The USS Enterprise was filmed for Dive Bomber in the Spring of 1941, with Bull Halsey overseeing operations. Word is Bull did not kowtow to Kurtiz and wasn’t thrilled about having to have Hollywood hanging about his ship and crew, but bigwigs in Washington wanted this film, correctly believing it would be a hugely successful recruiting film. Bull, in turn, was very correctly anticipating and preparing for possible war in the Pacific. This is why many of the Air Groups’ aircraft (the Enterprise’s and Saratoga’s) are painted gray, rather than the much more colorful pre-war colors. At the request of Warner Brothers, some planes retained their original colors until completion of filming.
For Great Clips of the Big E and Air Group 6 in Dive Bomber:
— Tim
I am loving all these posts about Dive Bomber and the planes. I still think this film should be restored for Blu Ray since it is so rich with planes like no other film I have seen. Very cool.
Thanks, twinarchers. What a great idea. Dive Bomber really is a historical treasure of both aviation and cinematography. The planes really deserve co-star billing with Errol & MacMurray (and Alexis “Blonde Bomber” Smith.)
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