Made prior to America's involvement in WWII, DIVE BOMBER is an extravagant
propaganda piece filled with wall-to-wall with airplanes, bombastic music
blaring, cigarette smoke, dedicated men willing to give the greatest sacrifice
for their country and women who just love a man in uniform. The story is
pretty entertaining: a military doctor (Flynn) wants to solve the problems of
altitude sickness, especially the blackouts that occur during a steep
dive. He enters flight surgeon school, but his dashing ways clash with
pilot/teacher MacMurray (whom he had a previous run-in with) and senior doctor
Bellamy. After some headbutting they see how dedicated he is to the cause
and help him.
DIVE BOMBER is dated, but I still enjoyed it. The vivid Technicolor
photography wonderfully captures all of the great older aircraft and Navy ships
as well as the sprawling military base. Strong acting and the interesting
subject matter make the film fly by despite the 132-minute running time.
Is it historically accurate? I have no clue, but it is a fun watch. Check
it out!
