Task Force

This fine WW II film stars Gary Cooper as a Navy officer who leads the efforts to prove the tactical and strategic effectiveness of carrier-based airplanes to the Navy. The battle begins in 1921, when Cooper and his enthusiastic group of men try to prove to their superiors that planes can be landed on the decks of ships. He and his buddy, Brennan, make several landings but the dubious top brass put only one carrier into service. Named the Langley, the small ship has a dangerously short, 65-foot deck. Still convinced his ideas are valuable to the military, Cooper ventures to the nation's capital and lobbies for the construction of bigger and better carriers. ...