By S. Mark Rhodes

Warner Archives keeps cranking out great chestnuts from its vaults and making them available as a “Made to Order” disc.  The latest releases are four great aviation melodrama/thrillers.

Bombardier is a 1943 film concerning the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces.  The film, starring Pat O’Brien as Major Chick Davis and Randolph Scott, is solid action with a plot revolving around the central clash of whether specific bomber training was necessary as a component of the USAAF.  In the course of the film, Major Davis manages to demonstrate the superiority of high altitude precision bombing which allows for the creation of a training academy for bombardiers.  As with many of these films, the trivia is particularly fascinating; reportedly this film’s plot reflected some of the debate about the role and effectiveness of specialized bombing during World War II. Much of the film was shot at Kirtland Air Force Base, which employed some of the cadets as extras.  Bombardier has many near documentary elements reflected in it’s approach to the subject matter.  Most interesting of all is the film’s prologue which is delivered by Brigadier General Eugene Eubank who was the commander of the first heavy bombardment group of the US Army Air Forces to see combat in World War II.  In this prologue, General Eubank praises the bombing crews, which “must vindicate the greatest responsibility ever placed upon an individual soldier in the line of duty.”