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Here in Atlanta we mourn the death Monday, February 27th of General Robert L. Scott, ace and author of the book from which this classic movie was made. Scott owed $25,00 in back taxes after publishing his (most successful) book in the Summer of 1943 - during the height of WW II. His publisher advanced the tax money to him and gave him another assignment. The result: "Damned to Glory". Other books include "Runway to the Sun", Look of the Eagle", Tiger in the Sky and another classic IMHO: "Chennault of China". They don't make 'em - men and movies - like this any more. Scott to his last days was a fixture at the renowned Museum of Avation in Warner Robins, GA. He was always very helpful and full of stories with which to inform and regale the museum patrons. He will be sorely missed. Get the movie and the book and savor them like old wine.

DENNIS MORGAN is one of those actors under contract to Warner Bros. who seldom got a chance to do anything but lightweight roles and occasionally given a fairly good musical such as the Technicolored MY WILD IRISH ROSE where he played Chauncey Olcott, songwriter.

But GOD IS MY CO-PILOT is a rarity in that he gets to fill most of the screen's running time as Col. Robert Lee Scott, one of the first Americans to join the "Flying Tigers" just before World War II. Scott went on to a distinctive wartime record and only recently died at a ripe old age, a hero of his hometown of Macon, Georgia.

The film is a typical Warner war film--cast with all of their most dependable stock company players--including RAYMOND MASSEY, ALAN HALE, CRAIG STEVENS, newcomer MARK STEVENS, ANDREA KING, DANE CLARK, JOHN RIDGELY and DONALD COOK. But as a film, it falls strictly into the Saturday afternoon adventure mold for kiddies, only occasionally rising to the occasion of being a good biography of the wartime hero.

Despite the rather plum role, Morgan is still a lightweight, leaving the heavier histrionics to Raymond Massey and Alan Hale--but his fans loved him in this, regardless. It's probably the film he's most remembered for during the '40s.

And incidentally, there was no political correctness going on in the '40s as far as America and the Japanese were concerned, for those taking affront at the slurs against "the Japs". That's the way they were regarded then. Even having dishes that bore "Made in Japan" on them, was enough for an American to consider throwing them out. That's how it was--deal with it.

God is my Co-Pilot is one of the best War Movies ever made. This movie was not available on Video for a while, and it was after fans have been screaming for it to come out on Video that it was finally released. Dennis Morgan plays Col. Robert Lee Scott, an Army Pilot who was looking for combat duty in World War II. He ends up in China with The Flying Tigers and flies with them on numerous missions. Richard Loo as "Tokyo Joe", a big mouth, over confident Japanese Fighter Pilot who communicates with his enemies over the radio and welcomes any chance to clash with Scott. This movie may not be as accurate as the book but it still a great movie with great combat scenes with P-40s and T-6 Texans as Japanese Zeros.

Here is an absolutely incorrect statement - "WWII war movie about the fabled "Flying Tigers" who battled the Japanese over the skies of China as early as 1937, four years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and amassed a record of air-to-air combat kills against the Japanese air force of something like 40 to 1."

The foregoing is NOT true - the Flying Tigers flew their FIRST combat mission on 20 December 1941 MORE THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER PEARL HARBOR!!! They were disbanded on 4 July 1942 - they were only in combat for about six months. During that time they did establish an astonishing air-to-air kill ratio of somewhere between 29 to 40 to 1 (it is still in dispute). Gen. Chennault had been in China since 1937 working for the Nationalist government as an adviser and trying to develop a Chinese air force, with limited, if any success. Someone made a comment that the original AVG pilots refused to fly the 4 July 1942 mission- I'm sure they did, the unit had been disbanded by that time and most of the pilots had been treated like dirt by the Air Corps general, Bissell by name, who was tasked with trying to get them to stay on in the American army air forces. Read about that debacle sometime. By the way, Scott never flew with the Flying Tigers, he was brought in as the unit commander after it was integrated into the Army Air Forces, a few, but by no means all, of the original Tigers transferred over and continued to fight in China. Quite a few others went back to the States and re-joined their former services. Boyington went back to the Marine Corps, quite a few others into the Air Corps and served in Europe.

The movie takes quite a few, in fact it takes a whole lot of,liberties with Scott's book, but the general idea is there as is the wonderful lack of "political correctness". This country knew how to fight a war back then and how to let it's military people "close with, engage and destroy" our enemies and they were allowed to refer to them as they saw fit. Krauts, Japs. Wops whatever, they were the bad guys. Let me assure you when someone is actively engaged in trying to kill you, you really don't care about hurting their feelings. For me VC & NVA will always be "gooks" and if that offends someone - well all I can say is "Tough! deal with it"! God help the Soldier or Marine today who calls an Islamic terrorist a "raghead" in front of some prissy journalist. These days - the poor S.O.B. would be court martialed and in the brig before he knew what hit him. Ah, for the good old days. This movie will take you back to them and remind you of a time when this country actually stood for something and had pride in itself.

This film was made as WWII was ending. The main interest in it was the exciting aerial photography used in it. For a propaganda film, "God Is My Co-Pilot" presents one aspect of the conflict in the Far East. It's a story about bravery and courage as the young pilots of The Flying Tigers fought the conflict.

The story of a war hero, Colonel Robert Scott, is at the center of the film. Col. Scott knew no fear as he took to the air. His comrades, the other pilots of the squadron, admired him deeply as he set a clear example about how to serve his country unselfishly. The air combats shown in the film must have been amazing to the audiences of the time in which the movie was released.

Robert Flarey directed a film that made those young aces heroes in what would become the powerful might of the Air Force in future conflicts. Dennis Morgan was perfect as Col. Scott, the man who knew no fear. Raymond Massey plays General Chennault. Alan Hale appears as the friendly priest Big Mike. Some other familiar faces in the cast, Dane Clark, Mark Stevens, Craig Stevens, and other.

The only thing with the print recently shown by TCM looks as though the film was re-dubbed as the dialog doesn't match the lip movements of the actors in the film.

The story is loosely based on Robert L. Scott's autobiography. The picture made towards the end of World War II is a fairly typical war time film. The story does give some accurate details on the Flying Tigers and there total dominance over the numerically superior Japanese forces. Colonel Scott was a legitimate ace during the war and his story is worth watching. I rated this a 7.

The Flying Tigers roared onto the screen and into the imagination in two fairly good films: The Flying Tigers with John Wayne and God is My Co-Pilot, based upon the real life experiences of Colonel Scott. WWII was nothing like the politically correct war of current vintage. The American people did not love their enemy; they would have used the enemy's sacred writings for wholly sanitary purposes and bragged of the experience. The movie correctly shows this. On the other hand, in the spirit of Greater American Democracy, plenty of Neisi and Chinese actors had jobs as extras smiling at bombs away in the halycon years of the WW II propaganda movie.

The book is still worth reading even today. More than a mere autobiography or piece of US war propaganda, Scott tells of the conflict between Chennault and Stillwell, the destruction of the Flying Tigers, the eclipse of the Chinese Nationalists and the rise of Mao.

The movie has one glaring historical error in the movie: The July 4 1942 raid did not take place. The original AVG refused to fly.

Coming from a WW II military family (MARINES/ARMY/US COAST GUARD), this was required viewing back in the day. You want to know the truth, this still is required viewing, it's that good. Based on the best seller penned by Colonel Robert Scott, a member of the volunteer Air Corps, longing for his chance to do battle with the Japanese over the Pacific. He gets the go-ahead hands down, and its one treacherous ride. True, critics alike have said that there were some inaccuracies in the transfer from the book to the big screen, but you have to look at this classic film for its spirit of adventure, particularly from the point of view of a young, idealistic pilot who so much wants to defend his country, even if it means his life! This is a dynamic tale of that dogged American spirit that all of us big kids at heart read about in school and just marveled at these tales of bravery. Scott's achievements were edge of your seat heroic and daring, comparable to that of the legendary Pappy Boyington, who tied Eddie Rickenbocker's record in WW I. Great stuff, even with historical errors, which, quite frankly, are in a heck of lot of other war tales going back to the days of George Washington. My advice; get used to it. Watch this patriotic adventure for what its worth, and boasting a terrific cast with the likes of Dennis Morgan, quite effective as Scott, Dane Clark, a staple in WW II films himself, and Raymond Massey as the general who gives Scott his big break. A neat footnote to this movie is the score of familiar Oriental actors who played various bit and character parts in the Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto films, which surely bring back a lot of memories. Super cast and super stuff at work here that you have to put on your viewing list, if not salute. Colonel Scott passed in 2006 and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary, real American hero.

This movie helped the P40 to become my favorite warplane of all time. They used E models for the filming of this movie which would have been correct for mid-1942. The enemy planes incorrectly referred to as Zeroes were actually AT6 Texans which were almost always used in other movies as well. The flying scenes were filmed at Luke Air Force base in Arizona. The Flying Tigers fought against the Japanese Air Force which flew Ki-43 'Oscars'. The Imperial Navy pilots flew the Zero and were not involved in that conflict. The other thing that you see written often about the Flying Tigers is that they were fighting the Japanese "years before" Pearl Harbor. The truth is only Chenault was in China in the '30's helping out. The ground crews, pilots, and planes were not in place until November of 1941. Their first combat mission occurred on December 20, 13 days AFTER Pearl Harbor. Dennis Morgan, Alan Hale, & Richard Loo play their characters very well. Some people today are offended by all of the racial slurs that are uttered. But when this movie was made in 1945, the Japanese were the hated villains. The soldier's dilemma of taking lives as their duty versus what the 10 commandments says is dealt with tastefully in this movie. It's an enjoyable film that represents movies of the 1940's well.

In 1942 China, World War II "Flying Tiger" Dennis Morgan (as Robert Lee "Scotty" Scott) recalls his love for aviation and enlistment in the US military. At age 34, Mr. Morgan fears he may be too old to join the war effort, but this was not unheard of during the Second World War. He leaves a pretty wife to share aviation expertise and eventually pilots dangerous missions against the sneaky, murderous Japanese. Morgan receives support from superior officer Raymond Massey (as Claire Chennault), kindly priest Alan Hale (as "Big Mike" Harrigan) and God. As signaled by the title, the latter becomes overtly active in later scenes. Stranger are how US bombers chat with English-speaking enemies like Richard Loo (as "Tokyo Joe") during battle. Minus the banter between bombers, the exciting air battles are a highlight.

***** God Is My Co-Pilot (3/15/45) Robert Florey ~ Dennis Morgan, Raymond Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark

This story of great Americans who fought to preserve out safety and way of life, illustrates that like George Washington and all of the Founding Fathers..We must continue to believe in and have faith in the God that inspired the creators of this nation.. Alan Hale who plays the priest always amazed me. He could do broad comedy and then give heart touching performances as he does in this film. Before Charlton Heston, there was Raymond Massey who made a career of portraying historical characters beautifully. Finally Dennis Morgan who plays flying ace Scott made many great movies and this is one of them. Why he has become almost totally forgotten remains a mystery to me.. A wonderful, inspirational film..I totally recommend it.. John Wayne Schlatter

Although "God is My Co-Pilot" was a prestige film from Warner Brothers and did well at the box office, it's really a very slight war film. Much of this is because instead of focusing on the real life of Colonel Robert Lee Scott, it often has cliches, such as the fictional character Tokyo Joe taunting the American pilots with dialog like this: "Ok you yankee doodle dandies....come and get us! ". Additionally, the notion of God in this film is very vague and seems mostly there to remind viewers that God love America and hates Japan. It's a shame, as Scott's life was pretty amazing...but here it's all too simplistic and filled with the usual B-movie jingoism. Now this isn't to say it's a bad film...no...but it was one that really could have been a lot better.

I saw this movie on TV as a kid and enjoyed it thoroughly -- Flying Tigers!

I saw it again on TV tonight for the second time, and found it to be a howler from beginning to end. It's easy enough to find effective, cheaply made flag-waving propaganda movies made during the war years that have redeeming qualities, properties that make them worth watching. They may be no more than suspenseful actioners, like "Destination Tokyo," or may have more thoughtful narratives embedded in the framework, like Hawks' "Air Force" or "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo."

"God is My Co-Pilot" hasn't got much of anything except a few minutes of good aerial photography. In the air, as usual, a kind of war-time trainer called the "Texan" substitutes for the Japanese Zero-sen, as it did in "Tora! Tora! Tora!" The P-40s are attractive airplanes, with clean lines, although they appear to be Model Es rather than the Cs the AVG used. A small matter. In any case, you can only admire the airplanes for so long before the story line and dialog begin to intrude into your consciousness.

Scott's book was a simple, straightforward autobiography. The movie is piled high with extraneous material based on two themes: (1) a vicious and unrelenting racism that must have been offensive to some Americans over the age of ten even in 1945, and (2) something to do with whether Scott believes in God or not -- or was it the other way around? The dialog stretches desperately to reach upward to the level of banality but doesn't quite make it.

I think I should give a few examples and leave it at that. Japanese pilot {played by Hawaiian-born Chinese-American Richard Loo} called "Tokyo Joe" radioing to a P-40 he has lined up in his sights: "Just hold it right there, Yank." P-40 pilot radioing back: "Don't call me Yank; I'm from Georgia." American pilot radioing to a Japanese pilot he's shooting down: "Don't look now, but your Zero's showing." American pilot to another Japanese going down in flames: "Now you're a good Jap." General Chennault watching from the ground with a big smile as his pilots slaughter the Japanese: "The boys must be in a good mood today."

The real life epilogue? Chennault was a pretty clever guy, forsooth, trained his AVG mercenaries very effectively, and warned everyone back in the Western Hemisphere that the Japanese Zero was a remarkably maneuverable fighter, better than anything we had. (His warning was ignored; the Zero came as a big surprise after Pearl Harbor.)

There was no room in the U. S. Army Air Force for a hero like Chennault, who had carved out a reputation in some other air force, namely the Chinese, and he was promptly "disappeared." The original AVG pilots were given the choice of becoming just another couple of guys in the Army Air Force or being kicked out and sent back to the states to be drafted as privates. AVG disbanded. End of Flying Tigers, except in our national mythology.

The actual story is a fascinating one - the Flying Tigers flying over the "Hump" of the Himalayas to resupply and support the Chinese fighting the Japanese Empire. And the dilemma of "Why do I survive?" is a wartime classic. Is is me, my skill, luck or is there a Higher Power watching over me? Some great moments especially with Raymond Massey as General Claire Chennault, the leader of the Tigers are deadened by mundane dialogue and plot.

When I was a little boy I first watched this movie in Denver, Colorado for the admission price of 35 cents. It was a great movie to see at that young age and fell in love with Alan Hale sr. the actor. I always tryed to see any film with him in it. Russ Tafoya.....Rest In Peace Mr. Alan Hale

I've now had to edit this review with the news of the death of Colonel Robert L. Scott, Jr. at the grand old age of 98. He was a genuine war hero and the leading citizen of his home town of Macon, Georgia.

The book on which this film was based was written in the flush of VJ Day after our Pacific victory. Moods and attitudes don't change so easily and when Warner Brothers made this film we were in our World War II mode.

I do wonder if Scott had waited a few years before selling the film rights would the picture have included all the racial cracks about the Japanese? Probably so because those were our attitudes and Japan was the enemy.

But I doubt the enemy would have been so personalized as Richard Loo's character with the buck teeth and the Charlie Chan dialog. Even 12 years later in The Bridge Over the River Kwai, the Japanese are cruel and despotic without being stereotyped. I doubt if Sessue Hayakawa would have played it the way Richard Loo did, who in fact was Chinese and his country was fighting the Japanese.

Because of the racial stuff, God Is My Co-Pilot is not as well regarded today as it could have been. That's a pity because Dennis Morgan does a grand job in portraying a genuine American hero. It and Chauncey Olcott in My Wild Irish Rose are probably the roles Morgan is best known for today. Also Raymond Massey as General Claire Chennault and Alan Hale as a Catholic missionary priest are memorable.

Of course if the film had come out years later, Jimmy Stewart would have insisted on playing Scott. But he was still busy in the real Army Air Corps at the time.

Robert Florey directed this biographical account of Col. Robert Lee Scott(played by Dennis Morgan), a pilot during WWII who is flying transport planes over China, but really wants to soar with the Flying Tigers, an elite aerial squadron fighting the Japanese. Major General Chennault(played by Raymond Massey) gives him his chance, even though at 34 he is a bit old. Col. Scott distinguishes himself by successfully shooting down the enemy, including hated turncoat pilot called 'Tokyo Joe', who loved to taunt his former countrymen. Good model F/X and flying sequences compensate for clichéd script; one of the last patriotic morale boosters before the war ended.

It's 1942. Col. Robert Lee Scott (Dennis Morgan) is flying supplies into the Flying Tigers base in Kunming, China. He is desperate to fly fighter planes. He convinces Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault (Raymond Massey) for him to join in the fight.

It is pro-war propaganda for warfighting America. That part is safely in tune with the American audience although they probably saw it as one of many. The dogfights are fine for the era. I do know that the American planes were heavier and slower in the turns. They try to wait for the Japanese from high above. In that way, they make one power dive at their targets and usually escape after that. The loss ratio was very much in their favor. There are some nice planes in flight. Of course, the Japanese are not flying Zeroes and Tokyo Joe is a fictional character. This was never going to be more than wartime propaganda.

Considering the slur's used against the Japanese that I have heard since I can remember, was one used in the movie. I have seen this movie from the time I was six years old. Toyko Joe having missed shooting down Col. Scott, hides in the clouds and sends his two wing men to get him. Col. Scott says to him over the radio,"You wait right up there Joe, while I play Dixie on these two buck tooth pals of yours." I was surprised it was never changed, dubbed over. I have always enjoyed Mr. Loo's acting in all the Charlie Chan movies as his # 2 son. The fact he did a comedic part made it worse when he showed up as the evil Tokyo Joe.