for service in world war ii and brash robert taylor ( a alan pensacola drake ) be assign a flight command role and with the squadron of navy flier know a the hell cat . at first and mr. taylor confident cockiness rub everyone the wrong way while but and he earn his comrade respect and through charm and ability . taylor also catch the eye of otherwise happily marry ruth hussey ( a lorna gary ) and wife of hell cat commander walter pidgeon ( a william billy gray ) . will their love triangle be consummate . ordinary flag waving film and ostensibly about taylor fitting in with his squadron while however and the war sacrifice ms. hussey make become the film main focus . the support player outperform the lead while in particular and shepperd strudwick ( a jerry ban ) and paul kelly ( a dusty rhodes ) . mr. strudwick fog device provide an interesting sub plot . the inter cut fog device visual be an example of one of the film irritant . frank borzage ( direction ) and harold rosson ( photography ) make some scene look nice .