Yet another B-17 movie find: An American Romance (+ photos)

[Chris Brame]

Keep your eyes out for the 1944 film An American Romance the next time TCM runs it. There's a terrific four-minute sequence - in glorious Technicolor - at the end, showing B-17Gs being assembled at the Douglas Long Beach plant, culminating in completed bombers being taxied out of the factory every five minutes and taking off (although the takeoffs are really five different angles of the same plane!). The footage is a bit sped up, but not too much.

I've IDed two planes by serial and possibly two more by line number:

42-107229/line #1346 (number painted behind the cockpit windows): with 447th BG, lost 8-25-44 (ditched, crew rescued)
42-107230/line #1347: 349th BS/100th BG marked XR-B, damaged on mission to Mainz, salvaged 12-5-44

These were near the end of the run of the B-17G-35-DL; the last one was 42-107233 which should be line #1350. The Douglas production list shows the next B-17 built to be 44-6001, first of the -40-DL block. If the line numbers continued in sequence, and if 44-6001 was #1351, two of the fuselages seen in the assembly line shots would be:

Line #1401/44-6051
Line #1424/44-6074

Both seem to have been stateside trainers; 6051 was listed as with the 2126th Base Unit in Laredo, TX when it received minor damage in a gunnery accident on 8-8-44. 6074 was with the 2137th Base Unit at Hendricks Field, FL when it had a Category 4 (major damage) landing accident due to mechanical failure on 11-15-44.

Can anyone verify the line number/serial number tie-in, and if so, the final fates of 44-6051 and 44-6074?

(I recorded the film on the DVR; now I'll try to make some stills.)

[aerovin2]

Chris...thanks for posting this information. I may have the line number info in my files...I will have to check. Years ago, I was able to examine the original hand-typed AAF s/n-Douglas line number-Douglas msn log which is was held by the Douglas archives in Long Beach. (I think it was all moved to the Boeing Archives several years ago.) I'll add the film to my listing and if you get some stills, add those also.

[Chris Brame]

Decided to try taking some literal screenshots with a camera, since we're changing services and losing the DVR files soon - it took a few tries but I got some decent images with legible serials:






And as a bonus, much of the factory footage turned up on YouTube, used to back up a cover of "Thirteen Women":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ATQ1H4vH_M