This movie was based on a real-life World War Two raid in 1942 that became a non-fiction book in 1943 and a film in 1944 before the war ended in 1945. Starring Van Johnson with excellent supporting turns from Robert Walker, Robert Mitchum, and Spencer Tracy, this is what the folks at home were watching about the war while their husbands, sons, fathers, brothers, and uncles were away fighting it. Is it essentially propaganda? Sure. But it's also a fascinating piece of WWII history, captured on celluloid in real time.