Air Cadet
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Joseph Pevney
Stephen Mcnally
Gail Russell
Alex Nicol
Richard Long
Charles Drake
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At the Randolph Field training camp in Texas, new United States Air Force cadets Walt Phillip Carver, Russ Coulter, Jerry Connell and Sgt. Joe Czanoczek are put through their paces by tough upper classmen. The four friends pass the demanding initial tests and make it into flight training, where each works diligently for personal reasons--Walt, to prove to himself that he can be tough despite his privileged background; Russ, to honor the memory of his dead Air Force pilot brother; Jerry, wants to accomplish a challenging test; and Joe, to leave the military with a skill with which he can make a lot of money. The training and the hazing continue, but just before graduation, Jerry is informed that he has flunked out. The other three friends are assigned together at Williams Field Air Force Base, a top flight school in Arizona. There, they are impressed by the "anchor jets," a team of four planes led by flight commander Major Jack Page which fly in extremely tight formation. Jack's job is to identify and "wash out," or flunk, any pilot whom he deems unworthy. Jack informs his friend, psychologist Major Jim Evans, that Jack's wife Janet has recently left him. That night, at a dance hall in Phoenix, Russ dances with a beautiful woman who, he soon discovers, is Janet. The next day, Janet tells Jim that she still loves Jack but that he has become too cold and ruthless. Jim then explains that having to order his close friends to certain death in battle has caused Jack to bottle up his feelings and take them out on the cadets. He counsels Janet to continue seeing Jack and to wait for his inevitable breakdown, which will either destroy or cure him. On her way out, Janet bumps into Russ and Jack sees them talking together. Soon after, Jack grills Russ's instructor, Capt. Sullivan, on the cadet's performance, and predicts that he will wash out. Sullivan, who believes in Russ although he will not yet allow him to fly solo, questions the cadet on his recent loss of confidence and on Jack's interest in him, but Russ has no answers. Soon after, Russ flies solo while Jack watches, and although he flies perfectly, he crashes the plane while avoiding another pilot who has landed on the wrong runway. Jack unjustly blames Russ for the accident and recommends that he be washed out. That night, a drunken Russ visits Janet and tells her about his brother, William "Buzz" Coulter, who shot himself after being overworked and called a coward by his commanding officer. Janet quickly realizes that Jack was Buzz's commander and that this fact explains Jack's treatment of Russ, and informs Jim. The psychologist decides that the tension between the two could lead to a necessary breakdown for Jack, and tells the whole story to Russ. The next day Russ appears before an investigation committee and accuses Jack of killing his brother. To assuage his guilt, Jack insists that Buzz was a poor flyer, but agrees to accompany Russ on a check flight to test his skill. After the flight, Jack passes Russ, but then taps Russ, Joe and Walt as his new anchor jet team, hoping the difficult assignment will cause Russ to fail. When Jack does not flunk Russ even after the cadet performs poorly, Russ decides Jack is afraid of being accused of being responsible for Buzz's death. The next day, Jack flies with Russ and takes control of the plane, but when his oxygen hose disconnects, he passes out and Russ takes heroic measures to keep the plane from crashing. They land in the desert, where Jack hallucinates that Russ is Buzz and tells Buzz that he is wracked with guilt for calling him a coward, but that he was under extreme pressure to finish their assignment. The two are soon rescued, and Russ tells Jack that he thinks they are "okay." When the cadets graduate, Russ asks Jack, who is standing with his arm around Janet, if he will honor him by pinning on his lieutenant's wings.
Director
Joseph Pevney
Cast
Stephen Mcnally
Gail Russell
Alex Nicol
Richard Long
Charles Drake
Robert Arthur
Rock Hudson
Peggie Castle
James Best
Parley Baer
Russell Dennis
John Baer
Ted Jordan
Eric Norden
Lt. Al Brown
Col. H. R. Spicer
Capt. John B. Bradley
Harlan B. Franklin Jr.
Homer R. Woolridge
James A. Pryor
John N. Karamanian
Lawrence E. Thomas
William Whatley
John J. O'donnell
Leroy V. Davis
Virgil I. Grissom
Gordon S. Wallis
Donald J. Stuhlman
Alfred H. Stephens
Tom A. Keenan
Ralph L. Griffith
Edward J. Fox
Paul B. Decourvney
Alton G. Denton
Angelo J. Boutselia
Arthur P. Wildern Jr.
Jack O. Kimball
Jack Terzian
Duwaine L. Weatherwax
Crew
Capt. William Brockmire
Lt. Bryant
Leslie I. Carey
Maj. Bruce Carr
Milton Carter
Capt. Harry Chapman
William Clothier
Jack Daniels
Clyde De Vinna
Russell A. Gausman
Joseph Gershenson
Capt. Dale Goodermote
Bernard Herzbrun
Joseph Hoffman
David S. Horsley
Edward Ilou
Joseph Kish
Eldon Klapal
Gilbert Kurland
Joe Lapis
Robert L. Richards
Robert L. Richards
Aaron Rosenberg
Russell Schoengarth
Frank Shaw
Tom Shaw
Capt. Us Air Force Michael Smolen
Robert Soderberg
Joan St. Oegger
Cliff Stine
Bill Thomas
Bud Westmore
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Buddy of mine once told me that he'd rather fly a jet than kiss his girl. Said it gave him more of a kick.- Jerry Connell
No foolin'!- Walt Carver
Maybe he oughta get another girl!- Joe Czanoczek
Trivia
Notes
A written foreword reads: "This picture was photographed on the actual locations which appear upon the screen. Except for the principal players, all Air Force personnel are shown as themselves, in the actual roles and duties they perform in real life. To the officers, cadets and airmen of the United States Air Force, Air Training Command, this picture is gratefully and respectfully dedicated." Although a October 3, 1950 Hollywood Reporter news item credits William Clothier as aerial photographer, the onscreen credits list Clyde De Vinna in this capacity, and the extent of Clothier's contribution to the completed film has not been determined. Included in the cast was Virgil I. Grissom, the Mercury astronaut better known as "Gus" Grissom (1926-1967).
A December 1950 AC article reports that Vinna shot the scenes of the military jets, or F80 Shooting Stars, by lying on his stomach anchored to a B-25 bomber, using a camera bracketed into the tail assembly of the plane. A later AC article added that much of the flying was done at an altitude at which G-forces were in effect, making everything, including the sixty-pound camera and the photographers' own bodies, feel seven times heavier. In addition, the need for high-contrast backgrounds meant they could not shoot on days when the sky was clear or blue. Although the file on the film in the MPAA/PCA collection at the AMPAS library indicated that some songs were planned for the film, none were mentioned in reviews and there were no songs in the viewed print. Some scenes were shot on location at Randolph Field, TX; Williams Field, AZ; and Tindel Field and Panama City, FL.
