Jungle Patrol
Cast & Crew
Joe Newman
Kristine Miller
Arthur Franz
Ross Ford
Mickey Knox
Tom Noonan
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
At a remote air strip in New Guinea, in the fall of 1942, a squadron of eight American pilots and a support crew have been assigned to intercept Japanese planes threatening Australia and have inflicted heavy casualties but have experienced none themselves. One day, an attractive young woman, Jean Gillis, flies in on a supply plane from Brisbane, the first of a group of five entertainers coming to do a show for the troops. Jean gets to know the pilots and some of them tell her about their wives and sweethearts and their hopes for post-war life. Because of their battle record, one of the group is reminded of the film Death Takes a Holiday , in which a personified Death takes a few days off from extinguishing lives in order to explore human nature, and wonders if it is happening to them. As Jean listens to a radio monitoring the pilots' conversations during an attack on the Japanese planes, one pilot's plane catches fire but the flames are mysteriously extinguished. Later, Jean finds a "scoreboard" detailing their missions, but when she displays it prominently, the men are uneasy. Maj. Wright, known affectionately as "Skipper," then receives a message that the rest of Jean's troupe is grounded and cannot come, so she volunteers to do a solo show, after which she dances with several of the pilots. One, Mace Willard, tells Jean that he has seen her before in an anti-war play in New York, and she reveals that her husband was killed at Dunkirk. After the eight fliers host a meager dinner for Jean, the skipper escorts Jean to her tent and both feel a mutual attraction. The next morning there is a "scramble" and most of the pilots take off, leaving Mace on ground control. After Jean learns that a plane is coming for her that afternoon, the skipper leaves to join his pilots. They all come under heavy attack and two of them are killed. Mace joins the others in the air, but all are shot down, including the skipper, who manages to land safely. Mace is trapped by Japanese fighters and is killed as they inflict great damage on the island. The skipper and Jean reunite to face whatever the future may bring.
Director
Joe Newman
Cast
Kristine Miller
Arthur Franz
Ross Ford
Mickey Knox
Tom Noonan
Richard Jaeckel
Gene Reynolds
Harry Lauter
Bill Murphy
G. Pat Collins
Crew
Jack Albin
Mel Burns
Harold Godsoe
Jack Herzberg
Floyd Huddlestone
Ilyana
Burnett Jaques
Bert Jordan
Fred Kaifer
Hugh King
Capt. U.s.a.f. Reserve Richard Krolik
Arthur Lange
Ann Locker
William H. Lynch
Earl Moser
Emil Newman
Jerome Pycha Jr.
Lewis J. Rachmil
Al Rinker
Frank N. Seltzer
Alfred E. Spencer
Mack Stengler
Francis Swann
Robertson White
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's working title was West of Tomorrow. Onscreen credits acknowledge the cooperation of the United States Air Force in the making of the film. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, the picture had its world premiere on September 24, 1948 at a national convention of the Airforce Association, which was held at the Hotel Commodore in New York. Reviewers commented on the film's unusual, and economical, use of offscreen voices, heard on a radio intercom, to depict all of the battle sequences. Jungle Patrol marked the motion picture debut of actor Arthur Franz (1920-2006).
