'1941' is a zany comedy that received poor reviews and less than stellar box office action when
it was first released. What can I say... some folks wouldn't know brilliance of any sort if it
bit 'em on the ass. And this film is just that... brilliant... on every level. Don't listen to those
who dismiss this flick for any reason... '1941' is truly an unparalleled 'Comedy Spectacular'.
The main theme of the film is centered on the very real fear held by many people in this country
at the time, particularly those on the West coast, that the Japanese would invade the United States
as a follow-up to the attacks in the Hawaiian Islands and Philippines. Though necessarily exaggerated
for the sake of comedic effect, much of what is portrayed in the film isn't too awful far off the mark.
But most of that which takes place in the film is outside this website's scope of interest... the primary
reason for the addition of this page to the Hawk's Nest is that the Curtiss P-40 is featured in '1941'.
The scenes in 1941 that feature the P-40 were shot using a combination of models, full-scale mockups,
and real aircraft. Three real P-40s were used: Kittyhawk AL171,
owned by John Paul Sr. at the time,
was flown by Tom Camp for the Grand Canyon scene, Kittyhawk AK979,
owned by Tom Camp, was
used for the gas station and Army munitions dump scenes, while
Kittyhawk AK905 was used during
re-shoots for studio close-ups of John Belushi in the cockpit, *I think* for the Grand Canyon scene.
Captain 'Wild Bill' Kelso, United States Army Air Corps.
Wild Bill drops into Barstow to get kicked in the shin, K-O a soda-jerk,
spit out a full pot-o-java, and shoot up Colonel 'Madman' Maddox's munitions dump.
This is an early teaser trailer that ran in theaters roughly a year before the flick
was released. Interestingly, Belushi's character is named 'Wild Wayne', here.
A screengrab from the trailer. I may add a few more grabs here in the future.
