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Memphis Belle
Directed by	Michael Caton-Jones
Produced by	David Puttnam, Catherine Wyler
Written by	Monte Merrick
Starring	Matthew Modine Eric Stoltz Tate Donovan D.B. Sweeney Billy Zane Sean Astin Harry Connick Jr. Reed Diamond Courtney Gains Neil Giuntoli David Strathairn John Lithgow
Music by	George Fenton
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	October 12, 1990
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Memphis Belle is a 1990 film directed by Michael Caton-Jones and written by Monte Merrick, starring Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz and introducing Harry Connick Jr. in his screen debut. It is a fictionalization of the 1944 documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress by director William Wyler, about the 25th and last mission of a American B17 bomber, the Memphis Belle, which was based in England during World War II. The 1990 version was produced by Wyler's daughter Catherine and dedicated to her father.

Memphis Belle depicts the day leading up to the crew's final mission, as well as a depiction of the mission itself. The B-17 is named "Memphis Belle" after pilot Dennis Dearborn's girlfriend back home in the States, who is not depicted in the film other than in a black and white photograph kept on the pilot's console.

In their 25th mission, the 10-man-crew is to bomb a factory in Bremen. At first, the flight is delayed because of clouds above the target, but finally they become airborne. Several of the crew feel sure that their luck has run out and that they will not survive this mission. The two planes in front of them in formation are shot down on the way to the target and Memphis Belle reaches the target as the head of the bomb group. Several problems on the return flight cause the crew to bond like never before, and even Luke, the hotshot copilot, comes to respect the authority of Dennis, the pilot. During the return flight, the radio-operator, Danny, is shot in the stomach, and the team must decide whether to parachute him out of the plane or not. However, Val, the bombardier, finds the courage to treat Danny despite only having two weeks medical school training. The crew all make it back to base alive and have gained a new respect for each other. The movie was dedicated to all young men who flew and fought in the largest air conflict in history.

With the exception of the aircraft names and the basic premise (that of the first plane to survive its tour of duty in the air war over Europe), this film is fiction based on fact. The characters are composites, the names are not those of the real crew of the Memphis Belle and the incidents shown are taken from many missions. The final, 25th mission of the real Belle was to Kiel, Germany, but with a substitute crew, before being flown back to the United States.

The plane which portrayed the Belle was a B-17G, while the Belle is an F Model. The G Model has a chin turret, which was removed for the film and for the subsequent appearances made at airshows around the United States. The plane is owned by David Tallichet, who has repainted the plane to match the real Memphis Belle. (The plane's paint scheme in the film was deliberately inaccurate to avoid any legal problems with duplicating the earlier scheme.)

The American escort fighters depicted were P-51 Mustangs, which were not yet operational at the time of the real Memphis Belle's last mission. The Mustangs were used due to availablility as few remaining P-47 Thunderbolts, the primary escort fighter at the time of the mission, were airworthy at the time the movie was filmed. The escorts' running low on fuel and turning back short of the target area, was a major issue for the P-47, but the ability of the P-51 to escort bombers all the way to the target proved to be the turning point for the survivability of American bombers in the war.

The film was filmed at the non-operational R.A.F Station Binbrook in Lincolnshire, England. All the extras for the film were obtained from auditions held in the area, and included serving and former members of the Royal Air Force. During the filming one B-17 crashed and was burnt out.

• Memphis Belle at the Internet Movie Database

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