NR | 2 h | Romance, Drama, Fantasy | 1943
Veteran’s Day is an often-overlooked holiday, since it doesn’t come with the same celebratory customs as many other holidays. However, it’s an important remembrance of the end of World War I, as the anniversary of the Armistice on Nov. 11, 1918. It’s also a day to honor veterans of every other military conflict who fought to protect our nation’s freedom.
There are so many classic movies about World War II that one can study almost every facet of the war just by watching the films made during the duration and in the 10 years afterward. One excellent war film, which isn’t well known, is “A Guy Named Joe” from 1943. Starring Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, and a young Van Johnson in one of his early starring roles, it features an interesting blend of wartime reality and supernatural whimsy.
A Wartime Story
Pete Sandidge (Tracy) is a cocky bomber pilot in Europe who constantly disobeys orders, but is one of the best fliers in his squadron. His sweetheart is a female pilot, Dorinda Durston (Dunne); they argue a lot: He argues that she should give up flying and she urges him to stop taking so many risks. As punishment for his reckless maneuvers, Pete and his best friend, Al Yackey (Ward Bond), are transferred to a slower-paced assignment in Scotland.Dorinda pays their outpost a visit, and she agrees to marry Pete on the condition that he takes a training job in the United States. However, she has a feeling of foreboding as he goes out on a reconnaissance mission. His plane is shot down, and he crashes into a German ship.
G.I. Joe
Johnson was one of the most popular onscreen servicemen during and after the war. He played soldiers, sailors, and marines, yet he never served in real life. While driving to the premiere of “Keeper of the Flame,” Tracy and Katharine Hepburn’s second movie together, Johnson was in a horrible car crash which left him with a metal plate in his forehead and severe facial scarring. As a result, he was exempt from military service, which made him one of the only young actors left in Hollywood. Although this accident almost ended his life, it was the break that made him a star.
Johnson was in the middle of filming “A Guy Named Joe” when he was in the crash. He was incapacitated for three months, so MGM wanted to replace him and reshoot his scenes with another young actor, like John Hodiak or Peter Lawford. However, Tracy and Dunne insisted that the production be halted until Johnson could recover. In the finished film, you can determine which scenes were filmed before the accident, since Van’s face is boyishly smooth without the ridge in his forehead and heavy makeup he would wear throughout his career.
Speaking of G.I. Joe, you might be wondering about the guy in the title. None of the featured characters are named Joe, but this is a reference to a line early in the film. A group of British children excitedly watch their hero, Pete, return from a mission. One of them encourages another to holler, “Hey, Joe!” to the pilot. When the other child argues that his name isn’t Joe, the first boy says, “Don’t you know anything about slang? In the American air forces, anybody who’s a right chap is a guy named Joe!”
