Dive Bomber is a 1941 American aviation drama film directed by Michael Curtiz,[3] and starring Errol Flynn, Fred MacMurray and Alexis Smith.

Flynn portrays a Harvard-educated doctor who is involved in heroic medical research on pilots, with MacMurray as the skeptical veteran aviator who gets swept up in the project.

The plot is not historically accurate, but depicted in a near-documentary style, the film contains elements of true events that were involved in period aeromedical research, as well as real contemporary medical equipment.

At the Honolulu base hospital, Lieutenant Commander Joe Blake (Fred MacMurray) is concerned that Larson (Louis Jean Heydt) will not survive.

Even though he has qualified as a naval aviator, Lee's judgment of pilots' ability to fly is resented by Blake when he grounds an old friend, Lieutenant Tim Griffin (Regis Toomey), who is suffering from chronic fatigue.

In the final scene, Blake's sacrifice is acknowledged while Rogers and Lee are honored for their pioneering work in protecting pilots flying at high altitude.

Developed in 1918 by Major Edward C. Schneider, an aviation medicine pioneer with the Air Service of the AEF, it was widely used by the military until World War II, when statistical analysis showed that a much simpler measurement was equally effective.

In December 1940, Warner Bros. originally intended to star James Cagney, George Brent, and Ronald Reagan, with Lloyd Bacon directing Dive Bomber.

[14] Preproduction planning began in January 1941, and once the generous $1.7 million budget was established, a tight schedule of two months was determined for principal photography on location.

[9] Although the U.S. Navy had agreed to cooperate, providing over 1,000 officers and enlisted men along with access to some of its most highly secured facilities, world events had dictated a full war readiness, which placed additional pressures on the film cast and crew.

With all naval air and sea forces committed to training and war exercises, Curtiz was notified in advance so that he could take advantage of the ongoing activities and set up his camera crews accordingly.

Throughout the production, an ever-widening rift emerged between the two due to conflicts over the use of actors in demanding and sometimes risky scenes, leading to inevitable clashes and delays in filming.

[9] An ongoing motif involving gold cigarette cases from the National Air Races carried by each of the three "High Hats" squadron leaders continues into the final sequence.

[16] Principal photography began on March 20, 1941 at NAS North Island in San Diego with the famous aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, also placed at the disposal of the production crew of 150 actors and technicians for an entire week.

[20] Although Errol Flynn had a pilot's license, he was expressly forbidden to fly in the production, under threat of suspension from Warner Bros. due to his "buzzing" the cast and crew of 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood.

[10] With the preponderance of actual aerial footage shot from a bevy of camera platforms, both on the ground and mounted to aircraft, Dive Bomber was notable in the restrained use of special effects.

An entire squadron of Grumman F3F fighters from the USS Enterprise was flown to NAS North Island with a single example appearing prominently in the penultimate "pressure suit" scenes both on the ground and in the air.

[1] Critically reviewed, Dive Bomber was praised for its colorful subject matter, but the plot as conceived by the screenwriting team of Frank Wead and Robert Buckner was considered "fanciful" and a "necessary evil" by Bosley Crowther of The New York Times.

[26] Filmink magazine said, "There’s not a lot of action, comedy or romance, and it’s not a very good movie, but it was in colour with two big stars and American audiences were keen to see films about their military at the time – it was a smash.