Exciting aerial action and romance are mixed in this flag-waving homage to the US Army Air Corps (before it became the US Air Force). The story centres on three cadets (playboy Ray Milland, garage mechanic William Holden and college athlete Wayne Morris) who undergo the fiendishly difficult training programme run by martinet Brian Donlevy. It's actually pretty authentic: director Mitchell Leisen put his actors together with a real-life group of new recruits in Texas for much of the training action. There are also some nerve-jangling aerial sequences. The main point of note in the romance department is the debut of Veronica Lake (complete with trademark long tresses) as the vamp for whom ex-boyfriend Holden still carries a torch, while photographer Constance Moore takes a more than artistic interest in Milland. A lengthy but very enjoyable period piece for those who like lots of plucky derring-do.

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