History Film / MemphisBelle

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie directed by Michael Caton-Jones, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely inspired by]] the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US Army Air Forces to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe. Although some elements of the plot are accurate (''Memphis Belle'', tail number 41-24485, was assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), whose insignia are prominently displayed), the characters are fictional and the mission depicted is based on several different air strikes in 1943-44.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Memphis_belle_poster_2411.jpg]]

''Memphis Belle'' is a 1990 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie directed by Michael Caton-Jones, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely inspired by]] the real-life story of the first bomber crew in the US 8th Air Force to complete a full tour of 25 missions over occupied Europe. Although some elements of the plot are accurate (''Memphis Belle'', tail number 41-24485, was assigned to the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy), whose insignia are prominently displayed), the characters are fictional and the mission depicted is based on several different air strikes in 1943-44.

The movie follows the crew as they attend a squadron dance the night before their final mission, giving us the opportunity to meet them and some of the other crews (notably the rookies who will be flying next to them the next day), before dropping the news on them: they've all been expecting an easy target to ensure the crew will successfully complete the tour, but the target is actually Bremen, a heavily-defended aircraft factory wedged between a hospital and a school.

This film is not to be confused with ''Film/TheMemphisBelle'' (aka ''The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress''), the 1944 documentary by Creator/WilliamWyler focusing on the RealLife crew of the real-life ''Memphis Belle''. Compare with ''Film/Fortress2012'', another film about a B-17 crew in 1943.

* HopeBringer: the crew are in their DarkestHour, the plane is coming apart, Danny is badly wounded and possible dying, all seems lost. Then through the haze the white cliffs of Dover appear on the horizon, Britain is suddenly within touching distance...

* Staff Sgt. Eugene [=McVey=]: Left Waist Gun (Creator/CourtneyGains)--The religious one, from Cleveland.
* Staff Sgt. "Rascal" Moore: Ball Turret (Creator/SeanAstin)--Obsessed with sex. Teases Virgil.

* Sgt. Jack Bocci: Right Waist Gun (Neil Giuntoli)--Tough South Side type. Teases Eugene.

** Seeing the blood and entrails of a Windy City crewman wrapped around the Memphis Belle's nose cap probably didn't help, either.

* FieldPromotion: the ''Memphis Belle'' finds herself leading the whole Bomb Group when the two planes ahead of her are shot down.

*** ''The entire reason the Mustang assumed escort duties in the first place'' was because they had the range to escort the bombers all the way into Germany and back. A mission to Bremen would have been well within the fighter's combat radius. The fighter escorts having to turn back because of their lack of fuel is much more characteristic of the P-47 Thunderbolt (which ''is'' the aircraft assigned escort duties during the film's time frame). This however isn't entirely the fault of the film crew. At the time of filming, very ''very'' few P-47s even existed in any condition let alone flying condition. And those that did were of the later models with the bubble canopy. Very few P-47s survived after the war as many P-51s went to fight on in other air forces that were needing planes quickly (and didn't want left-over Bf 109s or Spitfires), or to carry on in air racing. Only recently have enough P-47s been restored that if a remake were to be done, it could be possible to have the right escorts... but there most likely wouldn't be enough B-17s, though CGI would likely make this a moot point.

** The Bf 109s seen in the film are Ha-1112s, a Spanish version of the Bf 109. At the time of the filming, no Bf 109s in flying condition even ''existed'', let alone being available for a film crew to use.

** When one of the ''Belle's'' fuel tanks is hit, the crew pumps out the remaining fuel into an undamaged tank, ensuring they have enough gas to return home.

* TotalPartyKill: Nobody survives Windy City's fate: they did not have time to bail out before it exploded.
* VehicleTitle: ''Memphis Belle'' s the name of the bomber.

* ShoutOut: Some of the intercom dialogue during the battle sequences seems heavily inspired by - if not lifted directly from - the documentary ''Film/TheMemphisBelle''.

* BeMyValentine: Val's full name.
--> '''Lt. Col. Derringer''': Bet the women love that.

* Staff Sgt. Clay Busby: Tail Gunner (Music/HarryConnickJr)--Hick farmboy with a hell of a singing voice.

* AmazingFreakingGrace: The crew (which includes Harry Connick Jr) sing this on the way out to the plane. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14raZmLIyaM In harmony.]]

** Lt. Col. Derringer is a classic example - a public affairs officer who's never seen combat and is woefully out of touch with those who have.

* HiddenHeartofGold: Jack spends most of the film acting like a JerkAss, usually yelling at his crewmates when they're messing around, and even apparently dropping the highly religious Eugene's patron saint medal out of the plane. He reveals he cares when after seeing Eugene's concern for him after he thought he'd been severely injured and reveals that he hadn't dropped the medal after all and instead hidden it up his sleeve in a sleight of hand trick. Another instance is when the fatalistic Phil is leaving his belongings to crewmembers: Phil leaves a pen to Eugene and baseball cards to Jack, but Jack says he's more of a football fan after Eugene expressed his desire for the baseball cards.

*** ''The entire reason the Mustang assumed escort duties in the first place'' was because they had the range to escort the bombers all the way into Germany and back. A mission to Bremen would have been well within the fighter's combat radius. The fighter escorts having to turn back because of their lack of fuel is much more characteristic of the P-47 Thunderbolt (which ''is'' the aircraft assigned escort duties during the film's time frame). This however isn't entirely the fault of the film crew. At the time of filming, very ''very'' few P-47s even existed in any condition let alone flying condition. And those that did were of the later models with the bubble canopy. Very few P-47s survived after the war as many P-51s went to fight on in other air forces that were needing planes quickly (and didn't want left-over BF-109s or Spitfires), or to carry on in air racing. Only recently have enough P-47s been restored that if a remake were to be done, it could be possible to have the right escorts... but there most likely wouldn't be enough B-17s, though CGI would likely make this a moot point.

** The Bf-109s seen in the film are Ha-1112s, a Spanish version of the Bf-109. At the time of the filming, no Bf-109s in flying condition even ''existed'', let alone being available for a film crew to use.

** Many WWII airmen pointed out that the depicted interior of the Memphis Belle was ''entirely'' too roomy for a B17 bomber.
*** This however is excusable for filming purposes, as the sets needed to ensure there was enough room for the actors, and the camera equipment. Newer films depicting B17s get around this issue by simply using smaller camera equipment.

Watching their progress is Army Public Relations man Lt. Colonel Derringer (Creator/JohnLithgow), who plans to take the men on a publicity tour of the USA when they return. The officers have been told, but the pilot -- strait-laced Dennis Dearborn (Matthew Modine) -- opts not to tell the men, to keep their minds on the job.

* Staff Sgt. Eugene [=McVey=]: Left Waist Gun (Courtney Gains)--The religious one, from Cleveland.