Flying Leathernecks is a 1951 war film directed by Nicholas Ray. The film starred John Wayne and Robert Ryan, and was based on the service of US Marine Corps aviators during World War II.
Director: Nicholas Ray
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Cast: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter, Jay C Flippen, William Harrigan
US Box Office: $6,500,000 ($117,400,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: War, Drama
Release Date: August 28, 1951
Plot Summary: During World War II, Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is assigned to be the new commander of the “Wildcats” Marine Air Force squadron, which is captained by Carl Griffin (Robert Ryan). The squadron is sent to assist in the Battle of Guadalcanal. Kirby’s strict and disciplined style of command almost immediately clashes with the more casual attitude of Griffin and the rest of the squadron, including Lt. Vern “Cowboy” Blithe (Don Taylor), the brother-in-law of Griffin. Griffin eventually gets the opportunity to take charge of the squad, does he have what it takes?
Production: In 1950, RKO Radio Pictures studio head Howard Hughes began working a World War II drama film about Marine pilots. Hughes was a pilot himself and was interested in aviation, having produced several plane related films in the past, and bankrolled the production himself. Hughes chose Edmund Grainger to produce the film. The screenplay for the film was written by James Edward Grant, based on a story by Kenneth Gamet. The film was eventually titled Flying Leathernecks (with “leathernecks” being an early nickname for Marines based on the leather originally worn around their necks to protect from knife attacks). Director Nicholas Ray was chosen by RKO to direct the film. Ray was a liberal and resented having to work on Flying Leathernecks because of the film’s highly patriotic, pro-American tone. However, Ray agreed to take the job to prove his loyalty to the United States during the Hollywood blacklist years.
John Wayne was chosen by RKO to play the lead role of Dan Kirby. Kirby was based on real-life WWII flying ace Major John L. Smith, who had also served at Guadalcanal and received the Medal of Honor for his service. Wayne was cast in the part due to the popularity of Wayne’s performance as a sergeant in Sands of Iwo Jima (1948). That same year Wayne also starred in Operation Pacific, another WWII film. Robert Ryan was cast as Carl Griffin. Ray picked Ryan because of Ryan’s past as a college boxer, and because he thought that Ryan was the only actor who looked tough enough to beat up John Wayne. Ray supposed instructed Ryan (a fellow Hollywood liberal) to overact.
Filming on Flying Leathernecks began in November of 1950 and went on till February of 1951. Earlier shooting work including the airplane sequences was done on location at the Camp Pendleton and El Toro Marine Base Camps in California. Grumman F6F Hellcats were used by the production crew to represent the Grumman F4F Wildcats piloted by the characters in the film. Wildcats had been retired at the end of World War II, while the similar Hellcats were still in use in 1950, and were provided to the production by the El Toro Marine Base.
A serious accident occurred during one of the airplane scenes in Flying Leathernecks. While shooting a low-altitude attack scene for the film a B-15 Mitchell bomber equipped with a camera platform was caught in a premature dynamite stunt blast. Though the plane was badly damaged by the explosion the plane’s pilot, “Air Boss” Paul Mantz, managed to carry out an emergency landing, saving the lives of himself and the photo crew in the plane.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Lynn Stalmaster (Lt. Billy Castle) only acted in six projects, but he had a long career as a Hollywood casting director. He worked as a casting director on more than 390 films, TV shows, and TV movies from 1953 to 2017. The Gold-handled coffee mugs that the pilots use in Flying Leathernecks were created by the McFarren Company in Corona Del Mar, California. They were heavy-duty Wallace China mugs, and John Wayne liked them so much, that after Flying Leathernecks he would frequently give personalized Wallace China mugs to the cast and crew members on his films after shooting wrapped. The mugs Wayne gave out usually featured a hand-painted scene from the movie he was working on and were addressed as being “From Duke.”
Flying Leathernecks takes place during World War II and like most films of the time, it features actual archive footage from the conflict mixed in with the film’s scenes, however Flying Leathernecks also supposedly features war footage shot during the then-ongoing Korean War. A September 1950 Hollywood Reporter article claimed that Flying Leathernecks was going to be the first Hollywood film to feature footage from the Korean War.
Reception: Flying Leathernecks was a box office success for RKO when it was released in 1951. The film was very exciting, patriotic, and John Wayne was a huge star at time, all of which contributed to the film’s success. When it was first released, Flying Leathernecks received positive reviews from critics. Howard Thompson of The New York Times praised the film’s exciting aerial sequences and battles. The staff at Variety also liked the film. They praised Flying Leathernecks for combining color footage from World War II with scenes shot by the studio, and argued that this made the film more realistic. In modern times Flying Leathernecks has received a much more mixed response from critics. Geoff Andrew of Time Out gave the film a negative review. He thought that it was Ray’s least interesting film, and that it was just a generic World War II drama film. Steve Crum criticized the film’s patriotism, but praised Nicholas Ray’s direction and the general production values of the film.
Why You Should See It: Flying Leathernecks is a very good World War II film. Even though he apparently hated having to work on it, Nicholas Ray does a good job directing Flying Leathernecks. He handled the action sequences quite well and added plenty of emotion to the story: both in serious dramatic scenes and in the lighthearted-comedic parts of the film. The film is very noble and patriotic, and it can be quite gritty at times. The air scenes in Flying Leathernecks are very impressive, combining actual archive footage from the war with scenes shot by RKO makes the film more realistic (and also very unique in featuring Technicolor footage shot during the war). John Wayne gives a good performance as Dan Kirby. The character is very tough and disciplined, but Wayne adds a lot of emotion to role, making the character more relatable to the audience. Jay C. Flippen is very funny in his supporting role as Master Sergeant Clancy.