Memphis Belle
Short description
Memphis Belle follows the crew of a B-17 Flying Fortress during the Second World War as they prepare for one final bombing mission over Europe. Having already completed twenty-four runs, the ten young airmen need only survive one more before they can return home. When the target is revealed, they set out on a flight that tests them against harsh weather, German fighters and ground fire. The story draws on the real wartime documentary record of the aircraft and its men.
Michael Caton-Jones directed the film, his second feature after Scandal, and Monte Merrick wrote the screenplay. David Puttnam and Catherine Wyler produced it for Warner Bros. Pictures with Enigma Productions and other partners, on a budget of about 23 million dollars. Matthew Modine leads the ensemble as pilot Dennis Dearborn, alongside Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney, Billy Zane and Sean Astin.
Released in September 1990 and running 107 minutes, the film is rated 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb from nearly 30,000 votes and 6.8 out of 10 on TMDB from 453 votes, while a critics' score of 6 out of 10 from 25 reviews places it close to the audience response. It sits between Caton-Jones's first feature and his later work such as Doc Hollywood and This Boy's Life.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on the plot of the 1944 documentary "Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress".
- Filming took place in the United Kingdom, at the now-defunct RAF Binbrook airbase (Lincolnshire), which housed RAF Bomber Command during World War II, and at the Imperial War Museum Duxford (Cambridgeshire).
- Active and retired Royal Air Force personnel participated in the filming.
- Five B-17 aircraft were used in the filming, three arrived from the United States, and two from France. After one of the aircraft (reg. no. F-BEEA) crashed during landing, another B-17 from the United Kingdom was used in the filming. Six privately owned Mustangs were used as escort fighters.
- The real Memphis Belle aircraft is a modification of an F model Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortress", but the film used a B-17G "Sally B", whose main visual difference from the B-17F was the presence of a front dual-gun turret. Therefore, it had to be removed for filming.
- Spanish Hispano Aviación HA-1112 fighters, which were licensed copies of the Bf.109G, were used as German interceptors Me-109 in the film.
- The 'Memphis Belle' herself was not used in the film, as she was undergoing reconstruction at the time.
- Katherine Wyler, a co-producer of the film, is the daughter of William Wyler, who was a war correspondent and participated in the filming of the documentary 'Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress' in 1944.
- In the film 'Memphis Belle', the aircraft makes its final raid on Bremen; in reality, it was Lorient in Brittany, France.
- In the film 'Memphis Belle', the aircraft returns to the airbase heavily damaged with only one working engine. In reality, the aircraft completed its last combat mission without significant damage or injuries to the crew.
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