Desperate Journey (1942)

The TCM channel aired this adventure a few months ago during a tribute to Raymond Massey. The movie is about a group of bomber pilots stranded in WWII Germany when their plane gets shot down. Among the airmen are Errol Flynn and a comical Ronald Reagan who declares he's "half American, half Jersey City". He has a few other funny lines in the movie such as "How come every time you wake me up I'm on a date with Ann Sheridan?". 

I liked Alan Hale's character, a man in his 50s who dyed his hair to look younger and lied about his age so he could serve. The others tease him about being the oldest in the group and call him "grandpa".

There's a good interrogation scene with Reagan and Massey who plays a Nazi general.

Interestingly, Massey was in another movie with some similarities to this one: The 49th Parallel/The Invaders (1941) in which Nazis are stranded in Canada and Massey plays a good guy.

 Directed by Raoul Walsh. Music by Max Steiner. Also with Arthur Kennedy and Nancy Coleman as a member of the German resistance. Available on DVD.

Top 10 Most Popular Movie Stars of 1939

1932| 1933| 1934| 1935| 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 |
1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948| 1949 | 1950 |

1951 |1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959|1960 |
1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977-present

The rankings come from Quigley Publishing Co.'s annual list (since 1932) of top money making stars, which based on a poll of hundreds of theater executives. The list does not rank stars only on how much cash their films made, but on what theater owners say about who attracts audiences on their star power alone.




1.

Mickey Rooney

(1939 films: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Hardys Ride High, Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever, Babes in Arms, Judge Hardy and Son )




2.

Tyrone Power

(1939 films: Jesse James, Day-Time Wife, The Rains Came, Second Fiddle, Rose of Washington Square)



3.

Spencer Tracy

(1939 film: Stanley and Livingstone)




4.

Clark Gable

(1939 films: Gone With the Wind, Idiot's Delight )





5.

Shirley Temple

(1939 films: The Little Princess, Susannah of the Mounties)



6.

Bette Davis
(1939 films: Dark Victory, Juarez, The Old Maid, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Sisters - released Oct 1938)




7.

Alice Faye

(1939 films: Rose of Washington Square, Tail Spin, Hollylwood Cavalcade, Barricade)



8.

Errol Flynn

(1939 films: The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Dodge City, The Dawn Patrol - released Dec 1938, The Sisters - released Oct 1938 )



9.

James Cagney
(1939 films: The Oklahoma Kid, The Roaring Twenties, Each Dawn I Die, Angles With Dirty Faces-released Nov. 1938)


10.

Sonja Henie

(1939 films: Second Fiddle, Everything Happens At Night)

1932| 1933| 1934| 1935| 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 |
1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948| 1949 | 1950 |

1951 |1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959|1960 |
1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977-present