Combat Classics: 20-Movie Collection (4-DVD)

Blood on the Sun
(1945) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney, Porter Hall
This Oscar-winning film begins prior to the outbreak of World War II. Nick Condon (James Cagney), the American editor of a Tokyo newspaper, suspects the Japanese military is responsible for the deaths of his two friends. Discovering information about the "Tanaka Plan", a Japanese military outline for world conquest, Condon vows to secure the document and get it into the hands of the American military at any cost. Teaming up with a half-Chinese woman, Condon sets out to secure the plans in spite of the problems brought upon him by the Tokyo police, the Japanese High Command, and the traitorous actions of a fellow journalist.

The Big Lift
(1950) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers
In this Golden Globe-nominated film, the Soviet Union decides to blockade all Allied sectors of Berlin in the hopes of bringing the divided city under their control, so an American airlift is begun to supply the beleaguered city. Two American airmen, with different views and takes on the situation are partnered up to work on the airlift. Through the efforts of men like these portrayed in the film, the 1948 Berlin Airlift eventually broke the Soviet blockade and restored Allied control over their portions of the city.

Aerial Gunner
(1943) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Richard Arlen, Chester Morris, Robert Mitchum
Two rivals outside of military life find themselves training and serving together after the start of WWII. While the one man blames the other for his father's death and is determined to ruin his chances in gunnery school, his rival is equally determined to prove himself. Complicating things for our rivals is their mutual attraction to the sister of one of their friends and their rivalry becomes even more intense.

Commandos
(1968) - Color - Rated PG
Starring Lee Van Cleef, Jack Kelly, Giampiero Albertini
A group of Italian-American soldiers is recruited for a special mission, vital to the American forces about to land in North Africa. The squad is assigned the task of infiltrating and holding an Italian base located near the beachhead the Americans plan to establish in two days time. The squad must not only hold the base but it must fool the German troops scheduled to arrive just prior to the American invasion.

Battle of Blood Island
(1960) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Richard Devon, Ron Kennedy, Roger Corman
After an intense battle against Japanese forces on an unnamed Pacific island, two American soldiers find themselves the only survivors of their battalion. Finding themselves stranded on this island, the two men reluctantly band together to survive and avoid the few remaining Japanese soldiers patrolling the area.

Black Brigade
(1970) - Color - Rated PG
Starring Stephen Boyd, Richard Pryor, Robert Hooks
Set in World War II, the movie tell the story of an African American army company charged with a mission to destroy an enemy dam. Stephen Boyd (Ben Hur) stars as a captain who is less than comfortable with the ethnic makeup of his team. He shares command with a strong-willed lieutenant played by Robert Hooks (Posse). Despite considerable strife and turmoil, everyone unites to strike against the common enemy.

The Dawn Express
(1942) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Anne Nagel, Michael Whalen, William Bakewell
Two chemists working on a formula to enhance normal gasoline into aviation grade fuel find themselves the targets of some Nazi spies. One of the chemists is kidnapped and the spies, in the hopes this will force the formula to be turned over to them, threaten his family. It will take a brave act by the remaining chemist to hopefully free his partner and capture the Nazi agents.

Four in a Jeep
(1951) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Ralph Meeker, Viveca Lindfors, Yoseph Yodin
In post-WWII Vienna, the city is divided into four sectors, one for each of the Allies. Much like the city, a Jeep is manned by four sergeants, one representing each of the Allies, whose task is to patrol around Vienna. When a woman attempts to escape the Soviet sector in order to re-unite with her husband, it puts the four sergeants ill at ease with their sworn duty.

Private Buckaroo
(1942) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring The Andrews Sisters, Shemp Howard, Donald O'Connor
This WW II musical comedy tells the story of a young inductee who has trouble fitting into the military lifestyle. The inductee changes his ways after meeting a retired officer's lovely daughter. Harry James is also drafted and his band decides to enlist to stay with their leader. James and his group decide to entertain the troops by putting on a show. Along for the ride in this film are The Andrews Sisters, Shemp Howard, Joe E. Lewis, Huntz Hall and a young Donald O'Connor.

Convoy
(1940) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Stewart Granger, Clive Brook, John Clements
A British cruiser patrolling the North Atlantic on convoy protection finds itself in great danger. A German battleship discovers the convoy and plans to destroy as many vessels as it possibly can. The crew of the British cruiser must try to engage the battleship to give the convoy a chance to make it to safe harbor.

The Last Chance
(1945) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring E.G. Morrison, John Hoy, Ray Reagan
In this Golden Globe and Cannes award-winning feature, three Allied soldiers escape an Italian prisoner-of-war camp and set out to make it to neutral Switzerland for freedom and a possible return to the Allies. While enroute to the safety of the Swiss border, the three soldiers meet some refugees who are heading to Switzerland to escape the war. Avoiding enemy patrols and dealing with the harsh weather and mountainous terrain are just some of the perils faced by these two different groups of people thrown together for a common goal.

British Intelligence
(1940) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Boris Karloff, Margaret Lindsay, Willy Kaufman
During the start of World War II, a German woman is invited into the home of a British family, where the patriarch is a high-ranking British official. The family does not know that their visitor is really a German spy, hoping to secure some documents vital for the German war effort, and she is meeting another agent at the residence. It turns out the family's butler, portrayed by Boris Karloff, is the other agent who is to deliver the documents to the female spy.

Gung Ho
(1943) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Randolph Scott, Alan Curtis, Noah Beery Jr.
Responsible for organizing a battalion to raid the Japanese-held Makim Island, Colonel Thorwald (Randolph Scott) recruits his volunteers from the less-desirable prospects such as barroom brawlers, misfits and borderline psychos. Under his training and leadership, the battalion is forged into a tough fighting unit ready for the fierce battle.

Identity Unknown
(1945) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Richard Arlen, Cheryl Walker, Bobby Driscoll
An American GI returns from Europe facing an unknown future, due to the amnesia he's suffering as a result of combat. The Army is also unsure of his identity, since the three other members of his squad were killed and their bodies burned beyond recognition. The GI decides to set out across the country, visiting the families of the four men in the hopes he can discover who he really is.

Minesweeper
(1943) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Robert Mitchum
A former U.S. Naval officer, who deserted due to a chronic gambling problem, finds himself drawn back to the service after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Enlisting under an assumed name, the former officer becomes a seaman assigned to a minesweeper. While trying to avoid his true identity from coming to light, because of his desertion, our hero still puts his life on the line and proves his true leadership by disarming a new type of Japanese mine.

Flying Blind
(1941) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, Nils Asther
The pilot/operator of a commuter airline flying between Los Angeles and Las Vegas discovers some foreign agents are using his plane as their transportation in a plot to steal a top-secret transformer developed for American fighter planes. Chasing after the agents, who have taken one of his planes, the pilot forces the plane down in the wilderness and must attempt to rescue the passengers and stop the agents before a forest fire overtakes the crash site.

The Navy Way
(1944) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Robert Lowery, Jean Parker, Bill Henry
A tough street kid is drafted into the Navy and is sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. While there, he learns what it's like to work together with others and drop his "loner" attitude. Our young sailor also falls in love with a WAVE, who happens to like one of his fellow sailors.

Spitfire
(1942) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring David Niven, Leslie Howard, Rosamund John
This WWII biographical title covers the story of R.J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer, and his development of the famous Spitfire fighter plane. Mitchell had already made himself a reputation as the designer of some of the fastest racing planes ever flown. Visits to Italy and Germany in the 1930's reveal to Mitchell the need for a fast and maneuverable fighter plane for Great Britain.

The Adventures of Tartu
(1943) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Robert Donat, Valerie Hobson, Walter Rilla
A British soldier that is fluent in both Rumanian and German is recruited for an undercover assignment inside Nazi-controlled Czechoslovakia. His assignment is to infiltrate a German-run chemical factory and work with the local underground resistance to sabotage the operation. Things take a turn for the worst when the soldier's contacts are killed and he must attempt to complete his assignment while facing the possibility of being killed by the resistance fighters who were to help him.

One of our Aircraft is Missing
(1942) - B&W - Not Rated
Starring Eric Portman, Godfrey Tearle, Peter Ustinov
This Academy Award nominated film covers the story of a British Bomber crew that is forced to bail out of their crippled aircraft over German-occupied Holland. Trapped in enemy territory, the six crewmen must hide from those searching for them while trying to find a safe haven. The flyers only hope appears to be with the Dutch resistance that may offer an opportunity for the crew to make it home.