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Brief Synopsis
WWII morale film for Texas A&M graduates fighting overseas. Young Brad Craig (Langton) enters the military school with a chip on his shoulder which Mitchum and other upperclassmen quickly knock off. Once adjusted, Craig falls in love with a professor's beautiful daughter, only to find she is in love with his roommate, played by Noah Beery. In the meantime, Craig associates with Japanese spies (including William Frawley of "I Love Lucy") bent on stealing a secret chemical compound being worked on a the University. But is he one of them, or a double agent for his country?
The "Army Hour" radio program honors the new graduates of Texas A & M who are preparing to join the United States Armed Forces. Many of the school's alumni, such as Colonel Jason "Cannonball" Craig, listen to the broadcast from their stations in the South Pacific. Radio announcer Bill Stern then tells the story of Brad Craig, Jason's son, who first attended Texas A & M in 1938: On the train to the college, Brad meets and falls for Nina Lambert, the granddaughter of chemistry professor "Pop" Lambert. Brad has a hard time adjusting to the rigors and traditions of the military school, despite the constant counsel of his roommate, Cyanide Jenkins. Bill tells Pop that he plans to quit college and return to his home in the Philippines, but the professor convinces him to stay. Later, at a late-night pep rally, Bill meets and quickly becomes friends with two Japanese students, Matsui and Kubo. Brad and Nina date for his first two years at the college, though she and Cyanide soon fall in love. The two finally admit their true feelings to each other at a ball, but, out of loyalty to Brad, they remain only friends. As the United States prepares for war in the South Pacific, Brad receives the ire of his fellow cadets for his continuous support of the Japanese. Brad's mind is changed, however, when he sees photographs of the atrocities committed by the Japanese in China. At the beginning of his senior year, Brad is accused of helping Matsui and Kubo steal a secret formula from Pop's laboratory, though he is only pretending to be a traitor and actually gives the Japanese spies a counterfeit formula. Brad is soon forsaken by his fellow cadets, then expelled from the college. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Brad goes to Japan, where he performs on anti-American radio broadcasts. Prior to the Japanese attack on the Solomon Islands, Brad is taken aboard a Japanese aircraft carrier, then is assigned an airplane so that he can report on the battle from the sky. Seeing his window of opportunity, Brad kills his Japanese pilot, then radios the American flyers, who include Cyanide, of the position of the Japanese fleet. The Americans win the sea battle with further help from Brad, who commits suicide by crashing his plane onto the deck of a Japanese carrier. As the "Army Hour" radio broadcast ends, Brad is posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his self-sacrifice, and his father listens with pride to the ceremony.
Cast & Crew
Additional Details
MPAA Ratings: | Premiere Info: | not available | |
Release Date: | 1943 | Production Date: |
UCLA 16mm safety; 3 reels; M42046 or M22567; A1-114-3 or A3-362-1 |
Color/B&W: | Black and White | Distributions Co: | Universal Pictures Company, Inc. |
Sound: | Mono | Production Co: | Universal Pictures Company, Inc. |
Duration(mins): | 101 or 103-104 | Country: | United States |
Duration(feet): | 9,310 | ||
Duration(reels): | not available | ||
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We've Never Been Licked or Sprit of Aggieland.
Vernon Gomez 2009-03-23
This is a move worth watching, It is a true movie. There was scene added afer the War ended and renamed Sprit of Aggieland. There was a new re-release in... MORE>