Memphis Belle Movie Review 1990

Satisfying Hollywood version of the documentary of the same name captures the true story of the final mission of a WWII bomber crew stationed in England. The boys of the Memphis Belle were the first group of B-17 crewmen to complete a 25 mission tour--no small feat in an air war that claimed many lives. Good ensemble cast of up and coming young actors; Lithgow has a nice turn as an army PR guy determined to exploit their boyish good looks on the homefront. Caton-Jones effectively uses 1940s film techniques and some original footage, making up for a rather hokey script. Film debut of singer Connick. Produced by Catherine Wyler, whose father made the original.

Distribution

Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: (773)281-9075, Toll-free: 800-331-6197, Fax: (773)929-5437, Email: sales@facets.org, URL: http://www.facets.org

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 107 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Adventure Drama, World War II, Airborne, True Stories, Team Efforts, Killer Sea Critters, Big Battles, Military: Air Force

Screenplay

Monte Merrick

Cast

Matthew Modine, John Lithgow, Eric Stoltz, Sean Astin, Harry Connick, Reed Edward Diamond, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney, Billy Zane, David Strathairn, Jane Horrocks, Courtney Gains, Neil Giuntoli

Cinematography

David Watkin

Director

Michael Caton-Jones

Music

George Fenton

Producer

Warner Bros., Catherine Wyler, David Puttnam, Eric Rattray