MOVIE Flying Leathernecks TCM, midnight One of the better entries in the John Wayne film canon, this 1951 actioner was filmed in glorious Technicolor and has been caringly remastered for TV broadcast. Set during the Second World War, the film casts the Duke as Major Dan Kirby, the new commander of a squadron of Marine fighter pilots. Kirby's no-nonsense approach puts him in immediate conflict with the unit's affable captain, played by Robert Ryan, and both men learn valuable lessons as the battle in the Pacific reaches fever pitch. If the war footage looks real, that's because it is.
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