Panther Jet in Attack, etc., movie, note knives

Texas Star

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[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF-SC-9b7tc[/ame]

In this portion of, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", from James Michener's book, Lt. Harry Brubaker, USN, (William Holden) has attacked North Korean bridges and was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He is losing fuel, and will have to crash land in enemy territory.

That's why I'm posting in this forum: aircraft buffs will want to see the action with the F-9F Panther jet.

But our knife enthusiasts will want to ID the knives on the pilots' vests.

Holden has a Western (brand) knife made in Boulder, CO. If you read the book, you know that this Naval Reserve pilot was otherwise a Denver lawyer, so it's likely he'd wear a CO made knife. I don't know if that was intentional, or if the prop guy just made a fortunate choice.

His companion, Lee, the Chief of Air Group (CAG) has a PAL RH-36 knife, PAL having bought out Remington's knife div. and made similar knives. Both the RH-36 and the Western "shark knife" were very likely choices for USN pilots in the Korean War, as many bought their own knives and those were very popular selections. BTW, the PAL version has a smaller pommel than the original Remington RH-36. I can therefore tell that this was the PAL version.

Using the right knives in the film means a lot to me as a knife buff.

Well: look at the movie clip for some great action. You can go to YouTube and get the next section of the movie, where Brubaker is on the ground and using a S&W Victory Model .38, the normal pilot's sidearm then. Very authentic movie.

I think you can get the whole movie there, which gets you a look at Grace Kelly, Holden's wife in the film. Mickey Rooney played a helicopter pilot.
 
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I can't find the following clip? I guess I will never find out what happened to poor Bill.
 
I can't find the following clip? I guess I will never find out what happened to poor Bill.

Look, man...even I can find the next clip! If I can find something in a computer, your cocker spaniel can find it.

Just look at what it shows when you type in the movie title. You're looking for the pic of Brubaker in that drainage ditch.
 
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nPdVJQaci0&t=126s[/ame]

Well, here's the end. Not as good quality film, but you can see what happened. By this time, Rooney's chopper has landed and his asst. has been killed and the copter ruined. The .30 carbines came from the chopper.

The aircraft leaving are Skyraiders that offered air support.

Really, you should just click on an option to watch the whole movie. Film quality is probably better, and it was a good movie.
 
Thanks, T-Star!! I think we may have discussed this a couple of years ago,but it's just as much fun now!! I may even have the DVD around here somewhere, and I'm going to look on Netflix and Amazon, I think one of them has the movie. The knives sure get a good play, glad to see that they had competent advisors on the set.

Edit: I had saved it on Amazon...watching the last part again!! Good movie.

Best Regards, Les
 
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"THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI" - After Hitting the Second Target - YouTube

In this portion of, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", from James Michener's book, Lt. Harry Brubaker, USN, (William Holden) has attacked North Korean bridges and was hit by anti-aircraft fire. He is losing fuel, and will have to crash land in enemy territory.

That's why I'm posting in this forum: aircraft buffs will want to see the action with the F-9F Panther jet.

But our knife enthusiasts will want to ID the knives on the pilots' vests.

Holden has a Western (brand) knife made in Boulder, CO. If you read the book, you know that this Naval Reserve pilot was otherwise a Denver lawyer, so it's likely he'd wear a CO made knife. I don't know if that was intentional, or if the prop guy just made a fortunate choice.

His companion, Lee, the Chief of Air Group (CAG) has a PAL RH-36 knife, PAL having bought out Remington's knife div. and made similar knives. Both the RH-36 and the Western "shark knife" were very likely choices for USN pilots in the Korean War, as many bought their own knives and those were very popular selections. BTW, the PAL version has a smaller pommel than the original Remington RH-36. I can therefore tell that this was the PAL version.

Using the right knives in the film means a lot to me as a knife buff.

Well: look at the movie clip for some great action. You can go to YouTube and get the next section of the movie, where Brubaker is on the ground and using a S&W Victory Model .38, the normal pilot's sidearm then. Very authentic movie.

I think you can get the whole movie there, which gets you a look at Grace Kelly, Holden's wife in the film. Mickey Rooney played a helicopter pilot.



In the book, Brubaker flies a McDonnell FH Banshee not a Grumman Panther. When the movie was made there weren't any Banshees still in service.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Correcting my earlier post to say the movie is not part of prime on Amazon and cost $3.99, and is not available to stream on Netflix.

:(
 
Yeah, I think I bought the movie a couple of years ago on Amazon. But once you buy it, it's yours forever. I just clicked on it, and unlike a physical Bluray or DVD, you can stream it from any device at any time. I just re-watched it on my iPad.

Best Regards, Les
 
Question:
How can a Navy Pilot never fired a revolver or M1 Carbine ?

Admiral : "Where do we find such men?"
Answer: In America !


I think in the book, Michener had Brubaker fire the .38 for basic familiarity only, not much practice. I know some AF pilots aren't handgun enthusiasts, either, and they shoot them only when made to. Yet, they may need to rely on these arms to survive or kill an enemy that'd otherwise kill or capture them.

Some of these people are happy to feel smug about blasting an enemy pilot out of the sky with a missile or strafing ground troops. But if they're down where it gets gets less high tech, many of them would hesitate to kill with pistol or knife.

As for the Banshee-Panther issue, I guess some carriers were still operating Banshees when the book was written. The movie was made a few years after the Korean war ended, I think. By then, only Panthers were used in the main fighter role. I don't think the swept wing version of the Panther (Cougar) ever saw battle.

BTW, a Royal Navy pilot in a Sea Fury killed at least one MiG-15 over Korea. The prop driven plane must have been more maneuverable at the speed involved or the British pilot was simply better.

If a US Corsair pilot got any MiG's, I haven't learned of it.

The Korean War produced far fewer US aces than did W WII. And none had scores like the top Allied aces of WWII. By Vietnam, it was a big deal to knock down even 7-8 enemy planes. In WII, the USAAF had two men, Bong and McGuire, who had scores of 40 and 38 kills, with the top Navy ace, McCampbell,with 34. The RAF had Johnson with 38. The top Allied pilots I know about were Maj.Gen. Ivan Kozhudeb (sp?) at 62 and a South African, Marmaduke St. John Pattle, with something over 50 when he was KIA while covering the British withdrawal from Greece. His squadron records were lost, but his score was certainly over 50.
 
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