Pilot No. 5 Plot Summary and Details

Plot

Pilot No. 5 is an oddly liberal-minded film to come from conservative old MGM. Franchot Tone plays an army pilot stationed in Java who volunteers for a suicide mission. He is chosen from five possible Allied candidates, hence the title. We learn via flashback just why Tone holds his life at so low a price; among his less pleasant reminiscences are his brief association with a demagogic Southern governor, blatantly based on Huey Long. Pilot No. 5 served to introduce Gene Kelly in a supporting role--as a nasty, pugnacious young jerk.

MPAA Rating:

Genre(s):

Action,Drama,War

Run Time:

70min.

Distributor(s):

MGM

Director(s):

George Sidney

Starring:

Franchot Tone , Marsha Hunt , Gene Kelly , Van Johnson , Alan Baxter

Themes:

War in the Sky,Suicide

Tone:

Downbeat,Reflective

Keywords:

Fascism,Japan,Southerner,accident,aerial,against-all-odds,aircraft-carrier,army,barnstorming,candidate,career,carrier,crash,death,enemy,flashback,flight,flying,friendship,governor,group,kamikaze,lawyer,mission [quest],nasty,plans,public,reminiscence,revolution,suicide,suicide-mission,volunteer,war