serve together in the USNAF over Korea.
With John Derek, Kevin McCarthy, Diana Lynn. Dir Don Siegel |
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| Battle Stations (US, 1956, 81 mins) |
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| Routine story of heroics aboard a
US carrier in the Pacific theatre, narrated by the ship's
chaplain. With John Lund, William Bendix, Richard Boone.
Dir Lewis Seiler t |
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| The Bridges at Toko-Ri (US, 1954, 103
mins) |
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| Companion-piece to Men of the Fighting
Lady (see below); an adaptation of James A Michener's
story about a lawyer recalled to the USNAF during the
Korean war. With William Holden, Mickey Rooney, Grace
Kelly. Dir Mark Robson |
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| Dive Bomber (US, 1941, 130 mins) |
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| A story of the USNAF, emphasising
the contribution of the flight surgeon; scenes shot aboard
carriers USS Enterprise and Saratoga. With Errol Flynn,
Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy. Dir Michael Curtiz |
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| The Eternal Sea (US, 1955, 103 mins) |
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| Biography of the American admiral
John Hoskins, who lost a leg in WW2 but nevertheless went
on to command the carrier Princeton in the Korean conflict.
With Sterling Hayden, Dean Jagger, Alexis Smith. Dir John
H Auer |
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| Flat Top (aka Eagles of the Fleet) (US,
1952, 83 mins) |
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| Formula tale of new recruits and their
tough commander; set on board a carrier in the Pacific
in 1943. With Sterling Hayden, Richard Carlson, Keith
Larsen. Dir Lesley Selander |
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| Flight of the Intruder (US, 1991, 113
mins) |
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| Two USN flyers launch an unauthorised
attack on a Vietcong missile dump. With Danny Glover,
Willem Dafoe, Tom Sizemore. Dir John Milius |
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| Hell Divers (US, 1932, 113 mins) |
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| Standard tale of friendship and rivalry
in the USNAF; filmed partly aboard USS Saratoga and at
North Island Naval Base, San Diego. With Wallace Beery,
Clark Gable, Conrad Nagel. Dir George Hill |
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| I Bombed Pearl Harbor (aka Taiheiyo
no Arashi) (Japan, 1960, 108 mins) |
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| The story of a carrier-based Japanese
pilot, from the Pearl Harbor attack to the sinking of
his ship in the battle of Midway. With Y Natsuki, T Mifune,T
Shimura. Dir S Matsubayashi |
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| Landfall (GB, 1949, 88 mins) |
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| Navy flyer attacks what he believes
to be a U-boat, but is accused of sinking a British sub.
With Michael Denison, David Tomlinson, Patricia Plunkett.
Dir Ken Annakin |
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| Men of the Fighting Lady (US, 1954,
79 mins) |
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| Dramatisation of a series of articles
by James A Michener about an aircraft carrier in the Korean
war. With Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Keenan Wynn. Dir
Andrew Marton |
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| Navy (aka Kaigun) (Japan, 1943, 90 mins) |
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| Lavish production, conceived as a
tribute to Japan's navy flyers. Dir Tomotaka Tasaka |
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| Ships With Wings (GB, 1941, 103 mins) |
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| Love and war in the Fleet Air Arm;
includes scenes shot aboard HMS Ark Royal. With John Clements,
Leslie Banks, Ann Todd. Dir Sergei Nolbandov |
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| Slattery's Hurricane (US, 1949, 83 mins) |
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| A navy flyer puts his skills to work
post-war as a weather pilot.With Richard Widmark, John
Russell, Linda Darnell. Dir Andre De Toth |
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| Task Force (US, 1949, 116 mins) |
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| A US naval officer's career, reflecting
the gradual acceptance and deployment of aircraft carriers.
With Gary Cooper, Wayne Morris, Julie London. Dir Delmer
Daves |
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| This Man's Navy (US, 1945, 100 mins) |
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| Conventional tale of a braggart's
redemption; set in the US Navy Lighter-Than-Air Corps,
and filmed partly at the Navy Dirigible Base, Lakehurst,
New Jersey. With Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, James Gleason.
Dir William Wellman |
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| Top Gun (US, 1986, 110 mins) |
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| Rivalry between US Navy pilots - during
training at the Fighter Weapons School in San Diego, and
in action over the Indian Ocean. With Tom Cruise, Anthony
Edwards, Kelly McGillis. Dir. Tony Scott |
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| Wing and a Prayer (US, 1944, 98 mins) |
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| Problems of discipline aboard 'US
Carrier X' are resolved during the battle of Midway. With
Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe. Dir Henry Hathaway
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| The Wings of Eagles (US,1957, 110 mins) |
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| Romanticized biography of pioneer
naval aviator Frank Wead, who later became a Hollywood
scriptwriter. With John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara.
Dir John Ford |
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| Top Stories |
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