Memphis Belle - 11x17, Vintaged

Product ID: v359
Price: $18.00

Memphis Belle B-17 Flying Fortress Pinup Girl

The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress is a 1944 documentary film which ostensibly provides an account of the final mission of the Memphis Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber whose aircrew was the first in the U.S. Eighth Air Force to complete 25 missions as a crew over Germany and German-occupied Europe. The dramatic 16 mm color film of actual battles was made by cinematographer First Lieutenant Harold J. Tannenbaum. The film was directed by Major William Wyler, narrated by Eugene Kern, and had scenes at its Bassingbourn base photographed by Hollywood cinematographer Captain William H. Clothier. It was made under the auspices of the First Motion Picture Unit, a branch of the United States Army Air Forces (to which future US President Ronald Reagan also belonged). The film actually depicted the next to last mission of the crew (see below) on May 15, 1943, and was made as a morale-building inspiration for the Home Front by showing the everyday courage of the men who manned these planes. Robert K. Morgan (July 31, 1918 - May 15, 2004) was a United States Air Force colonel and pilot, from Asheville, North Carolina, and the commander of the B-17 Flying Fortress Memphis Belle during World War II.