Flying Tigers (1942)

Jim Gordon: I hope you two had a good time, 'cause Hap paid the check.

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[after the first sortie]
Jim Gordon: A little rough in spots, Dale, but I think after you've learned a few things about... Dale?
[finds him dead]
Jim Gordon: ... Mike! Take care of Dale, would you? Thanks.

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Jim Gordon: [following Hap's medical examination] Come on in, Hap... I gotta hand you one on the chin, but I'd rather it came from me than from anybody else: You're through flying.
Hap Smith: The doctor said I'd out-live Confucius.
Jim Gordon: Sure, if you stay on the ground... I can't send a man out there who doesn't know whether he's flying upside down or not! Take a look at that eye chart; your depth perception's a mile off! I know you've been gunning 'em since they were box-kites with broomsticks for rudders. But you gotta believe me, I'm doin' this for you! You've been close-winging in formation, overshooting your landings...
Hap Smith: [sounding as if he might cry] You don't have to say any more!... What else COULD I do around here?
Jim Gordon: Well, taking care of these ships on the ground is just as important as gunning them upstairs. I need a man I can trust for that... I wish you'd take that job, Hap.

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Actual Flying Tigers Lawrence Moore and Kenneth Sanger were technical advisors.
The airplanes seen on the ground in the film are decommissioned P-40Bs, of the type actually used by the American Volunteer Group in China; they have four prominent gunports on the engine cowling (but no guns.) In the aerial sequences the planes are 1941 P-40E's, with six wing-mounted guns and a smooth cowling.
The opening scene shows a Japanese air raid and in the aftermath a crying child is sitting alone amid debris. This scene virtually duplicates a famous photo taken in 1937 and published in Life magazine following a Japanese air raid on Shanghai. (Located in the National Archives, ARC Identifier: 535557)
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