Task Force (1949)

Weak script, and historically not very accurate. The battle scenes, mostly taken from actual WW2 battle footage, were certainly worth watching though.

Just saw this for the first time on TCM and I've got to say that this is one of the best war films I've ever scene. My late grandfather (Naval Academy class of '29) was on the Hornet in World War II and the attention to detail in this film is phenomenal. The action sequences are gripping, the actual archival footage is seamlessly integrated with the actor re-creations, and the film does quite a service to history by outlining the development of the US carrier force from the 1920's (the lead characters are all alumni of the Langley) through WW2 -- down to the fight the Navy had with Congress to get a new carrier fleet funded after Pearl Harbor. It manages to convey a huge quantity of information and do so factually without being a documentary - it's all action-packed drama with several strong human interest plots / subplots including a pretty good depiction of what Navy fliers wives went through. Having watch this on TCM this morning, I'm going to buy the video. This is a must-have! It's also really interesting how they switch suddenly at the end of the film from B&W to Technicolor. Odd, but it works and helps integrate the color archival footage into the film. Four stars in my book!

Gary Cooper plays a navy man that was one of the first pilots trained to fly from an aircraft carrier (the USS Langley) and continues his career through WWII until his retirement. The first section of the film focuses a lot on Cooper and his relationships with friends, his future wife and the navy brass.Later, when WWII arrives, the film is much more of an action flick and gives a very competent overview of the war in the Pacific. While this did employ a lot of stock footage, it was unusual in that most all of the footage was used correctly. Unlike the ridiculously historically inaccurate film, MIDWAY (1976), TASK FORCE made sure to use clips that were accurate--featuring the correct model planes for each segment of the war (whereas in MIDWAY, they often showed planes that weren't even in the naval arsenal until well after the battle as well as had dive bombers magically turn into fighter planes in mid-flight due to horrid editing blunders).This film really has widely different appeal depending on your perspective. If you are a history teacher and airplane nut like me, then it earns a 9 because it does a really good job of conveying the history of the American aircraft carriers from its inception in the early 1920s through WWII. However, if you are not, then you might find the film a bit cold (as it often focuses more on events than people towards the middle to the end of the film) and it might seem a bit confusing if you aren't familiar with the history of these great ships.

This film with Gary Cooper, Jane Wyatt (Mrs "Sarek" from Star Trek), and Walter Brennan, is about the history of Naval Air Power: Starting with the country's general stupidity about air power regarding aircraft carriers- And the fight against such stupidity and the eventual win of level heads and an adequate task force in the pacific during WW II.What is unusual about this film is that it begins in Black and White and is filmed as if it were a film made in the 30's - And about halfway through it becomes colourised. This film starts in the early 20's when there were very few carriers and aircraft and pilots to fly them. Cooper's character fights (Along with Brennan who is his immediate superior) to get better Naval Air Power. He is rebuffed by his superiors but never lets up... And eventually, after the incident in June 1942 where 3 Aircraft Carriers took out four Japanese carriers but were sunk or damaged themselves, the Navy was granted a better carrier force.Lots of great war footage is used in this film: They did not use special effects for Aerial battle scenes in moovies like these: It is odd to think that when you see a plane being shot down, a real person got killed in the crash.But the point of such films is not really entertainment: At the start of WW II the US had just about nothing as far as armed forces were concerned. It took decades to get to the point were we had what it took to take on a country with a superior maritime tradition.The real war footage is a stark reminder of things that happened. In recent years, this trend of using real war footage has again cropped up in a few pictures. For example, in "The Chronicles of Riddick," the "fireworks" in a battle are real rockets from Iraq.This film ends with Cooper retiring, and we see jets flying across the sky- So in a way, this film not only is showing us the history of Naval Air power, but also of Hollywood film-making.And that makes "Task Force" a clever and important film.