The Brigham Young University Motion Picture Archive Film Series will close its 13th season with “Dive Bomber” Friday, May 25, at 7 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Library auditorium on level one.
The event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the movie will be 133 minutes long.
This screening is shown as the film series’ annual tribute to men and women of the Armed Forces to commemorate Memorial Day. Also being shown on Friday night is the final chapter of the 1940 Republic Pictures serial, "Mysterious Doctor Satan."
“Dive Bomber” stars Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray, Ralph Bellamy and Alexis Smith in the 1941 classic directed by Michael Curtiz. The film was nominated for best cinematography at the 1942 Academy Awards for its Technicolor aerial photography.
With the rest of the world at war, Warner Bros.' Technicolor tribute to naval aviation provided a rare look at the USS Enterprise in Hawaii and its diverse array of aircraft, all of which were destroyed months later in the Battle of Midway.
“Dive Bomber,” which dramatized the efforts of flight surgeons to combat the dangers of high-altitude flight, was included with other Hollywood films in a congressional accusation of sabre rattling and the film industry’s endorsement of President Roosevelt’s interventionist stance towards America’s participation in the war.
The BYU Motion Picture Archive Film Series is sponsored by the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, the Friends of the Harold B. Lee Library, and Dennis & Linda Gibson
For more information, contact Roger Layton at (801) 422-6687 or roger_layton@byu.edu.
Writer: Preston Wittwer
