''Fighter Attack'' is a 1953 American

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

film directed by

Lesley Selander Lesley Selander (May 26, 1900 – December 5, 1979) was an American film director of Westerns and adventure movies. His career as director, spanning 127 feature films and dozens of TV episodes, lasted from 1936 to 1968. Before that, Selander was ...

. The film stars

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor and decorated Marine Corps officer and an Office of Strategic Services' agent during World War II. A leading man for mos ...

Joy Page Joy Page (born Joy Cerrette Paige; November 9, 1924 – April 18, 2008) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as the Bulgarian refugee Annina Brandel in ''Casablanca'' (1942). She was sometimes credited as Joanne Page. Early l ...

and J. Carrol Naish. It reunited Hayden and Selander, who had worked together on '' Flat Top'' in 1952. The film is set in Nazi-occupied Italy and involves a U.S. fighter pilot's last sortie, and the help he receives from Italian partisans in an effort to complete his mission after he is shot down in enemy territory.

Plot

Just after World War II, American Steve Pitt (Sterling Hayden) seeks out Father Paolo (David Leonard) at an Italian village. A new priest tells him Paolo was executed by the Germans. Steve recalls the events of 1944, when as a fighter pilot in Corsica, he flew on a last mission over Italy because his friend Captain George Peterson failed to complete his assignment: to blast a tunnel leading to a German

ammunition dump An ammunition dump, ammunition supply point (ASP), ammunition handling area (AHA) or ammunition depot is a military storage facility for live ammunition and explosives. The storage of live ammunition and explosives is inherently hazardous. The ...

. Steve is shot down, however, and parachutes into enemy-held Italy. Getting help from Nina (Joy Page), a young Italian partisan, she brings him to Bruno (J. Carrol Naish), the local partisan leader. Bruno is afraid of Nazi retaliation if Steve is found with them. When he finds the tunnel, Steve, with Nina's help, convinces the others, including village priest Father Paolo, to help him destroy it. Father Paolo reveals that he has been hiding George Patterson. Before the attack can take place, jealous partisan Aldo (Arthur Caruso) betrays the band to the Germans because Steve is in love with Nina, but is killed himself. The group escapes an ambush and retreats to their cabin hideout. The next morning, while Steve and George prepare to blow up the tunnel, American aircraft overhead are alerted to its location when Steve lights a flare. While the aircraft bomb the ammunition dump, the Italians attack a German artillery unit, turning the guns on the tunnel, destroying it, but Bruno is killed. Father Paolo and others help Steve and George escape in a small boat, with Steve promising to come back for Nina. As Steve ends his story, the new priest show him that Nina is still alive; the two lovers kiss and embrace.

Cast

as Major Steve Pitt * J. Carrol Naish as Bruno *

as Nina *

Kenneth Tobey Kenneth Jesse Tobey (March 23, 1917 – December 22, 2002) was an extremely prolific American actor who performed in hundreds of productions during a career that spanned more than half a century, including his role as the star of the 1957-1 ...

as Captain George Patterson * Arthur Caruso as Aldo *

Frank DeKova Frank de Kova (March 17, 1910 – October 15, 1981) was an American character actor in films, stage, and TV. Biography De Kova was born in New York City. He was a teacher at a school in New York before joining a Shakespeare repertory group. He ...

as Benedetto * Paul Fierro as Don Gaetano * Maurice Jara as Ettore * Tony Dante as Mario * David Leonard as Father Paola in the credits (also referred to as Paolo by screen characters) * Jeffrey Stone as Lt. Gross

Production

''Fighter Attack'' was one of a group of films in the early postwar period that dealt with World War II. The producers relied on the assistance of the USAF and the Department of Defense to provide stock footage of period fighter aircraft. The opening credits indicated, "We desire to express grateful appreciation to the Department of Defense and the United States Air Force for the cooperation which was extended in the production of this picture.""Notes: Fighter Attack."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: September 5, 2014.

Reception

''Fighter Attack'' "... was pleasingly filmed in the two-color Cinecolor process, as were many Monogram/Allied Artists 'A's of the period."Erickson, Hal
"Fighter Attack (1953)."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved: September 5, 2014. Critics appraised the film as "... just a typical post war action movie with a cliche storyline, cliche action and cliche characters. It isn't necessarily terrible but there are a lot better war movies which you could watch instead."

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

described it as "modest". Alun Evans, in commenting on its fast pacing in an 80-minute format, simply described it as "brisk".Evans 2000, p. 68.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * Hayden, Sterling. ''Wanderer''. New York: Sheridan House, 1998, originally published in 1963. . * Hyams, Jay. ''War Movies''. New York: W.H. Smith Publishers, Inc., 1984. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fighter Attack 1953 films 1953 war films 1950s English-language films American war films American aviation films Films about shot-down aviators Films about Italian resistance movement Films directed by Lesley Selander Films set in Italy Italian Campaign of World War II films World War II aviation films 1950s American films