The war hero

Abstract

This chapter explores Power’s work within the genre of the war film, which began around the time that Britain entered World War II. Even in war-themed films, elements that had made Power a recognisable star image were present, only now positioned within a wartime setting. His familiar witty dialogue, wide grins and charm with the ladies from earlier comedies and musicals are overtly displayed in A Yank in the RAF (Henry King, 1941) and Crash Dive (Archie Mayo, 1943), despite much of the latter taking place onboard a submarine with a crew made up exclusively of men. This chapter examines Power’s four war films in chronological order to help illustrate the development of a newfound masculinity and maturity in Power’s screen image, which advances from his cocky self-assuredness and incessant womanising in his first war film, A Yank in the RAF, through his psychological issues in This Above All (Anatole Litvak, 1942), to his more stable and understanding relationship in his last war film: American Guerrilla in the Philippines (Fritz Lang, 1950).