Flat Top (film)

Flat Top
Flat Top
Directed by	Lesley Selander
Written by	Steve Fisher
Produced by	Walter Mirisch
Starring	Sterling Hayden; Richard Carlson
Cinematography	Harry Neumann
Edited by	William Austin
Music by	Marlin Skiles
Distributed by	Monogram Pictures
Release dates	November 11, 1952 (San Francisco); December 5, 1952 (New York);
Running time	85 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Flat Top (also released as Eagles of the Fleet) is a 1952 American drama war film filmed in Cinecolor, directed by Lesley Selander and starring Sterling Hayden, Richard Carlson, Jack Larson, Phyllis Coates and William Phipps.^[2] The film earned William Austin an Academy Award nomination for Best Film Editing in 1953.^[3]

Plot

Aboard an aircraft carrier near the coast during the Korean War, Commander Collier is in control. When asked about how he first handled his job, he remembers World War II. In flashback form, Collier recounts the war in the Pacific, working flight operations on the carrier and preparing a group of fighter pilots for the tough fight to come against the Japanese, including the amphibious invasion of the island of Leyte and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history.

Cast

Sterling Hayden as Cmdr. Dan Collier
Richard Carlson as Lt. Joe Rodgers
William Phipps as Red Kelley (as Bill Phipps)
John Bromfield as Ens. Snakehips McKay
Keith Larsen as Ens. Barney Smith / Barney Oldfield
William Schallert as Ens. Longfellow
Todd Karns as Judge
Phyllis Coates as Dorothy Collier
Dave Willock as Willie
Walter Coy as Air Group Commander
Jack Larson as "Scuttlebutt" Sailor

Release

The film's world premiere was held in San Francisco on November 11, 1952.^[1]

Reception

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Howard Thompson wrote: "'Flat Top' holds nothing new or stimulating in the way of entertainment. ... Steve .Fisher's scenario, full of hollow-sounding dialogue and clichés, focuses on a battered standby—the upper echelon feud and its effect on a standard assortment of rookie pilots. And it adds up to a light variation of our worn old friend, 'The Dawn Patrol.'"^[2]

References

1 2 "Premiere of 'Flat Top'". San Francisco Examiner. November 10, 1952. p. 37.
1 2 3 Thompson, Howard (December 6, 1952). "The Screen in Review: Navy Aviators Fight the War Again". The New York Times. p. 17.
↑ "The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.

External links

Flat Top at IMDb

This article about a war drama film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[premiere-1] 1 2 "Premiere of 'Flat Top'". San Francisco Examiner. November 10, 1952. p. 37.

[thompson-2] 1 2 3 Thompson, Howard (December 6, 1952). "The Screen in Review: Navy Aviators Fight the War Again". The New York Times. p. 17.

[Oscars1953-3] "The 25th Academy Awards (1953) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2011.

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