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At The Movies: "Wake Island"

TARPSBird

TARPSBird

Moderator
Staff member
My weekend Netflix selection was Wake Island starring Brian Donlevy, Macdonald Carey, William Bendix and Robert Preston. Historically inaccurate portrayal of the heroic defense of Wake but still a good action flick. So I'm watching the first Japanese air attack and what aircraft do I see playing the role of "the bad guys"? None other than NCGent's Ryan SC-W! :) Here are some screenshots from the flick, along with a couple of NCGent's plane.

vlcsnap-2011-01-02-22h55m51s120.jpg


vlcsnap-2011-01-02-22h55m15s140.jpg


vlcsnap-2011-01-02-22h53m20s254.jpg


vlcsnap-2011-01-02-22h51m49s129.jpg


SC-W_1.jpg


SC-W_2.jpg
 
Unless I am mistaken, there were only 12 or 13 SC-W's built. If that is the case, it seems odd that it would have been used in a movie that relied so heavily on aircraft.

OBIO
 
In the movie the scenes with real Japanese aircraft are pre-war shots of IJA Ki-27 Nate fighters and Ki-21 Sally bombers. Some of it may be combat footage from China. As for the SC-W's they appear to be the real deal and not models. Maybe Mr. Ryan had some he hadn't sold yet and made them available for the movie. :)
 
TARPSBIRD - saw this in the related postings, since we are discussing movies re: WWII.

This was filmed at the Salton Sea in Southern California just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor and, so I've been told, is the first major Hollywood effort following the country's entry into WWII. Not too bad for a rush job with little planning time available. It is amusing watching Robert Preston when he was this young - who could know "The Music Man" and "How the West Was Won" were coming down the pike. William Bendix was an established pro by this time, as was Brian Donlevy.

The Ryan plant was in San Diego and not that far from the shooting location. I've seen nothing indicating these aircraft were used as trainers or liaison aircraft, so they may have been available and not too far away, making useful and convenient props (no pun intended) in the film. I too have this bird in my aviary, it's a pleasant flyer and fun. When watching the film I was noting the slow-speed behavior of this aircraft around the Marine who had bailed out of his F4F-3. They are practically hanging on their propellers and making very tight turns at low speed around him - a remarkable demonstration of this aircraft's agility. Did you see the Curtiss F11C2s being chased by the Nates in the film? The Nationalist Chinese bought a number of these Curtiss fighters during the fighting in China, they were assembled on site by Curtiss technicians. I don't doubt that footage is authentic.
 
Browsing around on YouTube I've seen some pretty good air-to-air movie footage shot in combat by the Japanese, both army and navy. Professional quality too, not shot by some junior troop in the rear seat. Frankly I'm amazed that so much imagery survived the war.
 
On the subject of Wake Island, I am still hoping to hear back from the photographer who took the pictures I had posted of Wake Island in a post about FSX scenery. It would be nice to have Wake updated for FSX, with photoreal images! NC
 
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