A Guy Named Joe

Its Van Johnson who makes her want to live again, and in the best scene of the movie, she realizes he ain't gonna make it when he's assigned a suicide attack mission in his P-38. What's amazing is this in the 1940s, but Irene Dunne jumps into his P-38 and flies the mission INCLUDING dropping bombs and firing machine guns at the enemy. Its startling to see and you don't see any feminists rushing to praise this picture. Its because she's a professional, a sexy woman AND a warrior, not a bitter man-hater. Like I suspect many from "America's greatest generation" she knew the enemy had to be defeated or else tyranny would rule the earth and instead of complaining pitched in and helped. Her goal was to help not be a female version of a male "Top Gun" egotist. Ahhh, that we had more women like her today!


I Prefer the Remake, Which I Usually Don't!   August 19, 2005
B. Merritt (WWW.FILMREVIEWSTEW.COM, Pacific Grove, California United States)
18 out of 22 found this review helpful

I'm not the type of movie viewer to enjoy the remake of a film more than the orignal. But in this case, I'm going to make an exception.

I'm also no great lover of all of Steven Spielberg's films (although I do enjoy many of them), but Mr. Spielberg (director of the remake of this film, re-titled "Always", staring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman) seemed to have a better grasp of the relationship between Pete -- the main protagonist -- and Dorinda -- the main protagonist's love interest -- than did the director of "A Guy Named Joe", Victor Fleming.

And let's face it, their relationship is what the story is all about. A cocky fly-boy who strives to maintain his independence but is deeply in love with another woman who also happens to love flying. Spencer Tracy plays Pete Sandidge, a gruff but extremely able pilot, fighting the good fight against the Germans during WW II. His only vice is his affection toward Dorinda Durston (Irene Dunne), a beautiful lady in the Womens Air Corp. But when Pete dies bombing a German carrier (which, by the way, is historically false since Germany never made one before the end of the war), Dorinda turns inward, choosing a life of loneliness and despair, until she meets Ted Randall (Van Johnson). Little does Dorinda and Ted, and Pete for that matter, realize that their lives will be inexplicably intertwined during their flight and ground time during the end of the war.

Pete returns as a sort of spirit to the pilots and aids Ted in becoming the best flyer in the army. But Ted also falls in love with Dorinda, Pete's old flame, and Pete has to choose between letting Dorinda go, or holding onto her and watching her whither into a shell of aloneness.

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My biggest issue with this film was that I didn't feel the connection that Pete felt for Dorinda. He just seemed off-ish and brusque. While in "Always", Richard Dreyfuss' character really made me aware of how strongly Pete felt for Dorinda.

I also didn't care for "Heaven" -- or whatever it was supposed to represent when Spencer Tracy died -- being a military style place. In "Always", Audrey Hepburn plays Richard Dreyfuss' Heaven and Earth go-between with no ties to anything military or government related. A nice adjustment and screenplay alteration.

There was also a lot more subtle humor in "Always" that made me feel more connected with the characters than in "A Guy Named Joe."

This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy "A Guy Named Joe." I did. It's just, surprisingly, I liked the remake more.


The classic movie about a cracked up bomber pilot's ghost   April 29, 2005
R. Christenson (Pine, CO USA)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful

A Guy Named Joe is THE classic movie about a cracked up WWII bomber pilot (Spencer Tracy) sent back from Heaven as a ghost to provide guidance, like a guardian angel, to a new pilot trainee who turns out to fall in love with the ghost's girlfriend (Irene Dunne). I think this is the only movie in which Spencer Tracy played opposite Irene Dunne, who was one of the classiest leading ladies of her time (The Awful Truth, Penny Serenade, Life With Father, I Remember Mama, Anna and the King of Siam, The Mudlark, etc.).

The stellar supporting cast includes Van Johnson (Brigadoon, The Pied Piper of Hamlin), James Gleason (Here Comes Mr. Jordan, The Bishop's Wife), Lionel Barrymore (On Borrowed Time, It's A Wonderful Life), Ward Bond (Sgt. York, The Searchers), Don Defore (The Human Comedy, Ramrod), Barry Nelson (Airport, The Shining), and Esther Williams, soon to become a star in a class of her own (Bathing Beauty, Take Me Out To The Ball Game). Unfortunately remade as "Always" - nothing against Richard Dreyfuss, but he's no Spencer Tracy, and ditto the rest of the respective casts.

In addition to well-acted fantastic romance, there are some great air combat scenes, some of the best of its time. (Van Johnson also appeared with Spencer Tracy in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo the same year.)

If you like fantasies like Heaven Can Wait, That's The Spirit, The Dust Factory, Beyond Tomorrow, etc., you must see this one. If you're a fan of Spencer Tracy or a movie buff who likes a lot of character actors, you must see this movie. If you're interested in old World War II movies with combat action, you shouldn't miss this one!


Not his greatest, but still interesting   July 16, 2002
magellan (Santa Clara, CA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This movie is sort of like the flying-ace version of Angels on My Shoulder. It's unusual for a Spencer Tracy film in that he dies in the first half of the movie, goes to heaven, comes back to earth to help rookie pilots, and doesn't get his girl. Instead, Van Johnson, the young flyer he's sent to shepherd, gets her and they live happily ever after, presumably.

There are some unusual aspects to the plot. Tracy is assigned to assist Van Johnson during training, but Johnson isn't the sort of guy Tracy would normally hang out with or even like. For example, we're told he's rich and just inherited 4 million dollars. When Johnson gets sent to New Guinea to fly in the south Pacific, he meets Irene Dunne, Tracy's former love, and Johnson starts putting moves on her, another reason for Tracy to dislike his assigned pilot.

But Johnson turns out to be a better guy for Irene than Tracy was, and Tracy even seems to sense or realize that, and at the end of the film, he finally lets her go.

There are some nicely done battle scenes in the movie, and the one where Dunne takes up the P38 and successfully completes a solo suicide mission Van Johnson was sent to do is notable in that this was a long time before women's lib. Dunne shows that she can fly as well as any man, and along with the scene where Tracy goes down taking out the German aircraft carrier (which the Germans never had), is one of the two most climactic battle scenes in the movie. Dunne shows she can be as good as any man, but still feminine, a role contemporary feminists don't seem to approve of.

All in all a decent movie with some interesting aspects to the characters and plot. Big Steve says go see it (or in this case, buy it) and don't Bogart the popcorn.


"Girl clothes! From London! You bought me girl clothes!"   October 8, 2008
Karen Joan (Texas)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

A GUY NAMED JOE is a wonderful, old-fashioned, patriotic film made in 1944 during WWII. Starring Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne, Van Johnson, Ward Bond, and Lionel Barrymore, A GUY NAMED JOE is the story of Pete (Tracy), a hot shot bomber pilot, who dies when he purposefully crashes his disabled plane into a German aircraft carrier. Dorinda (Dunne), Pete's girl friend and a pilot with the Women's Air Ferrying Corps, is devastated, especially since she has just convinced Pete to take a safer assignment stateside teaching new recruits how to fly. In Heaven, which looks remarkably like an Army airfield only with soft, fluffy, white clouds on the ground, "The Commanding General" (Barrymore) makes Pete a guardian angel to Ted Randall (Johnson), a young, unsure Army pilot. Pete invisibly helps Ted through flight training and combat. Ted eventually picks of some of Pete's quirks and style, becoming quite a hot shot pilot himself. Of course, he eventually meets and falls in love with Dorinda, making Pete very jealous. Dorinda is still devoted to Pete's memory, but she, too, eventually falls for Ted. In the end, however, Pete lets Dorinda go, saving Dorinda, Ted, and even his own soul.

This sweet, sentimental film combines the war genre with romantic fantasy. Directed by Victor Fleming and written by Dalton Trumbo, the script is wry and witty with both Spence Tracy and Irene Dunne delivering some great lines (hence the title of this review). Tracy, Dunne, and Johnson are all believable in their respective roles as well as what you expect them to be as actors. Barrymore is classic as "The Commanding General," and I loved Ward Bond as Pete and Dorinda's best friend. Considering this was filmed in 1944, the special effects are admirable and what you would expect from that era. Apparently, there are several in accuracies in this film (e.g. there weren't any German aircraft carriers in WWII), but I simply did not care.

A GUY NAME JOE is a terrific choice for a pleasant, sappy, nostalgic evening at home. You may need a hanky in a few spots. But watching this classic film, both my husband and I found smiles on our faces for most of the evening.

Side notes: There is no character named Joe in this film. At the beginning some hero-worshipping kids explain that pilots in the Army Air Corps call any "right fellow" Joe. Also, A GUY NAMED JOE was remade in 1989 by Steven Spielberg as the movie ALWAYS.