BYU

Harold B. Lee Library

Captains of the Clouds

James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale
Memorial Day Tribute

  • Time: 7:00 PM
  • Date: Friday, May 25, 2007
  • Place: HBLL Auditorium, 1st Floor; Admission is free; arrive early for seats. Doors open at 6:30 PM.


About the Event

Starring James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale. This Warner Bros. Technicolor air spectacle has James Cagney, an American born bush pilot in Canada, joining the Royal Canadian Air Force after hearing of the Blitzkrieg bombings of London. The stunning aerial photography and Cagney’s energetic performance are hallmarks of this film, as are the brisk direction and visual style of Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy). Location photography at North Bay, Ontario, made Captains of the Clouds the first color feature film made in Canada. World War I ace Billy Bishop is seen in a cameo role pinning wings on RCAF graduates. This so-called “preparedness” film, produced shortly before Pearl Harbor and released two months afterwards, is one of a handful that were the object of a Senate committee that investigated the “saber-rattling” of Hollywood studios in an isolationist America. After December 7, such investigations were meaningless.
Warner Bros. 1942. 113 mins. Technicolor. Director: Michael Curtiz.

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