Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Great Film overall

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Fighter Squadron combines the best elements of Dawn Patrol plus a little bit of Command Decision which came out the same year at MGM having previously been on Broadway. Edmond O'Brien and Robert Stack both get two of their most memorable screen roles in this film. The film makes good use of integrating actual color combat films with the body of the story.O'Brien plays a former Flying Tiger pilot from China who is now joined with the Army Air Corps and is flying in the European theater. He's a pretty undisciplined guy and not real big on the chain of command which bedevils General Sheppard Strudwick. But the big general Henry Hull rather likes him and so do the men in his group.But he's got to adjust his attitude when he gets put in command of the whole squadron. The job calls for a whole new level of thinking on O'Brien's behalf. Fighter Squadron is an aviation buff's dream. not only the vintage planes seen in glorious color, but the debate of various uses of the airplane as a weapon of war. The arguments over the air tactics of the second World War are still debated among military historians.If it weren't for Tom D'Andrea's role in The Life Of Riley as neighbor Jim Gillis, his role as conniving Sergeant Dolan would have been the career role of his life. D'Andrea supplies the comic relief in Fighter Squadron with an absolutely dead on, deadpan droll performance as Dolan who does get a lovely comeuppance in the end. Fighter Squadron is worth watching just for D'Andrea.Two actors who later came out as gay made their screen debuts in Fighter Squadron. Jack Larson has a small part as the baby faced new pilot who joins the squadron and becomes O'Brien's wing man. Rock Hudson is also here and he has a line or two, but he's readily recognizable as one of the pilots in the officer's club. Hudson originally signed with Warner Brothers. but was cut loose from his contract after his debut and was immediately snapped up by Universal. Jack Warner must have kicked himself for years after that one.Robert Stack plays O'Brien's best friend and fellow former Flying Tiger. He's getting married and violating an order that Sheppard Strudwick does not like married pilots flying in his command. Strudwick himself comes off as a stuffed shirt and a by the book martinet. Still his ideas are not totally without merit.Fighter Squadron holds up very well over 60 years after the film was made. O'Brien, Stack, and D'Andrea do some of their best work in this film.

With all the comments about Teutonic Mustangs, there should probably be some clarification. Obviously, in postwar America, we didn't have a plethora of captured MEs and FWs to operate - there were sufficient times when Mustangs were mistaken for ME-109s by gunners in the bomber formations that Hollywood's use of P-51s is forgivable. For the record: The "Luftwaffe" P-51s were from the CA ANG unit at Van Nuys; the P-47Ds were from an east coast ANG squadron. The film was shot primarily at Oscoda Army Air Field, Michigan (eventually re-named Wurtsmith AFB), with the grand finale airfield strafing sequence shot at Van Nuys. The belly tanks for one pivotal scene (jettisoned in defiance of orders to "stay with the bombers") had to be scrounged from a variety of surplus locations - hard to believe, considering just 3 short years earlier there had been in mass production. The aircraft carry 9th AF unit markings to match the only extensive color P-47 footage shot during WWII.For all this effort, the plot line is still reminiscent of most prewar or WWII-era "gung ho" propaganda films - right down to the recycling of the musical score from Errol Flynn's "Dive Bomber" (if I'm lying, I'm dying). All the hokey subplots are best enjoyed either with a case of your favorite adult beverage, or with the "mute" button activated - or both. Enjoy the airplanes, because you'll never see that many Thunderbolts in the air again.In the DVD-VHS department, I get the feeling the film is owned by Turner/TCM, as that's the only channel where I've ever seen it aired. You might try schmoozing Ted Turner to get him to release it...

There's a lot wrong with this film, including the schmaltzy or trite stock characters: the Tough Commander, the Happy Go Lucky Guy, the Goof Off, the Big Operator, and of course The Kid.Henry Hull plays...yet again...Henry Hull.Modelers will wonder why an 8th AF group uses 12th Air Force markings, with different colored cowlings in the same formation. (It would not have been hard to do it right.) Some of the film footage is reversed (stars & bars on upper right instead of upper left wings) and much of the color combat film is from Japan in 1945.Still, how often do we get to see P-47s in color? "Fighter Squadron" is much like the egregious 1970s TV series "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (BBBS!) in that the plot is thin and the acting is marginal, but the airplanes are watchable.

Great war movie with a good cast. I think this is the very first apparition on screen by Rock Hudson, in a minor acting role. I like it very much because it is mainly a "Republic P-47 Thunderbolt" fighter bomber movie (not P-51 !!) and it is in color. The nazi planes are represented with some P-51 B colored like Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt ME 109s. There are several original Me 109 scattered around the globe and 2, at least, are still flying (an E and G version), in USA and England.. This movie is absolutely a must for all the aviation fan . I sow it since TV in my Country transmitted it several times in recent years, however it seems not yet available in DVD or VHS formats. Also a good memorial for the late Robert Stack,, who died in 2003.