Delmer Daves directs this admired (in certain quarters) history and development of the aircraft carrier but it’s more flat than punch. Taking place from 1922 to 1945, the film follows Gary Cooper as a brash young navy pilot to experienced commander of an aircraft carrier. The first portion is very awkward as Cooper is clearly in his mid-40s and its embarrassing to see him act like a young kid. The film also uses actual war footage rather than re-enactments and it’s jarring when you go from the sharply photographed narrative to the grainy 16 millimeter war footage. Also, somebody thought it would be a good idea to go from B&W to Technicolor for the battle at Okinawa. Surprisingly, it’s the domestic scenes that normally drag a war film down but in this case, the domestic scenes have more emotional pull. Jane Wyatt is Cooper’s wife, Walter Brennan as Coop’s superior and Julie London and Wayne Morris as a young couple to offset the older Cooper/Wyatt pairing.
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