Captains of the Clouds (1942)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Arthur T. Horman (story) and
Roland Gillett (story) ...

Release Date:

21 February 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

Inspired by Churcill's Dunkirk speech, brash, undisciplined bush pilot Brian MacLean and three friends enlist in the RCAF but are deemed too old to be fliers.

Plot Keywords:

Provost Marshall | Luftwaffe | Three Strip Technicolor | Aerial Photography | Chorus Line

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

James Cagney	...	Brian MacLean (bush pilot)
Dennis Morgan	...	Johnny Dutton (bush pilot)
Brenda Marshall	...	Emily Foster
Alan Hale	...	Francis Patrick 'Tiny' Murphy (bush pilot)
George Tobias	...	Blimp Lebec (bush pilot)
Reginald Gardiner	...	Scrounger Harris (bush pilot)
Air Marshal W.A. Bishop	...	Himself
Reginald Denny	...	Commanding officer
Russell Arms	...	Louis 'Alabama' Prentiss
Paul Cavanagh	...	Group Captain
Clem Bevans	...	Sam 'Store-Teeth' Morrison
J.M. Kerrigan	...	Foster (storekeeper / Emily's father)
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Dr. Neville (from Churchtown) (as J. Farrell Macdonald)
Patrick O'Moore	...	Fyffe
Morton Lowry	...	Carmichael

Runtime:

114 min | Argentina:113 min | USA:113 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #7627)

Filming Locations:

Canada

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The training facility depicted in the movie, "Uplands Air Base," actually exists near Ottawa, Canada. After WWII, it served as a jet squadron training base and later as a military helicopter transport facility. In 1995, the Canadian government shut down the base and it now serves as a reception area for VIPs.

Quotes:

Francis Patrick 'Tiny' Murphy: You know MacLean?
Scrounger Harris: Yeah, I've met him, but I don't like him.
Blimp Lebec: You don't like him? You should know how I don't like him!
Brian MacLean: And why do you say that? You know, I've always been very happy to see you. Look at Tiny. He never used to like me. Now he hates me.
[to Willie]
Brian MacLean: Willie!
Willie: Hello! Happy landings!
Francis Patrick 'Tiny' Murphy: [to Blimp and Scrounger] Oh, come on and sit down. Come on, come on here.
[to Willie]
Francis Patrick 'Tiny' Murphy: Listen, Willie, we want four black coffees and some cake.
[...]

Soundtrack:

Captains of the Clouds

Bishop & Cagney - Together!

A great idea to shoot this picture in Canada AND in colour, as the scenery just wouldn't have had the same impact in black and white. Cagney, as bush pilot Brian McLean, is his typical bad-boy self. Something theater audiences around the world had come to expect. Some favorite lines: "If you're lookin' for me, I'll be the drunkest man in the biggest hotel in Ottawa", "I like to swipe my jobs honestly" or "You worked up enough lather to shave all of Montreal".

The first half of the picture seems to set up the conflict he initiates between he and Dennis Morgan back in the rugged bush country of Northern Ontario, while the second half resolves the conflict through Cagney's humbling. Brenda Marshall is stunning as a manipulative small-town tart. Her good sense, or lack of same, is painfully evident when she begs Morgan to "Please take me to Winnipeg!" I understand a North Bay area woman had the good fortune of doubling for Marshall during the scene where Cagney's plane brushes just above her head, as she waves at him from a haystack.

I got the biggest kick from the scene where Cagney and Hale go on and on about Billy Bishop, who is a native of a city in my local area (Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada). Everyone who grew up in Owen Sound and surrounding Grey County knows the name William Avery "Billy" Bishop, a legendary WWI flying ace, who had been promoted to Air Marshal during WWII. After viewing many still photos and silent films of Bishop, this was my first opportunity to see the man move, walk and talk. When I viewed COTC for the first time, I was stunned to find that the Owen Sound Library didn't yet have a copy of COTC (they assure me this is soon to be remedied), but the Bishop Heritage Museum in his native city definitely does and featured COTC on a "Movie at the Museum" night in early 2006.

To clarify a question by one of the previous reviewers, Air Marshal Bishop's comments to the Texan pilot ("Ahhh Texas! One of our most loyal provinces!") is clearly a joke. Bishop, who appears quite comfortable in front of the camera, was undoubtedly improvising with a little dry Grey County wit. Exhibiting a voice and manner that is a cross between Foster Hewitt and Lester Pearson, how can you deny Mr. Bishop was Canadian! I swore Alan Hale Sr. was going to thwack Cagney with his skipper's hat, he was so similar to his son, Alan Jr. of Gilligan's Island fame and seeing Abner Kravitz (of Bewitched fame) before he hitched up with Gladys is a treat, too. We even get a cameo of the actor who played Mr. Brewster from the Beverly Hillbillies. Some interesting TV connections to this 1942 flick.

The North Bay interest in this Hollywood movie, the first one shot entirely on location in Canada, is well documented. See the several pages on the "miscellaneous" link for this film from the North Bay Nugget. One link, on famous Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston's website, claims the flick was shot not far from her art studios on Trout Lake, near Corbeil.