The plot is predictable, especially considering the film is, for all intents and purposes, a recruiting film. It's also a thinly veiled rework of the earlier Berne Lay script, "I Wanted Wings." As a matter of fact, the barracks interior scenes at Randolph AFB, early in the film, utilize the same sets used for the aforementioned 1941 classic. The neat thing is the combination of aircraft and "actors" - the T-33 two-seat jet trainers are some of the earliest models, prior to the installation of ejection seats. There is also a liberal sprinkling of single-seat F-80s used throughout as well. For the flight gear aficionado, the pilots wear the first production "hard hats," the P-1 helmet. Among the actors are actual USAF personnel. Future Mercury 7 astronaut Gus Grissom is mentioned in the IMDb listing as a cast member, but I'm going to have to watch it again to pick him out. More recognizable for me was Col. Leon Gray - he gives a speech to the new jet students about the sophistication of their aircraft, how it will "talk" to them. Gray was a highly decorated WWII veteran who flew photo reconnaissance P-38 Lightnings in the European theater. He went on to command one of the first P-80 squadrons at March Field, then took command of the first RF-80 (reconnaissance version of the Shoioting Star) wing in the USAF.
If you're an early jet nut, this movie is a "must have" in your collection.
If you're an early jet nut, this movie is a "must have" in your collection.