20,000 Men a Year

Student training program--wwii\\

When the story begins, Brad (Randolph Scott) gets in trouble with the airline he works for and he loses his job. He soon starts up a flying school but it's a flop...and he's on the verge of bankruptcy. But when the CAA (the precursor of the FAA today) wants to dramatically increase the number of pilots, he's in luck...as they need 20,000 new pilots a year. The rest of the story is about this training program...with its up and downs...including Brad working with the brother of his nemesis in the school.

So why did the CAA want to dramatically increase the number of pilots in 1939? Well, many in the US thought that the country would eventually be pulled into WWII....and having able-bodied trained pilots would be necessary. On the surface this and many other programs were described in non-military language, as many in the US favored neutrality....but clearly it was designed with producing pilots who could fly for the Army Air Corps was the goal here.

So is the story any good? Well, it's the epitome of mediocrity. There's nothing particularly good nor bad about the film. In fact, apart from a few nice flying sequences and Randolph Scott (who's always quite good), it has nothing to make it stand out in any way. A time-passer...not much more....even with its WWII connection.