I first saw this movie late one night when I couldn't sleep. For those of us that study the history of military aviation, this movie is a God-send! The "between wars" US military had a dismal understanding of aviation. And this film shows what Naval aviators had to contend with. The film depicts, correctly, the backward "John Paul Jones" thinking of the Naval brass at the time. The film covers some 20 years but does it very well. Gary Cooper plays the role of a Naval aviator better than he plays most of his roles. And seeing Walter Brennen as a Navy admiral was different. I grew up watching him as "Grandpa McCoy." Aside from the "movie" stuff, the film is a very good history lesson. Most people can't believe that we had one of the worst air fleets in the world during the inter-war period. And it was because of the 19th century thinking of the senior brass. But for airplane nuts like myself, seeing the old Boeing F4B's, Curtiss Goshawks and Grumman F2F's and F3F's actually in the air was the most wonderful part of the movie. If you get a chance to see it, do so.
Review of Task Force
