Hell Divers
Hell Divers is a 1931 American pre-Code black-and-white film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Wallace Beery and Clark Gable as a pair of competing chief petty officers in early naval aviation. The film, made with the cooperation of the United States Navy, features considerable footage of flight operations aboard the Navy's second aircraft carrier, the , including dramatic shots of takeoffs and landings filmed from the Curtiss F8C-4 Helldiver dive bombers after which the movie was named.
Plot
Leading Chief Petty Officer "Windy" Riker is a veteran aerial gunner of a Navy Helldiver dive bomber and the leading chief of Fighting Squadron One, about to go to Panama aboard the aircraft carrier. He loses his five-year title of "champion machine gunner" after young C.P.O. Steve Nelson joins the squadron. Windy, notorious for using his fists to enforce discipline, is charged by local police with wrecking a Turkish bath. Windy is saved from arrest, however, when Lieutenant Commander Jack Griffin, skipper of the squadron, intervenes on his behalf. Griffin and his second-in-command, Lieutenant "Duke" Johnson, agree that Nelson is the best candidate to replace Windy as he ponders retirement.
More details
| author | Frank Wead Harvey Gates |
|---|---|
| director | George W. Hill |
| editor | Blanche Sewell |
| events | aviation |
| genre | adventure drama |
| keywords | aerial gunner aircraft carrier bail bail bond blood poisoning bomb bury chief petty officer climb curtiss falcon fight fighting squadron one flight jacket fly head injury helldiver injured kill land liberty list of united states navy enlisted rates machine gun missing man missing man formation panama panama canal poison practical joke rate retire rid shore leave steal turkish bath vfa-14 tophatters wait |
| producer | George W. Hill |
| productionCompany | George Hill Productions |
| publisher | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |