Saturday, January 21, 2012
Film Red Tails: The Tuskegee Airmen Become Action Figures for a New Generation
Posted by Ron Wynn on Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 5:21 AM
I had three sets of childhood heroes. They were cowboys, baseball players and the Tuskegee Airmen. The first two were courtesy of film/TV westerns and (mostly) radio broadcasts. My father, a proud Tuskegee alum and World War II veteran wounded in combat, was responsible for the third. He constantly talked about these famed pilots' exploits. Before turning 10 I could rattle off such stats as 996 pilots, 15,000 ground personnel, 1,578 missions flown, 95 distinguished flying crosses awards, even their operational aircraft (P-40 Warhawk, P-39 Airacroba, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft). My dad was greatly offended such '60s network fare as Combat and 12 O'Clock High totally ignored not only the Airmen, but all black units in the European and Pacific campaigns.He didn't live to see either HBO's 1995 The Tuskegee Airmen or the far superior Red Tails, which opened Friday at more than 2,500 theaters nationwide. But he definitely would have applauded the latter, and be especially glad someone in Hollywood finally thought their story worth telling in an expansive manner. He also would not have would not have been the least bit surprised it took 23 years, and someone with producer George Lucas' clout and finances ($58 million of his own money) to get it made. Indeed, one weakness of Red Tails is that it was initially envisioned as a three-part epic. Instead, the tale has been condensed into one often inspiring but cramped two-hour-plus spectacle blending politics, suspense and a love story with remarkable aerial photography.
See the full review here. Below, an interview excerpt with Tuskegee Airman Capt. Roscoe C. Brown Jr.
Comments (3)
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Jason Shawhan got a tweet yesterday from Pam Grier urging him to go to RED TAILS opening weekend. I'm kicking myself for not getting a Twitter account.
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Great piece, Ron. There was a terrific in-depth story in the NY Times Sunday Magazine yesterday by Bryan Curtis, about Lucas' efforts to get the film made.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine…
Ron, I just have to add a correction to your comment about Combat and 12 O'Clock High ignoring the Tuskegee Airmen. Me-TV is showing 12 O'Clock High on their current schedule and I just watched an episode called "The Graveyard,: which features Ossie Davis, Don Marshall, and Jon Voight. What made me take additional interest was the fighter escort in the episode was very obviously a Red Tails escort (though not mentioned by name). The lead fighter pilot was Lloyd Haynes (Room 222). This was aired in 1966. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734436/plotsu…
