The Memphis Belle - A Story of a Flying Fortress

original title:
The Memphis Belle - A Story of a Flying Fortress
other titles:
The Memphis Belle, Memphis Belle
country / year of production:
USA / 1944
original length:
43 min. , color
premiere:
13 April 1944
genre:
Documentary
based on:
director:
William Wyler
film script:
producer:
cinematographer:
Harold J. Tannenbaum
editor:
composer:
cast (role):
more:
plot synopsis:
Documentary about the 25th and last bombing mission of a B17, the "Memphis Belle". The "Memphis Belle" took part in a great bombing raid on sub-pens in Wilhelmshafen, Germany. The films shows the strategic planning of missions, encounters with enemy interceptors and the return to base of damaged war planes and wounded airmen.
keywords:
authenticity , air force , propaganda , air raid
war:
Second World War (1939-1945)
literature:
Charles Affron. „Reading the Fiction of Nonfiction. William Wylers `Memphis Belle´“. In: Quaterly Review of Film Studies 7 (1982), 1. 53-60.

Brent W. Perkins. Memphis Belle: biography of a B-17 Flying Fortress. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2002.
remarks:
Inspired the feature film "Memphis Bells" (1990). Director Wyler joined the crew of the B-17 bomber, that became as Memphis Belle, on several missions and assembled the footage into one representative mission.
availability:
VHS NTSC, DVD