[MD] What's up, Doc?

[Michael R. Brown]

Errol was an estimable writer. Some of his journal writing is fascinating: 
"There are many worlds, each in its own time and place ... Truth is 
sometimes an octagon." (from memory)

He wrote two novels, little-known. Both - like "Lila" - featuring water and 
boats. Not bad.


MRB

-----Original Message----- 
From: craigerb at comcast.net
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 10:48 AM
To: craigerb at comcast.net
Cc: moq discuss
Subject: Re: [MD] What's up, Doc?

[Ant]
> Errol Flynn...can always be trusted to let you down at critical moments!

Ant,
Is this what you're referring to?

"During pre-war operations from an aircraft carrier off Hawaii, the VB-3 
dive bombing squadron (bearing the "High Hat" emblem of Bombing Squadron 
Four) arrives in a wingover approach to Honolulu; one of its pilots blacks 
out during the high speed dive and crashes. At the base hospital in 
Honolulu, LCDR Joe Blake (Fred MacMurray) is concerned that LT "Swede" 
Larson (Louis Jean Heydt) will not survive. U.S. Navy Doctor, LT Doug Lee 
(Errol Flynn), convinces the Senior Surgeon (Moroni Olsen) to operate but 
the pilot dies on the operating table. After Blake blames Lee for rushing 
the surgery, the doctor decides to become a flight surgeon, and winds up 
being trained at the U.S. Naval Air Station in San Diego by a number of 
instructors, including his nemesis, LCDR Blake. A sub-plot involving the 
romantic adventures of Blake, Lee and a group of mechanics, introduces Mrs. 
Linda Fisher (Alexis Smith) as a love interest for the two rivals, Blake and 
Lee.
On completion of his flight training, LT Lee is posted as an assistant to a 
senior Navy surgeon, CDR Lance Rogers (Ralph Bellamy), who is working to 
find a solution for altitude sickness that affects pilots in dive bombers. 
Lee flies with Blake as his pilot in a camera-equipped aircraft and observes 
Blake blacking out. He experiments with a pneumatic belt that will keep 
blood above the heart and successfully flight tests it himself, although he 
disobeys regulations in flying by himself. Even though he has qualified as a 
pilot, Lee is still not trusted, considered a "grandstander" and a 
"vulture", always there when someone crashes. His judgment over pilots' 
ability to fly is further resented when he grounds a pilot, LT Tim Griffin 
(Regis Toomey), who is suffering from chronic fatigue. In anger, Griffin 
quits the U.S. Navy, and joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) in Canada but 
visits his old squadron when he is ferrying a new fighter from the Los 
Angeles factory. On his return flig
ht, Griffin suffers from fatigue and dies attempting to land at an emergency 
field, completely misjudging his approach.
LCDR Blake finally accepts that the flight surgeon is trying to help pilots 
survive dangerous high altitude flying, and volunteers as a "guinea pig" 
pilot for aerial experiments. The first flight test of a pressurized cabin 
nearly ends in disaster when the aircraft ices up and Blake passes out, 
forcing Dr. Lee to take over. After ground testing of a new invention 
jointly developed by Lee and Blake, a pressure suit, Blake is told that he 
did not pass his most recent physical and will be grounded. Taking off 
without permission, Blake carries out the aerial testing of the new suit 
anyway, but when the oxygen regulator fails, he loses consciousness and 
fatally crashes. His notes are salvaged from the wreckage, however, and mass 
production of the suit can begin. In the final scene, Blake's self-sacrifice 
is acknowledged while Rogers and Lee are honored for their pioneering work 
in protecting pilots flying at high altitude."
[Wikipedia, Dive Bomber (film)]

Craig




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