Flight Nurse
Cast & Crew
Allan Dwan
Joan Leslie
Forrest Tucker
Arthur Franz
Jeff Donnell
Ben Cooper
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
During the Korean War, Air Force nurse Lt. Polly Davis flies to Japan for her first assignment with the Medical Air Evacuation Unit, while hoping to be near her fiancé, Capt. Mike Barnes, a helicopter pilot from Rockingham, Texas. After landing, Polly is taken to the nurses' quarters in Tachikawa and meets her roommates, Lt. Ann Phillips and Lt. Kit Ramsay. When the other nurses learn about Polly's disappointment that Mike did not meet her at the airport, they warn Polly that "flight nurses never get their men." Soon Capt. Martha Ackerman, the chief nurse, sends them on their various assignments. Polly is taken to a C-47 plane, where she meets her medical technician, Sgt. Frank Swan, and the pilots, Captains Bill Eaton and Tommy Metcalf. As the crew flies to Korea, Polly is shocked by her first sight of war, but then quickly gains her composure to comfort the wounded men. Bill is impressed with her, but after hearing about Mike, philosophizes that "you can't pry a girl loose" from the daring helicopter pilots, who often become wounded or missing in action and leave their women unable to break free of their memories. However, Bill watches as Polly calmly saves a young man's life and decides to try to win her away from Mike. Back in Japan, Mike takes Polly on a date and talks about marriage, but their date is interrupted when Mike is called on a mission. Later, while evacuating the wounded, Bill learns that Mike's helicopter with wounded men is overdue from the front and waits for him as long as possible. When a report arrives announcing an imminent aerial combat, Bill decides to chance an escape, dodging both enemy and U.S. planes. During the flight, Polly learns of Mike's plight and is angry that Bill held back the information. Later, Kit warns Polly about small town life, but Polly believes that she would be happy in "Rocking Chair," Texas and worries about Mike. Several times during their missions, Bill is there to comfort Polly during bombings and saves her life when she is almost killed rescuing a wounded soldier. When the Marines and the Army land at Inchon and take Seoul, 50,000 prisoners of war are freed. Knowing he cannot compete with a dead hero, Bill hopes Mike is among the survivors. In a Seoul hospital, several released American prisoners are questioned about their experiences, and one soldier, after telling grisly tales, identifies a captured Korean as the man in charge of a murdering squad. Meanwhile, several dog tags of dead soldiers are retrieved, including Mike's. When Polly learns of this, grieving and oblivious, she is nearly killed by "Bed Check Charlie," an enemy flier who drops nightly bombs, but Bill saves her from being hit. At the urging of the secretly smitten Frank, who worries that Polly is near a breakdown, Bill talks to Ackerman, who decides to ground Polly. In sympathy, Ackerman confides to Polly that she, too, lost a pilot with whom she was in love. Later, after Kit reports that Mike was found alive near the Chosin Reservoir and is now in a hospital, Ackerman sends Polly there in Bill's plane. During the flight, a soldier who is suffering mental trauma opens the hatch. When the door flies back and hits the stabilizer, the pilots lose instrument control and must prepare for an emergency sea landing. During the jarring impact, Polly, trying to aid an unconscious soldier, is thrown and suffers a concussion. After the crew loads the passengers into lifeboats, Bill takes Polly into the crew raft with him. As they wait for rescue, Polly deliriously calls for "Rocking Chair" and Bill recognizes her unconscious desire for Mike. When they are rescued, Bill accepts that he will never see her again. For several weeks, Polly recuperates at the same hospital as Mike, who has been receiving regular care packages from his former hometown girl friend, Florence. When he is well enough to be shipped home, Mike again asks Polly to marry him. However, during her convalescence Polly has come to realize that she could not embrace a quiet life while she is needed in Korea, and suggests that Mike return to Florence. Having already guessed how Polly would answer, Mike breaks up with her amicably. Later, Polly rejoins Bill and the rescue team.
Director
Allan Dwan
Cast
Joan Leslie
Forrest Tucker
Arthur Franz
Jeff Donnell
Ben Cooper
James Holden
Kristine Miller
Maria Palmer
Richard Simmons
James Brown
Hal Baylor
Thomas Browne Henry
Richard Crane
Richard Wessel
Frank Savage
Harry Lauter
Gayle Kellogg
Pat Waltz
Tony Dante
Carl Switzer
James Young
Weaver Levy
Eddie Ryan
William Leslie
James Lilburn
Mary Flynn
Sumner Williams
David Bair
Gene Collins
Paul Livermore
Morris Ankrum
Gil Harman
Robert Crosson
Isaac Jones
Ted Donaldson
Chuck Courtney
Freeman Morse
Sam Mckim
Booth Colman
Ted Ryan
Michael Hall
Leon Tyler
Steve Wayne
Robert Shayne
Suzanne Alexander
Ruth Clifford
Helen Spring
Beverly Cottrell
Sally Fraser
Kathleen Case
Fred Hartsook
Esther Lee
Marilyn Lindsey
Crew
Fred Allen
Edith A. Aynes
Col. Phil B. Cage U.s.a.f.
Earl Crain Sr.
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan
Joan Eremin
Peggy Gray
Ken Holmes
Capt. Lillian M. Kinkela U.s.a.f. (a.f.n.c.)
Reggie Lanning
Alan Lemay
Howard Lydecker
Theodore Lydecker
Bob Mark
John Mccarthy Jr.
Herb Mendelson
Melvin M. Metcalfe
Adele Palmer
James Sullivan
Ellis F. Thackery
Charles Thompson
Howard Wilson
Herbert J. Yates
Victor Young
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of the film were Angels Take Over and Angels over Korea. The credits are followed by a written dedication to the military nurses of the "Armed Forces of Free Nations" and an acknowledgment of the assistance of the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force in the making of the picture. Voice-over narration, spoken by Joan Leslie as "Lt. Polly Davis" and Forrest Tucker as "Capt. Bill Eaton," is heard intermittently throughout the film. An undated contemporary news item reported that producer-director Allan Dwan planned to film at Hickam Field, Honolulu, and in Japan, shooting at these locations has not been confirmed. According to a May 1953 Hollywood Reporter news item, portions of the film were shot at Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, CA. Variety and Daily Variety reviews note that stock war footage was used in the film.
