A WW2 documentary on the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/bomber pilots in missions (Operation Strangle) from their base in Corsica to Northern Italy in 1944, destroying railroads, bridges, trains, ... Read allA WW2 documentary on the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/bomber pilots in missions (Operation Strangle) from their base in Corsica to Northern Italy in 1944, destroying railroads, bridges, trains, vehicles and hard targets.A WW2 documentary on the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter/bomber pilots in missions (Operation Strangle) from their base in Corsica to Northern Italy in 1944, destroying railroads, bridges, trains, vehicles and hard targets.
Lloyd Bridges
- Pilot
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Eugene Kern
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
Robert Lowery
- Narrator
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- William Wyler
- John Sturges(uncredited)
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector William Wyler lost his hearing during production of this film when he flew in a noisy, unpressurized transport plane. He was subsequently medically discharged from the Army, but eventually got some hearing back in one ear. Hence, the delay in the release of this film.
- ConnectionsEdited into Federal Follies - Volume 5 (1987)
Featured review
Ancient history
Thunderbolt is a film by William Wyler that suffered basically the same fate as the Frank Capra film "Here Is Germany", meaning that it was released at a time when everyone was eager to forget world war 2. Originally recorded in 1944 during the allied campaign in italy, Thunderbolt is a kind of documentary that follows the US 12th Air Force and the methods they use to destroy nazi supply routes responsible for enforcing the Gustav Line and the city of Anzio. The Gustav Line was a series of defensive structures and machine gun nests built across italy by the germans in order to prevent american forces from moving north. This made it very difficult for the US forces to do anything because the mountainous spine that runs through the italian peninsula made a perfect natural defensive barrier. The film goes over one of the most effective weapons the americans had during the campaign in italy, which was the Republic p-47 Thunderbolt. When it first flew, the p-47 was the largest and heaviest single engined plane in the world, and contains an insanely powerful pratt and whitney r-2800 engine. It may be large, but the plane was deceptively fast, and was superior to most german planes at high altitudes. It was also better in a dive because of its weight. With its eight .50 caliber browning m2 machine guns, it could rip its way through any plane it was likely to encounter. Lloyd Bridges narrates the film, which is essentially a bunch of clips edited together that detail how the p-47s flew mission after mission against the germans, and all of it is in technicolor. This is important because color footage of world war 2 aerial combat is not as common as you think. You can fully appreciate the paint schemes on the various planes as well. The film doesn't have much in the way of a storyline. It's the second world war and that's all you can really say. They do however go over how cameras were installed in many areas of the planes, such as in the cockpit, under the wings, and even the small recesses the wheels retract into upon takeoff. Before all this takes place, the program begins with an intro featuring James Stewart, who had to contextualize world war 2 for the audiences by calling it "ancient history." This film was released only 2 years later in 1947, but many people were (understandably) sick of the war by then and James had to take that into account. It's also interesting to note that he commanded planes during the war as a colonel and is the highest-ranking hollywood actor who was in the military. In addition to its portrayal of actual p-47 missions, Thunderbolt also shows how the pilots live at their base, located on the island of Corsica off the coast of italy. Even crashes are shown. The film ends with the allies liberating Rome two days before d-day on June 4, 1944. The war in italy comes to an end, and the surrender of Hitler's ally doesn't take him by surprise. For what it is, Thunderbolt is an interesting film simply because it is real and none of it is staged. Sadly, this was the film that marked the beginning of the end for Wyler's hearing, as it didn't return one day after he returned from filming footage for a plane mission. Before this film could be edited, the war was over and the public lost interest in films relating to it. Two years later, the film was finally released by a company called Monogram. If it was distributed earlier, it would have been much more successful. If only it were that easy.
helpful•40
- nickenchuggets
- Aug 22, 2021
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Тандерболт: История штурмовика
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime44 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content