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Well, OK my review title overemphasizes the frequent characterization of the Nazis as robotic bumbling fools, surely the most inept marksmen on the planet. The film also has its serious moments and themes.The costars: Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Raymond Massey, of the previous "The Santa Fe Trail", return to star in this Nazi-bashing Warner film, released in the midst of WWII. As usual, during this era, Massey plays the sinister villain, here in the guise of an important Nazi desk officer, who chases a downed British bomber crew across Germany, into Holland, before the 3 survivors manage a miraculous takeover of a captured British warplane from maybe 50 swarming Nazis, as their ticket back to the UK.In "Santa Fe Trail", Massey's John Brown is presented as a murdering madman, who thinks of himself as a messiah: not unlike Warner's perception of Hitler and the other Nazis. Now that the US was officially at war with the Axis, Warners no longer felt constrained to making Flynn-starring films, such as "Santa Fe Trail", "The Sea Hawk", and more obtusely "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "Virginia City", in which the Nazis are allegorically represented by long past historical villains. Now, Warners could feel fully justified in releasing films scripted as taking place in the present, that gave hope that the Nazis and Japs could be defeated before they took over the entire world. Thus, a series of 5 Flynn-starring films promoting such hope was released between 1942-45. The present one was the first, and the only one scripted as taking place mainly within Germany. It also has the best balance of seriousness, humor and sentimentality, and includes excellent background music by Max Steiner. It's also the only one not focused on a single objective to accomplish. The bomber crew find themselves not only hitting several bomb targets, but unexpectedly undertaking a sabotage operation and engaging in espionage, when they steal Massey's important classified documents relating to an aircraft factory. Thus, I would guess this film to be the clear winner of the 5 films, as entertainment for audiences, including kids, of the time. However, when Flynn was slated to star in the last of the series : "Objective Burma", in which he again leads a small group on a long sojourn through enemy-held territory, he initially refused, until assured that a more realistic characterization of the Japanese would be followed.By including several acts of sabotage and help from a 'resistance' organization within the occupied country, this film established a theme central to most of the following films. Thus, in "Edge of Darkness" and "Uncertain Glory", the focus is on sabotage by 'resistance' organizations in occupied Norway or France, respectively. In "Objective Burma", as in the present film, external allied military personnel carry out the sabotage, before fleeing back to 'safe' havens.In contrast to the 3 films in this series, which include a leading lady romantic interest for Flynn for much of the film, there is no woman at all in "Objective Burma", and Nancy Coleman, who plays an anti-Nazi German helper in the present film, has very limited screen time, providing a very fleeting romantic interest for Flynn.Of the bomber crew, only 3 survive their various ordeals to get to Holland and beyond. Interestingly , none of the 3 is scripted as a Brit. Flynn, for once, is realistically scripted as an Australian, Reagan as an American, and Arthur Kennedy as a Canadian. Presumably, this is to emphasize the importance of a worldwide collaboration of all the British Commonwealth plus the USA in defeating the Axis. Apparently, the screenplay for this film was written before the USA was officially in the war. I was surprised that frequent film Flynn pal Alan Hale wasn't among the 3 survivors. Hale mainly served as the most consistent 'cut up' of the bunch, spitting BBs(presumably), as if spit balls, at his comrades and Nazis. But, Reagan gets his chance to shine as a comedian is his double-talk description of the workings of a new American bomber engine to a most perplexed Massey. During much of their overland journey, the fliers are wearing German uniforms they stole from dispatched Nazis. Flynn, as the only one who speaks German, provides the other essential ingredient in getting them accepted as genuine Nazi soldiers, in several key situations. Unfortunately, I don't understand German, but my impression was that much of the 'German' was Germanized gibberish. Correct?The long chase of the fliers in a stolen Nazi car, across the Dutch countryside, by Massey and his crew, in a car plus motorcycles, smacks of a Keystone cops chase. Why didn't the Germans shoot at their tires, instead of their smaller heads? Ditto in the later escape of our heroes in a stolen bomber surrounded by Nazis!The American-built Lockheed Hudson that the lucky 3 captured from the Germans was a 2-engine light bomber, most of which were sold to the RAF and Canadians for antisubmarine warfare and other smallish targets, reconnaissance, convoy protection, troop movement, spy transport, and training. Thus, their claim to have trained in this type of bomber is quite feasible.Flynn's parting ambition: to fight the Japs, would later come true in "Operation Burma": a more serious war film, except that in the main confrontation, the Japs fell like so many dominoes, like the Nazis in the stolen bomber scene. Flynn, of course, tried to become a real fighting man in the war, but was deemed physically unfit.
