***SPOILERS*** Movie about the US Army 501th parachute battalion released just three months before Pearl Harbor that has a number of recruits overcoming their fear of flying as well as jumping in getting their wings as one of the first group of US paratroopers in US military history. There's the reformed alcoholic who wants to prove to himself that he's got what it takes Bill Burke played by a boyish looking 25 year old Edmond O'Obrien who's dad Col. Burke, Robert Barrat,just happens to be the superintendent of the paratroop unite that's he's assigned to. There's also football hero Don Morse, Robert Preston, who in him fooling around with the fairer sex has him engaged to two women at the same time that can put him behind bars for bigamy. But by him being a private would prevent that from happening since it's against US Army rules to be married unless your an NCO or an officer. And last but not least there's hillbilly Jeff Hollis, Buddy Ebson, who's only there to be trained to fight, by using modern military hardware, to use his military expertise against a rival hillbilly clan back home whom his family has been having an 75 year old blood fraud with.Of course there's the man or top-kick in charge of the 501th tough on the outside but a softie inside MSgt. Bill "Thunderhead" Richards, Harry Carey, who's job is to whip the recruits into shape to face real combat against a foreign enemy of the USA that was to come in the Japansese attack on Pearl Harbor. Which was a lot sooner then anyone in both US government and the military ever expected. There's also the romantic angle with both Burke & Morse vying for the affection of "Thunderhead's" pretty daughter Kit, Nancy Kelly, whom "Thunderhead" want's to get hitched up with a real man, not a draft dodging collage wimp, like one of the soon to become paratroopers that he's training.****SPOILERS*** The film bolls down to the final parachute jump to become a full fledged US paratrooper with both Morse & Bruke missing the bus or plane and left behind from participating in the big jump to get their wings. Commadeering a fighter plane the two take off into the wild blue yonder to make their jump unofficially only to have Mosre's parachute get tangled and unable to open. It's Burke who just earlier was slugging it out with Morse, over Kit Richards, who saved Morse's life as well as the day and motion picture by shearing his parachute with him that prevented Morse from free falling to his death below.

Buddy Ebson joins "the parachute service" as a comic hick who isn't used to wearing shoes. A fellow recruit is Edmond O'Brien, the son of the commanding officer of Fort Benning, Georgia, and he's tormented by fear of failure. Robert Preston is the brash football hero of Harvard, from a wealthy family. Stop me if you've heard this before.This was released a few months before Pearl Harbor, by which point it was increasingly likely that we would be drawn into the war. (Kids, that's a reference to World War II. That's the one that came after World War I.) It serves as a kind of inoculation into a war mind-set. See? Things aren't so bad in the Army. Except for Robert Arlen, who goes crazy, it's a lot of fun. The guys indulge in a lot of grabass with the sergeants and with each other. They have dances in the barracks. They sleep in pajamas. It's true, they weren't served breakfast in bed by pretty blond Swedish maids, as I was in boot camp, but it's one big festival.They even get to court Master Sergeant Harry Carey's daughter because they have plenty of time on leave. The formula requires that there be a love triangle and here it is. Both O'Brien and Preston plan to marry Carey's daughter. They miss the big war exercise because they're busy having a fist fight. Instead of being railroaded into the clink for such an infraction, as I was in boot camp, a special chartered plane takes them up to make the prescribed drop, and the exercise is a great success.It's not really necessary to get deeper into the plot. The most outstanding features have to do with make parachute drops. There is some interstitial footage of "the first parachute drop ever made." And a good deal of time is spent on parachute rigging. It's all rather interesting in a way the horseplay isn't.It's routine, but mindless fun.

It's debatable if this qualifies as a propaganda film as such . According to this website PARACHUTE BATTALION was released in September 1941 three months before Pearl Harbor . That said the winds of war had been blowing in America's direction for two years so Americans must have known it was coming and what better to raise morale than a patriotic flag waver showing good old American boys becoming airborne warriors ?Actually this movie must have taken place in some alternative universe because while Western Europe had been conquered by Nazi Germany , Britain had been bombed and the Soviet Union was engaged in the first stages of a war of total annihilation with the Nazis the American response was to form a parachute battalion composed of drunks , small town hicks and football jocks With all due respect to Simon Jack who has written an interesting review on this page it's impossible to take this film seriously now . In fact I'd be hard pressed to think anyone would have taken it seriously at the time ! From what I learned from PARACHUTE BATTALION jump school is composed of a senior citizen in his late 60s standing in front of some back projection telling a bunch of recruits who slouch around with their hands in their pockets how to jump out of a plane . It's easy to scoff at all this and The Hays Code was in full swing but there's very little that resembles realism . In fact it comes across as so light hearted and unrealistic you can't help wondering if it's a propaganda film that's been produced by the Germans !

"Parachute Battalion" was filmed with members of the 501st Parachute Battalion performing the actual jump scenes, etc. A member of my family was in the 501st and was killed on D-day after jumping into Normandy. On the very off-chance that he might be seen in the movie backdrop, I would like to be able to view a video of it but cannot locate a copy. Can anyone help me in this regard?