Thunder Birds

Thunder Birds (1942) (subtitled "Soldiers of the Air") is a Technicolor film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, and John Sutton. It features visually stunning aerial photography and location filming at an actual Arizona training base of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. The film was made as a propaganda vehicle to boost civilian morale at a time when World War II was still much in doubt,... more

Thunder Birds (1942) (subtitled "Soldiers of the Air") is a Technicolor film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, and John Sutton. It features visually stunning aerial photography and location filming at an actual Arizona training base of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. The film was made as a propaganda vehicle to boost civilian morale at a time when World War II was still much in doubt, while at the same time providing a look at training activities and promoting airpower as a means of winning the war. Wellman was himself a veteran of the U.S. Air Service as a World War I fighter pilot. During World War II, Steve Britt (Preston Foster), a middle-aged former World War I flying ace and aviation celebrity, arrives at Thunderbird Field in May 1942 looking for a job as a civilian primary flight instructor. Steve looks up Lt. Col. "Mac" "MacDonald (Jack Holt), the base commander, who introduces him to his Royal Air Force... less