THE TRAIL OF THE LONESOME PINE (1936)

Way up in the mountains of Kentucky, the Falins and the Tollivers have been feudin' for so long nobody even remembers what for.  They just know they hate the hell out of each other and will shoot to kill on sight.  Jesus!  In the middle of this madness walks Fred MacMurray.  He works for the coal company and he wants to buy land from both the Tollivers and the Falins.  And while he's at it, he might just take a fancy to Henry Fonda's main squeeze...his own cousin!  Double Jesus!!

For 1936 I was really impressed by the colour photography.  Supposedly this was the first movie to use Technicolor for the outdoor sequences and they look great.  The story on the other hand...ehh, it was just alright.  The tension between the hillbilly Fonda and the city slicker MacMurray is pretty predictable and outside of just a few minor skirmishes, we never get to see the Falins and the Tollivers feudin' for really.  I wanted to see some straight up badass gunfights, but it never happened.  Also Fonda, even this early in his career, deserved better than playing some backwoods hick who hates sophisticated outsiders and their highfalutin book learning so much that he throws his young cousin's colouring book in the fireplace.  Even with such a one-dimensional character he still turns in a good performance.

One aspect that wasn't captured, would have been instead of Fonda wanting to marry his own cousin, is to have Fonda (before MacMurray shows up) having a secret courtship going with a Falin girl, but then when Fred shows up, he throws a monkey wrench in the works and stirring up the feud even more.  Just a thought.  Over an hundred years too late (the novel was written in 1908), but I think it would have liven things up a bit.  As it is though it's an alright classic Hollywood timewaster that's interesting thanks to early performances by MacMurray and Fonda.

DIVE BOMBER (1941)

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!

As best I can tell this is the filming location.