Air Cadet

Apart from seeing Rock Hudson in a small role, most of the actors in "Air Cadet" are second-tier--the sort of guys you might have seen but whose names you cannot remember. Yet, despite this, the film is quite good....and it got better and less formulaic as it progressed.

The first portion is about a small group of men who enter flight training school with the US Air Force. Despite the film being made in 1951, no mention is made of the Korean War which had just begun. Instead, it's a pretty straight forward account of what it's like to go through such training.

The second portion is about three of these men who then go on to train in flying jet fighters. Here, however, the story becomes less general and more centers on one cadet and his personality class with the Major....who seems bent on washing him out of training.

For airplane nuts like myself, seeing the F-80 and T-33 two-seat trainer was a nice treat. Others might not care....but hopefully the story (which is reasonably well written) is enough to keep their attention. Worth seeing.

Rock Hudson certainly looks older than his age and has the maturity of someone at least in his 30's. There's no question about it, the man is tall, dark and handsome, and there's real depth to his emotions and facial expression. He does have a rich, silky voice.

If you love aviation, you'll appreciate all that Air Cadet offers. It's well acted, beautifully produced, and vastly more realistic than most military flying films.

The aircraft, flight instruction, and training facilities are all historically accurate and take place at the training bases actually named because this movie was produced with the full cooperation of the U. S. Air Force.

The plot is only minimally hokey as it largely sidesteps the Hollywood clichés that make so many films of the era unwatchable. The main characters have depth, complexity, and credible motivations. No spoilers here, but the protagonist isn't entirely good / right and his antagonist isn't entirely bad / wrong. In short, the film realistically represents the human element in flight training.

The Lockheed F-80 and T-33 are stars in their own right. Two versions of the same first-generation USAF jet, the former is the single-seat fighter version and the latter a two-seat trainer.

The greatest treat of all is the in-flight photography.

It's utterly superb and -- a rarity in aviation films -- is perfectly choreographed to match the storyline. A great deal of planning, coordination, and astonishingly precise flying creates a spectacular look at the USAF's "early blowtorch era."

I suspect this film's undeservedly the low IMDb rating reflects viewer expectations of over-the-top drama and cliché-ridden hyperbole rather than something relatively realistic. It truly deserves to stand alongside I Wanted Wings before it.

The United States Air Force was only 5 years old when Air Cadet was made. Shortly after the Air Force would be fighting its first war in Korea as a separate service.

The film was dated by 1954 when the Air Force Academy was founded in Colorado Springs by act of Congress. Until then what you see here is how pilots were made.

Air Cadet follows the story of four enlistees Robert Arthur, Richard Long, Alex Nicol and James Best and their time in training. The main plot line involves Richard Long and his infatuation with the separated wife of his training officer Gail Russell. Said training officer Stephen McNally isn't quite ready to let Russell go and therein lies the plot.

Aviation buffs will like the training scenes with the latest in planes in 1951. The aerial shooting is well done and nicely integrated into the story.

Rock Hudson is in this film as an upper classman whomakes our cadets especially Robert Arthur jump. Alex Nicol was the most interesting character, a veteran infantryman from World War II who wants a taste of the glamour that pilots had in the last war. I wish we had more of him.

I'm sure Air Cadet was a fine tool for recruitment for the newest of our Armed Services.

In 1951 I went to the Premier of this movie in Houston Texas. I was an Aviation Cadet at the time. I have seen the movie on AMC several times. Although there are no legitimate tapes as far as I know I have obtained one from ebay. I would like to get an uncut 16mm or 35mm film for showing if they are available. I have collected peripherals such as posters,black and white stills and ads about this movie. The movie came out during the Korean War and was done using actual settings and real Air Force persona. In fact in the initial screening in Houston several of my classmates are shown. The movie as shown on AMC does not include that segment. It may have been cut out after the initial premier before being distributed. It was realistic as it showed the life of a cadet from start to his commission. It also showed the heartbreak of being "washed out" as a good many cadets were. It is truly a film of the early fifties and shows young men being prepared for war in the Korean skies.