Magazine advertisement for the film “International Squadron” (1941)

Magazine advertisement for the American feature film, “International Squadron,” released by Warner Bros. Pictures in October 1941. The film tells the story of a young American pilot who ferries a warplane to Great Britain. After surviving a bombing by the Germans, the pilot volunteers for the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.). His recklessness during a patrol leads to the death of another member of the R.A.F., and later selfishness leads to the death of a close friend. He then volunteers for a dangerous mission, but is shot down and killed on his return trip. The film is based on the real-life “Eagle Squadrons” that consisted of Americans who volunteered for the R.A.F. before the United States entered World War II. This became a hot topic in Hollywood, and Darryl Zanuck, the producer of the 20th Century-Fox film “A Yank in the R.A.F.” accused Warner Bros. of stealing his idea, and threatened legal action. The technical advisor for “International Squadron,” Byron Kennerly, had himself been a member of an Eagle Squadron and later served in the U.S. Army Air Forces. During the filming, technicians from Warner Bros. traveled to Britain to film aerial skirmishes and an air raid in London. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.