Thunder Birds: Soldiers of the Air

William Wellman directs this movie evocative of the early 1940's. In Arizona desert land is the secluded Thunder Bird airbase. Young Americans, British and Chinese are fliers in training. A veteran WWI pilot, Steve Brit(Preston Foster)volunteers to train these young fliers to take their part in WWII. Peter Stackhouse(John Sutton)is one of the trainees that is full of determination, but has a problem with motion sickness every time he goes up. Plus Stackhouse is competing for the affections of a young woman(Gene Tierney)that is Brit's old flame. The in-flight photography is probably before its time. Also in the cast: Jack Holt, Dame May Witty, Reginald Denny, Ted North and Richard Haydin.

I've seen so many movies. Thousands judging by my IMDb ratings. I'm particularly fond of movies from the 1930s and 1940s. Sometimes it feels like I've seen everything. Then I come across one that slipped by me and I'm like a kid again discovering the classics for the first time. Thunder Birds isn't going to make any snooty critic's list but I enjoyed the heck out of it. Why? Well, the story is simple and old hat even by '42. The cast is fine, with no performances that really stand out good or bad. The movie's biggest strengths are its excellent aerial scenes and its stunning color. Technicolor has rarely been lovelier than here. So many blues! The planes, the sky, the uniforms, the vehicles - it's all so pretty. It's just a treat to watch and soak it all in. Gene Tierney is gorgeous too, of course. Such a simple film that gave me a lot of happiness. I can't wait to watch it again!

This isn't a review but this is the only website I know of that even remotely deals with subtle nuances one might have seen in a little known movie that features the lovely Gene Tierney in one of her first big films. This little gem directed by the great William Wellman has a scene in it where Gene steps out of the shower with ringlets in her hair that were captured by the Technicolor light in such a way as to take my breath away and have never forgotten it. Her hair was usually shown dry and perfectly coiffed and this is the only movie of hers I know where those fantastic ringlets were shown. Thank you, IMDb for letting this love-sick Gene Tierney fan express his admiration for an actress from Hollywood's Golden Age.

My wife's uncle , George Wood ,was an RAF trainee Sergeant Pilot at the Base when this film was made . The film as part of its propaganda purpose made use of his , and other courses , and he appears full head and shoulders in a scanned shot of a parade . He looks like a young boy . He completed his training and went on to fly Wellington Bombers , regrettably he was shot down over Holland in 1943 . We knew he had appeared in a film but were not sure of the title and by chance came across a Cinema Poster for Thunder Birds on the Internet and this showed RAF personnel marching past aircraft . We had a black and white photograph of him standing by similar aircraft and thus established a possible link . We were subsequently able to obtain a copy of the film . The aerial shots are astounding and do seem ahead of their time .