A Yank in the RAF
Tyrone Power is the quintessential American abroad, a brash, smart-talking flyboy with a roving eye and a mercenary heart--in other words, a part made for him. "I know, I'm a worm," he smiles as he plants a kiss on Betty Grable, the American showgirl who can't seem to stay mad at the charming cad who enlists in the RAF just to impress her. The marvelous special-effects model work delivers two excellent airborne sequences (a harrowing bombing run over Germany and a swarming dogfight over the evacuation of Dunkirk), but as military melodrama it's ultimately pure Hollywood fluff and only halfhearted propaganda.A Yank in the RAFis less about the war in Europe than about Power's rakish grin and future GI pin-up Grable's oft-displayed legs, and they display their charms for all they're worth.--Sean Axmaker