The War Lover (1962)

Steve McQueen plays a really screwed up bomber pilot, Buzz. Unlike most of these guys, Buzz LIKES that there's a war and finds the whole thing exciting and even fun! This doesn't bother his men during much of the film...he's very, very good at what he does and seems to lead a charmed existence. However, as the film progresses, it becomes obvious to several of the men that he really is a sociopath....a loner who likes to destroy things and has contempt for women. Nothing seems to get to him at all...until his last mission.In contrast, there's his co-pilot, Bo (Robert Wagner). As the film progresses, the two have a falling out and in many ways, they are different. However, he's no angel either when it comes to women. Handsome and likable, like Buzz, he's a bit of a user. But he does not love war and can't wait to go home.This film did a great job of fooling the viewer. According to IMDb, there were only three B-17s used in the film...and they made it seem like a lot more. Additionally, MOST of the aerial sequences are pretty good and the stock footage they used was better than normal in most cases (though the stuff later in the film wasn't nearly as good). There were only two serious problems I noticed (and I am a stickler for these details) were scenes where a plane exploded, as they were obviously just cheap models and could have been done better. There also was a BRIEF clip of a supposedly German fighter plane attacking at 94 minutes into the film...and it's actually an American P-38. In many ways, the film is an interesting portrait of the folks who flew the missions. I am pretty sure a reasonable number must have been like Bo and Buzz...and such attitudes must have proved helpful in war...and certainly NOT during peace time! Not a great film like "12 O'Clock High" (probably the best film about WWII bombers) but very good nevertheless.

Philip Leacock's "The War Lover" puts as much emphasis on the 'lover' as it does on the 'war'. Robert Wagner and Steve McQueen are American bombers stationed in England during World War Two. Wagner falls for local girl Shirley Anne Field while McQueen is more in love with killing. This was an early lead performance from McQueen and he certainly displays charisma. Wagner, on the other hand, is his usual eager-to-please self and, although he's the good guy, comes across as a bit too serious and far too smug. Again Shirley Anne Field is wasted in a bland, under-written role while the film's main strength lies in Bob Huke's first-rate black and white photography. Look out for a young Michael Crawford in a small part.

Steve McQueen gives an outstanding performance as U.S. Army Air Force Captain 'Buzz' Rickson in "Reach for Glory" director Philip Leacock's World War II gripping aerial epic "The War Lover," one of those rare movies where McQueen qualifies as more of a villain than a hero. Robert Wagner co-stars as his straight-laced co-pilot and beautiful Shirley Ann Field with her sultry voice provides the love interest in this black & white film based on author John Hersey's 1959 Pulitzer Prize winning novel. "Casablanca" scenarist Howard Koch penned the screenplay. Leacock and Koch have created an Allied World War II movie where the conflict is confined within the ranks of the 8th Air Force. Furthermore, aside from some stunning aerial footage of an actual Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109G armed with 20 mm cannons blazing away at the B-17s, filmmakers never present the Nazi side of the war. In other words, we neither see the Germans nor the swastika. This snappy Columbia Pictures release was lensed on location in England at RAF Bovingdon in Hertfordshire, RAF Manston in Kent, around Cambridgeshire, and at Shepperton Studios in Surrey. Aside from Henry King's "Twelve O'Clock High" (1949) and Boris Sagal's "The 1000 Plane Raid" (1969), "The War Lover" is one of the very few World War II movies about the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in combat over Europe. Former R.A.F. pilot Captain John Crewdson and his company Film Aviation Services flew three vintage B-17s in "The War Lover." Clearly, it was testament to both Leacock and Crewdson that these three bomber look like an entire squadron. In fact, the belly landing was taken from "Twelve O'Clock High."Captain 'Buzz' Rickson (Steve McQueen of "The Magnificent Seven is an arrogant pilot who enjoys flying bombers and dropping bombs on the enemy. He lives to fly and flies to fight. In the opening scene, Rickson is flying to blow up some German submarine pens when the squadron commander reports that the cloud cover is so thick that they cannot attack their target. He gives the squadron orders to turn around, drop their bomb load in the sea and return home. 'Buzz' refuses to obey orders. Instead, Rickson and his squadron continue to the target and Rickson orders his pilot to descend through the clouds to about 85-hundred feet and drop their bombs. Although the submarine pens are destroyed, Buzz loses one Flying Fortress on the return journey and gets chewed out by his commandeering officer. Actually, this first scene is reminiscent of director Raoul Walsh's wartime aerial film "Desperate Journey," where Errol Flynn's impetuous bomber pilot descends below the clouds to clobber a target but in the process gets shot down.Later, on another mission, Rickson gets upset because instead of dropping bombs on the Jerrys, he has to drop propaganda leaflets. He shows his rage when he returns to base by flying low over the base. Indeed, he lives up to his nickname 'Buzz' because he buzzes the base. Buzz is such a tremendous pilot that his commanding officer lets him get away with it. Lieutenant Boland (Robert Wagner of "Prince Valiant") refuses to part company with Buzz when his superiors offer him an aircraft of his own. According to Boland, Buzz is one of the best pilots and flying their ship 'The Body' more by instinct than my instruments. Although Buzz is a hotshot in the air, he isn't popular on the ground and he comes to resent Boland's ability to land girls, particularly British beauty Daphne Caldwell. Daphne and Boland hit it off right away and become lovers much to Buzz's chagrin."The War Lover" reaches its climax when Buzz has to fly deep into the heart of Germany on a special bombing raid. Back in the base briefing room, a soldier discovers a rabbit's foot. We are led to believe that the rabbit's foot belonged to Buzz, but the connection is never concretely established. Before this top-secret, hush-hush raid, Buzz gets to intrude on Daphne after Boland has left his sweetheart. Leacock and Koch never show us watch happens as Buzz enters Daphne's house at her request. Indeed, he slaps her around, but he doesn't take advantage of him. Later, once they are aloft, Buzz confides in Boland that Daphne broke him. After they reach the target and blow it to hell and gone, our heroes turn back for home. A crew person informs Buzz that a bomb has been caught up in the bomb bay and was never dropped. Messerschmitt fighters attack Buzz's plane on the return trip, and he loses not only his ball turret gunner, Sergeant Junior (Michael Crawford of "The Knack . . . And How To Get It"), but three of his four propellers. Buzz orders his surviving crew members to bail out and pushes Boland out. Afterward, he climbs back into the cockpit and struggles to bring the ailing airship back to base. Instead, he smashed the bomber into the White Cliffs of Dover. Boland and Daphne are seen walking away at Cambridge."The War Lover" is one of those odd World War II movies where the Allies are not depicted in a wholesome light. Buzz is insubordinate and selfish. He thinks of nobody but himself and he lives up to his villainy when he invades Daphne's house and roughs her up. Later, when Buzz wants to save the B-17 instead of bail out, Boland tells him t hat he is a coward because he is afraid to kill. Generally, if you analyze the career of Steve McQueen, he played characters for the most part who were whitewashed. Buzz Rickson, however, is an exception to the rule. Buzz embodies both heroism and villainy. "The War Lover" isn't a great W.W. II movie, but McQueen's sterling performance, the vintage B-17s, and the fact that only a handful of such Allied aerial films have been made about the European Theater of war makes it an exemplary combat picture.

Aviation author Martin Caiden (his books were the basis for the film "Marooned" and the t.v show "The Six Million Dollar Man") published a book entitled "Everything But The Flak" that detailed the efforts to revive three Navy PB-1 Flying Forts and the ensuing flight adventure of moving them across the Atlantic to England for the making of "The War Lover" which is a "must read" for those interested in the making of this film. He accompanied the flight crews and although his larger-than-life account of their hijinks (rumbling with Soviets in the airport in Greenland, being locked up by Interpol in Portugal on suspicion of smuggling illicit warplanes - after all these three B-17s had active gun turrets) must be taken with a grain of salt, the guy sure could spin a great yarn! The book is probably WAY out of print but is well worth seeking out as it gives some idea of the difficulty of reactivating three WW II bombers years before the warbird revival got underway. Unfortunately, due to import/export duties in England in the early 1960s, Columbia Pictures scrapped two of the three Fortresses after filming was completed and only one has survived, used for promotion of the film before being passed onto other hands.The movie itself has lots of B-17 action of the planes taxiing around the airfield prior to mission take-off that is frequently edited out for television broadcast to save time for commercials or to fit into a specific airtime envelope. If it airs uncut, notice the patchy paint on the Fortress noses as three airframes portray a much larger squadron, with nose art changed several times.Mark Sublette, Falls Church, Virginia