Mac and Butch marry, but their honeymoon is interrupted before it begins when the army transfers the reluctant private to a medical school in Texas. Medical school is not the best choice for McConnell, who is born to fly, so they transfer him to flight school. Mac is assigned to be a navigator and finishes the war fighting Nazis in Europe. A desk job in Nebraska after WWII proves less than satisfying, so when buddy Ty Whitman lets him know that the army is seeking experienced pilots for a new air corps, Mac volunteers to fly the new jet planes. War breaks out in Korea, and Mac signs up as a fighter pilot, becoming one of the army's two top flying aces. By 1953, he had gunned down 16 enemy aircraft, which were called MiGs, including three in one day. The latter feat made him the army's first triple ace. Mac is transferred back to the States to train new pilots. While testing the new F86h, the plane's controls freeze, and Mac dies when the aircraft crashes. His accident prompts modifications in the F86h, and Butch and Ty are comforted by the knowledge that his death will save the lives of future pilots.
In general, the Hollywood studios found the Korean War a less-than ideal subject, because the causes and issues of the war were ambiguous. Never officially declared a war, the event was termed a conflict or a police action with no clear-cut objective to be obtained or enemy to be defeated. Instead, the goal was for a negotiated settlement, which was not conducive to rousing drama. When the Korean War began, Hollywood rushed a couple of properties into production, falling back on the conventions of the World War II film. Samuel Fuller's The Steel Helmet (1951) was the first film about Korea to be released, but its low-budget look and familiar clichés undermined the gritty drama of the story. As the war continued, and the lack of clarity regarding the conflict became more apparent, movies about Korea, such as Retreat, Hell (1952) and The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), grew more pessimistic. After the Panmunjom truce was signed in July 1953, and the situation ended in a frustrating stalemate, most of the studios lost interest in the Korean Conflict as a subject matter.
The life of Joseph C. McConnell gave Warner Bros. an opportunity to tell the story of a real-life bona fide hero, focusing on his reputation and accomplishments rather than the details of a vague conflict in an ever-confusing international political scene. McConnell and his fellow jet-fighter pilots, including the other premiere ace, Manuel Fernandez, were the only positive news from the war. These pilots still engaged one-on-one with the enemy in the air, firing aerial machine guns at each other. Within a few years, this mode of air combat would be replaced by guided missiles or other types of sophisticated instrumentation. The film was in pre-production when the real Mac McConnell was killed in a plane crash while testing a new type of jet for the air force. The tragedy turned the film into an epitaph for McConnell and a tribute to the other fighter pilots. The McConnell Story serves as a memorial to a small part of history that might otherwise have been lost after the Korean Conflict faded from the collective consciousness of the public.
Alan Ladd plays the title character with his trademark stoicism--the kind of cool demeanor that had made him so poignant in Shane (1953). However, Mac McConnell was something of a colorful rebel, at least as depicted in the film, and his determination and defiance needed a more volatile portrayal than Ladd could muster. Ladd was experiencing a turning point in his life and career during the mid-1950s. He had left Paramount in the early 1950s and signed a three-film deal with producers Albert Broccoli and Irwin Allen and their independent production company, Warwick Films. In 1954, Ladd followed the example of other major stars and formed his own production company, Jaguar Films. Personal problems plagued Ladd throughout most of his life, including depression. According to his autobiography, his depression intensified after his affair with costar June Allyson ended the year The McConnell Story was released. The rest of Ladd's career was defined by a handful of good films interspersed among a string of mediocre titles.
By the time June Allyson was cast as Butch McConnell, her star image as the ideal 1950s wife was firmly established. Dependable and doting, her characters waited sweetly, anxiously, or endlessly for her husband to come home, settle down, or change his ways. Previously, in The Stratton Story (1949), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), Executive Suite (1954), Woman's World (1954), and Strategic Air Command (1955), she had supported her husband's ambitions, worried about his welfare, dutifully took care of the home, and rarely chased after any goals, dreams, or opportunities of her own. So entrenched was her star image that the review of The McConnell Story in The New York Times noted, "And June Allyson, as his true-blue and uncomplaining spouse, should be accustomed to this type of film assignment by now."
While Allyson's character may seem hopelessly dated to contemporary viewers, she was nonetheless a movie star who was charismatic and professional. Allyson's spunk and charm added a charged energy to her scenes with the laconic Ladd and a light-heartedness to a film weighed down with serious male characters and their death-defying deeds.
By Susan Doll
Producer: Henry Blanke for Warner Bros.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Screenplay: Ted Sherdeman and Sam Rolfe from a story by Ted Sherdeman
Cinematography: John F. Seitz and Ted D. McCord
Editor: Owen Marks
Art Director: John Beckman
Costume Designer: Howard Shoup
Music: Max Steiner
Cast: Joseph C. "Mac" McConnell (Alan Ladd), Pearl "Butch" McConnell (June Allyson), Ty Whitman (James Whitmore), Sergeant Sykes (Frank Faylen), Bob Brown (Robert Ellis), Newton Bass (Willis Bouchey), Mom Brown (Sarah Selby), Military Policeman (Gregory Walcott), Mechanic (Frank Ferguson), Red (Perry Lopez), Pilot Instructor (Dabbs Greer), Medical Captain (Edward Platt), Technical Sergeant (Dub Taylor)
1955 Color 107 mins.
