Memphis Belle (film)
history,| , language = English | , amg_id = 1:32162 | , imdb_id = 0100133 | }}
Memphis Belle is a 1990 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Monte Merrick, starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and introducing Harry Connick Jr. in his screen debut. It is a fictionalization of the 1943 documentary by director William Wyler, about the 25th and last mission of an American B-17 bomber, the Memphis Belle, which was based in England during World War II. The 1990 version was produced by Wyler's daughter Catherine and dedicated to her father.
Memphis Belle depicts the day leading up to the crew's final mission, as well as the mission itself. The B-17 is named "Memphis Belle" after pilot Dennis Dearborn's girlfriend back home in the States, who is not depicted in the film other than in a black and white photograph kept on the pilot's console.
The crew of the 'Belle have completed 24 missions of the 25 in their tour of duty, and are on the verge of becoming the first bomber crew to survive long enough to rotate out of action. Lt. Colonel Bruce Derringer (John Lithgow) has arrived at their base in England to meet the crew and plan out the massive PR tour that the crew will embark upon after they complete this final mission.
The crew (but without the officers, pilots, bombardier, or navigator) are all seen playing football at the beginning of the film. Rascal (Astin) is the youngest, a ball turret gunner who considers himself a ladies man, which he isn't. Genie is a religious Irish American right side gunner who always gets hurt, but wears a Saint Anthony medal with him on missions. His counterpart, Jack (Neil), is a former Chicago hoodlum who has a somewhat hot temper. Clay (Harry Connick Jr) is the tail gunner, and a farm boy who lost his house after his father lost their farm playing poker, which caused him to play piano to earn money at a cathouse. Virge (Diamond) is the upper turret gunner who worked in the family restaurant before the war began. And finally, there was Danny, another Irish American who was the radio operator with a good record before the war; he was the school paper editor, valedictorian, and joined up right after graduation. This was part of the crew of the Memphis Belle.
Just as the Danny finishes a touchdown for his team, a B-17 returns from a raid prompting everyone to run to the control tower for safety. The flight crews who did not participate in the day's bombing run (including the Belle's crew) begin counting bombers that were returning from the raid. The scene cuts to the squadron commander who is on the phone with Bomber Command. He is a little shocked when he receives the name of the city he would have to order his squadron to bomb the next day, but tells the General that he wanted to give all the crews a break with a dance to honor the Belle's crew. He finally hangs up the phone to go outside to watch the bombers return.
On his way out, he finds Bruce who annoys him with how the Memphis Belle's crew is lucky that they would be the first crew to complete 25 missions to go home, and they were special for this reason. He also states how the Home Front was discouraged by the daylight bombing losses that the USAAF were suffering from, to which the squadron commander replies, 'That's the only way we are going to win this war'. As a B-17 lands, the crew of the Belle comment on how there was supposed to be one more B-17 named Lady Jane coming home. As they continue betting if the B-17 would return, Danny manages to spot it and everyone cheers as the Lady Jane prepares to land.
While everyone prepares to head back to whatever they were doing, the Lady Jane is actually badly damaged, with only one wheel down, and one engine coughing out fire. The squadron leader and everyone else watches in horror as the B-17 crash lands onto the airfield and continues rolling on until the wheel that was up collapses making the bomber stop. The off-duty crews continue watching as Lady Jane's crew attempts to get out of the bomber in a panicked way. While everyone is struggling to know what's going on, the Lady Jane explodes in a ball of flame shocking everybody. It's obvious that no one survived the blast as the crews walk back to their dorms.
The scene is cut to Derringer interviewing the officers of the Belle. Dennis Dearborn had named the bomber after his sweetheart whom he had met on business in Memphis, Tennessee. Luke Sinclair, the hotshot co-pilot was a lifeguard who became a co-pilot. Val is the bombardier who was a doctor before joining up. And there was Phil, the navigator, who is in an antsy mood towards Derringer.
Sometime later, the other crews of the Belle prepare to go to the dance the squadron leader was having in honor of them. While preparing, they rummage through one of the dead crew members of Lady Jane's kit to see what could be taken before a sergeant takes it away. Virge takes a candy bar, Rascal all the condoms, Jack takes all of the money (saying that that crew member owed him a lot of money), and Danny takes a book, finding out that the man had actually forgotten his lucky clover before the mission. Once they were finished, they seal the box to head off to the dance.
At the dance, everybody enjoys themselves as they dance with local girls and WAAF members who were invited to the dance. But during it, the Belle's crew engage in various other activities, knowing the next day might be their last. Rascal attempts to hook up with a British girl but has no luck, since she was more attracted to Virge watching the dance. Dennis attempts to become friends with a rookie Captain of a bomber named Mother and Country who is easily bored by the veteran Dennis and runs off. Luke and Derringer have a chatting conversation about Luke's life with lots of girls with them. Meanwhile, Virge hooks up with the British girl that Rascal was talking to her earlier and instantly amuses her with how he makes a good hamburger.
Phil and Val have a conversation about the last mission the next day. Phil is nervous and begins drinking too much while Val heads off to enjoy the dance. Meanwhile, the squadron leader is sitting all by himself and watching the aircrews dance while in a somber mood. Virge and the British girl head out of the hangar towards the Memphis Belle.
They sneak out into the Memphis Belle which was parked nearby, but were almost shocked by Captain Dearborn who comes out there to reflect about his bomber. After he leaves, they begin to kiss inside the bombardiers section inside the bomber. Back at the dance, Jack, Rascal, Genie, and Danny bump into the Mother and Country crew, all who were new to the squadron. When the rookie radio operator named Stan pipes up about how he wished the crew had more practice, the Belle's crew disturbs him with some gruesome humor which sickens Stan, causing him to run to the bathroom to vomit.
Danny jokingly rebukes the rest of the Belle's crew while heading to the bathroom to comfort Stan. He quickly befriends him and gives him the clover he took earlier before going back to the dance. When the music stops for an intermission, Derringer goes onto the stage to congratulate the Memphis Belle's crew while the crew itself is somewhat disgusted by this. Phil heads out while an awkward silence descends upon the hangar when Derringer doesn't know what to say. Clay, at Danny's persuasion, heads up to the stage to begin singing Danny Boy to which everyone begins dancing again. Meanwhile, Phil heads out to a field and screams that he does not want to die.
Next morning, a sergeant comes into the main crew hut and wakes up Dennis, Luke, and Val but cannot find Phil who is missing. Val makes up an excuse for Phil and heads out to look for him while ground crew were preparing the planes for takeoff. In the enlisted hut, Rascal is shocked to discover Danny hiding a bottle of champagne and begins throwing it around to other flight crews.
Genie, undisturbed, looks around for his Saint Anthony medal and finds it while everyone is still messing around with Danny's champagne bottle. Val finally manages to find Phil drunk and quickly makes him vomit in the bathroom. Everyone heads off to eat breakfast while Jack comments on how the powdered egg could gag a person while stealing Genie's bacon. They all hope that the target they were bombing was going to be an easy target. For Phil, he becomes passive and it is evident when he suddenly knocks down cutlery and watches while Val cleans up the mess for him.
After breakfast, there is a briefing for the pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and radio operators of the squadron. Luke, finding out that Phil is starting to suffer a breakdown, asks Val how he was going to make it through briefing, where Val replies,'On A Wing and A Prayer'. The crew are immediately called to attention by the squadron leader before being seated. He then reveals that the target of the day which he was ordered to bomb by Bomber Command is Bremen, much to everyone's disgust. The briefing continues, detailing that the bombardiers must bomb an aircraft factory, and avoid a school that's next to the factory and some homes. After the briefing ends, Danny reveals the rest of Belle's crew who are somewhat disgusted.
They all board a jeep driven by Dennis to head to their plane that's being prepared while all are singing Amazing Grace. Everyone is preparing for the mission; ground crews of the B-17s load bombs, load machine guns, and fuel the plane, while crews do a final check over. The Belle's crew is ready for takeoff when an officer drives up to the plane and informs Dennis of a delay due to cloud cover over Bremen. The frustrated crew exits the plane to wait, but perform different tasks; Luke and Dennis do another check over of the plane, Virge checks the ball turret for Rascal who complains bitterly about how it's like a rat trap when it jams, Phil climbs on the wing to sleep off his hangover, Clay assists an English farmer near the airfield, while the rest of the crew relax next to the plane. After Luke was finishes with his plane check, he walks alongside Clay while he's operating the farmer's machine.
Luke begs Clay to let him try to use his twin machine guns in the back although it was against Air Force regulations. Clay then asks if he can have Luke's pet dog, to which Luke refuses. They relax along with the rest of the crew, but Rascal and Virge begin brawling over an issue. It is immediately stopped by Dennis who tells them to relax like Phil who was sleeping. All of a sudden, Jack snatches a book Danny was writing on and comments how its poetic. Everyone convinces Danny to read a poem in which he reads a WB Yeats poem about death, leaving everyone in silence.
While everyone is silent, the officer returns to inform Dennis that the mission is a go ahead. As everyone boards the plane, Clay decides to tell Luke that he can come back to the tail section to use his guns without giving him his pet dog, making Luke somewhat happy. The squadron leader's assistant shoots a flare to signal all aircraft to begin engine start up. All the B-17s start up their engines and file in flying order before taxing to the runway. Their the assistant fires off another flare to clear for takeoff.
The lead plane, Windy City, takes off successfully. The next 3 planes also takes off successfully before it is the Memphis Belle's turn. Luke checks the time before nodding approval to Dennis to push full speed ahead. The Belle gains speed before Dennis pulls up, sending the plane into the sky and banking west to join the formation. The Belle steers into the clouds while Dennis and Luke check the flight gear.
Suddenly, a B-17 appears in front of them appearing to collide. Dennis however narrowly avoids the collision by pitching down. They join their formation on their way towards Bremen, and the men begin loading their guns while Rascal climbs into the ball turret. While they know they are still in friendly territory,they are alert.
Meanwhile for Danny, he receives a call from the Mother and Country radio operator Stan, who was curious about the log book. Besides correcting Stan for using the radio with the exception for emergencies, Danny decides to take a picture of Stan from his plane on his first mission. The formation reaches 10,000 feet when everyone is told to put on oxygen masks. While cruising, Danny turns on a signal AFM. Everyone relaxes as the music is played on the Belle.
While this is happening, Genie decides to secretly pull a prank on Jack. He scribbles on a paper and tapes it to Jack's back while he is listening to the music. The music is suddenly distorted by another plane that caused the radio waves to alter, making Danny turn off the radio. Dennis tells everyone to test their guns, which awakens Clay, who was asleep in the tail. Soon afterward, P-51 Mustangs join the formation to escort them to the target.
The men discuss various things in their lives when Genie suddenly spots Bf-109s at a distance. Everyone prepares to engage as the Bf-109s approach the formation. Genie opens fire with his .50 caliber machine gun to be the first to fire. The P-51s intercept the Bf 109s to begin a dogfight. As the Bf-109s head into the formation, all B-17s open fire while P-51s chase around straggling Bf 109s.
Everything is chaotic as yelling is heard over the radio, bandits being called out, while captains try to calm their gun crews down. At some point, one Bf 109 is shot down by the Mother and Country, making crews from other planes give them credit. The aerial battle continues as Bf 109s now fire on the B-17s. They begin to take advantage of the situation as they manage to shoot down one B-17. As Jack prepares to fire on a Bf 109 that was in his range, the paper Genie taped to his back suddenly blows into his face.
This angers Jack who begins a trigger happy spree at the fighters that are dog fighting. Val and Phil witness the lead plane, Windy City being shot at by the Bf 109s. Not wanting to hit the B-17, the P-51s could not help but watch as Bf 109s scored a direct hit on the Windy City's left engines and fuselage. The B-17 begins to smoke and bank in front of the Belle. It then explodes in front to the Memphis Belle, which flies through the remains of the lead plane.
Dennis calls everyone to check in to see if they are okay. When he finds out that Phil did not check in, he asks Val to wake him up from a trance induced by the disturbing sight of the blood and remains of the Windy City's crew on the Memphis Belle's windshield. Phil tries to recover from this while everyone continues to be alert. The P-51s leave when they run short of fuel, leaving the B-17's on their own to continue to the target. While this happens, Genie and Jack get into a fight when Jack throws Genie's Saint Anthony medal out of a gun port. This scares Genie who believes that he would now die when his luck was thrown out of the window.
Back at the base, the squadron commander sits silently in his office. He is suddenly interrupted by his assistant who tells him to check out a unofficial setup going on in the cafeteria. The squadron commander finds Bruce setting up a party for the Memphis Belle when they return which he orders to be stopped. Bruce comments that the commander was careless about his own air crews which angers the commander, prompting him to bring Bruce to his office. There he opens a cabinet full of letters that he had received and demands Bruce to read it all in which he does.
Bruce reads one and is shocked that it is a sad letter. It was written by a father who lost his son in a mission over Lorient when a fighter shot his head off. The scene transfers over to other grieving letters with actual combat clips from both the US and German views. It shows B-17's getting shot out of the sky as the grieving voice overs continue. One shows pieces of debris and possibly an airman's jacket falling out of a B-17.
The scene then transfers back to the Belle where the crew are on alert for fighters. Fighters reappear again for a hit a run routine on the B-17's. All the gunners manage to hold off the fighters but could not stop the Bf-109's from scoring another hit. Dennis and Luke watch as a Bf-109 fire on the new leading plane C-Cup right on the nose before passing. As they continue watching, a crewman from the nose of the C-Cup fall out into the sky without a parachute, making Dennis check that everyone had a chute.
Because of the damage inflicted on the nose, the C-Cup is forced to turn back making the Belle become the leader of the entire bombing formation. Right after Dennis annouces, this, a Bf-109 comes in range of the ball turret of the Memphis Belle. Rascal, the turret gunner frantically turns the turret around only to get it jammed. Panicking, he screams to Virge to let him out but then manages to free the turret and begin shooting wildly. He manages to destroy the Bf-109 that was going to shoot him, but angers Virge a bit who assumes that Rascal was just panicking.
Clouds over the target prevent the Memphis Belle's bombardier from releasing the bombs, as he does not want to hit the school and homes around the target. He tells the pilot to turn around and go over it again, shocking the crew. At the second attempt, the clouds clear just before the target comes into view.
Historical accuracy
With the exception of the aircraft names and the basic premise (that of the first plane to survive its tour of duty in the air war over Europe), this film is fiction based on fact. The characters are composites, the names are not those of the real crew of the Memphis Belle and the incidents shown are taken from many missions. The final, 25th mission of the real Belle was to Kiel, Germany, but with a substitute crew, before being flown back to the United States.
Five real B-17s were acquired for the filming of Memphis Belle, out of eight that were airworthy in the late 1980s. Three were located in America, two were in France, and one (Sally B) was later used in England. Since the original Memphis Belle was a B-17F model, almost all of the B-17s used in the film were heavily modified to look like the F models, having chin turrets replaced and the planes painted olive green. During filming, two B-17s portrayed the Belle (one was the movie version of the Belle, the other was Sally B, which can be obvious because there is a plate where the chin turret used to be), the rest had nose art changed numerous times to make it seem like there were more bombers. For the fighters, four P-51s were used, despite the fact that P-47s were the escort at the time in 1943, and two Bf 109s. Other aircraft that portrayed the Bf 109s were HA-112s.
The movie was filmed at the non-operational RAF Binbrook in Lincolnshire, England with some scenes shot at the Imperial War Museum Duxford. All the extras for the film were obtained from auditions held in the area, and included current and former members of the Royal Air Force.
Flying sequences were filmed at Binbrook for take off and landing scenes while Duxford was used for the airborne scenes. The filmmakers also used Pinewood Studios to shoot interior scenes and to shoot various models of B-17's. Various professional pilots were used for the dogfight and bomber interceptions including Ray Hanna.
Soundtrack
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"The Chestnut Tree", written by Tommie Connor, Jimmy Kennedy and Hamilton Kennedy appears in the movie but not on the soundtrack album. In one scene in the film, Sgt. Clay Busby (Harry Connick, Jr.), performs part of an upbeat version of "Danny Boy" - sadly this rendition is not found on the soundtrack album. A slower version of "Danny Boy", performed by Mark Williamson, appears instead.»soundtrackcollector.com The film score, by George Fenton, was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Original Film Score in 1991.
The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, CTS Studios, and Angel Studios in London, England.»CD Universe Included is Glenn Miller and His Orchestra performing "I Know Why (And So Do You)".
Track listing
- "Londonderry Air" / "Front Titles: Memphis Belle" (traditional / George Fenton) - 3:50
- "Green Eyes" (Nilo Menendez, Eddie Rivera, Eddie Woods) - 3:25
- "Flying Home" (Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Sydney Robin) - 2:57
- "The Steel Lady" (Fenton) - 1:44
- "Prepare For Take Off" ("Amazing Grace") (traditional) - 2:39
- "The Final Mission" (Fenton) - 3:51
- "With Deep Regret..." (Fenton) - 2:02
- "I Know Why (And So Do You)" (Mack Gordon, Harry Warren) - 2:55 - performed by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
- "The Bomb Run" (Fenton) - 1:30
- "Limping Home" (Fenton) - 2:25
- "Crippled Belle: The Landing" (Fenton) - 3:26
- "Resolution" (Fenton) - 1:06
- "Memphis Belle" (End Title Suite) (Fenton) - 7:37
- "Danny Boy" (Theme from Memphis Belle) (Frederic E. Weatherly) - 3:20 - performed by Mark Williamson
Main cast
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Actor
! Role
! Position
|-
| Matthew Modine || Capt. Dennis Dearborn || Pilot
|-
| Eric Stoltz || Sgt. Danny Daly || Radio Operator
|-
| Tate Donovan || 1stLt. Luke Sinclair || Co-Pilot
|-
| D. B. Sweeney || Lt. Phil Lowenthal || Navigator
|-
| Billy Zane || Lt. Val Kozlowski || Bombardier/Nose Gunner/Medical Officer
|-
| Sean Astin || Sgt. Richard Moore || Ball Turret Gunner
|-
| Harry Connick, Jr. || Sgt. Clay Busby || Tail Gunner
|-
| Reed Diamond || Sgt. Virgil Hoogesteger || Top Turret Gunner
|-
| Courtney Gains || Sgt. Eugene McVey || Waist Gunner
|-
| Neil Giuntoli || Sgt. Jack Bocci || Waist Gunner
|-
| David Strathairn || Col. Craig Harriman || Ground Control Commanding Officer
|-
| John Lithgow || Lt. Col. Bruce Derringer || PR
|}
- Strategic bombing during World War II