A Yank in the R.A.F.

1941
Approved
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Tyrone Power and Betty Grable in A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)

An American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.An American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.An American pilot impulsively joins His Majesty's Royal Air Force in Britain in an attempt to impress his ex-girlfriend.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Photos32

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Tyrone Power's flying stunt double in this movie, RAF pilot Lt. Harold Barlow, was shot down by German aircraft and taken prisoner, according to a 20th Century-Fox press release of 24 January 1942.

Goofs
The following items are 'goofs', but may have been made deliberately by the filmmakers in the interests of war-time security: The real 61 Squadron flew Hampden bombers, not Lockheed Hudsons. Hudson bombers were not used in bombing missions over Berlin, with the main role for these bombers being in Coastal Command in Europe. The real 32 Squadron, which Baker flies with in the Dunkirk scenes, flew Hawker Hurricanes and not Spitfires. When Baker gets in the Spitfire, it carries the squadron code 'LO' which was the code of the 602 Squadron and not the 32 Squadron he is supposed to be flying with (it used KT and GZ). 602 Squadron aircraft were used for shooting the film at Prestwick

Quotes
Tim Baker: Well, I haven't looked at another girl since you left.
Carol Brown: Well, I've looked at other men.
Tim Baker: Maybe, but I'll bet you didn't look at them the same way you looked at me that first night in Kansas City. Remember?... You were going east, and I was going west; then we saw each other, and I was going east!

Connections
Edited into All This and World War II (1976)

Soundtracks
These Foolish Things
(uncredited)
Music by Jack Strachey and Harry Link
Played often in the score

User reviews34

Review

Featured review

7/10

Ty Power is one of Betty Grable's foolish things

In the only time that Darryl F. Zanuck teamed his two leading adult stars in the forties, Tyrone Power and Betty Grable co-star in A Yank in the RAF. I think the title explains all in terms of the location.

Power plays one of his patented hero/heel types, a lot like Dion O'Leary in In Old Chicago. If you'll remember Alice Faye was being courted by the two O'Leary brothers, sober and industrious Don Ameche and devil may care Tyrone Power.

Now it's Betty as an entertainer over in the United Kingdom to entertain and otherwise help out in the war effort. She meets Ty who is also over there as an American volunteer in the RAF. Ty's someone who really isn't that crazy about military and other kinds of discipline, but he's one charming rogue and Betty can't get her fill of him.

Taking the Ameche part is very British and very stiff upper lip John Sutton. He's totally flipping out over Grable and who could blame him. Still it's Tyrone who powers the Grable engine.

John Sutton would co-star again with Ty Power after World War II in a vastly different part in Captain from Castile. He plays the cowardly and malevolent Diego DeSylva and that particular part from him might have been his career role. In my book it's one of the most evil villains the screen has ever had.

Reginald Gardiner and a whole flock of other British actors from Hollywood's British colony lend support. The RAF flying sequences were shot over in the war theater and were nominated for Best Special Effects.

Betty sings some forgettable tunes as an entertainer by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger. But heard throughout the film is the standard These Foolish Things. That song, as popular in Great Britain where it originated as in the United States, is one of the best ballads ever written. Why Zanuck didn't have Betty sing it is a mystery.

It's by no means clear who Betty winds up with in the end. I could make a case for either Power or Sutton. You'll have to see the film and make your own mind up. One thing for sure is that Ty is far from reforming. You'll have to see the film to see what I'm talking about there.