Posted By GT on October 23, 2005 at 12:34:26:
In Reply to: Re: B-17 Unit code "DF" posted by Moofy (Yvonne)UK on October 22, 2005 at 17:51:18:
Hi!
Here is another good William Wyler documentary named "Thunderbolt". About P-47 and its use in missions over Europe.
This film shows the cold hard truth of 57th Fighter Group based at Corsica in 1944.
The personal, humanized glimpses of real men instead of lantern jawed actors as they go on about their days, living their daily lives worrying about who wonīt come back.
The shooting style is from on board cameras from several points on the planes and shows so many real mission realities from a normal fighter sweep over Italy including coldly shooting up innocent farmhouses in search of one thatīs not so innocent and plowing any thing that moves in the daylight.
At some point as you watch this you go through so many emotions from the shock of realizing just how young these pilots are to being mystified about how they can be so cold as they light up the Italian country side to a sad understanding as director William Wyler shows you what would never be shown in a Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" movies, the charred body of a Jug pilot being pulled from the burning wreckage of his fighter with a hook. The end scene of the pilots and crews falling over drunk makes complete sense.
This film is much more poignant than Wylerīs later film "Memphis Belle" which while good shows the touch of war time censors. "Thunderbolt" drives home the very human costs of war.
Regards
GT