A Guy Named Joe

A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Victor Fleming. The film was produced by Everett Riskin, and starred Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson. The screenplay, written by Dalton Trumbo and Frederick Hazlitt Brennan, was adapted from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm, for which they were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story.
The film is notable for being Van Johnson's first major role. It also features the popular song "I'll Get By (As Long as I Have You)" by Fred Ahlert and Roy Turk, performed in the film by Irene Dunne.
Steven Spielberg's 1989 film Always is a remake of A Guy Named Joe, and stars Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and John Goodman. Always updates the story for a 1989 setting, exchanging the World War II backdrop to one of aerial firefighting.

Plot

Pete Sandidge (Spencer Tracy) is the reckless pilot of a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber flying out of England during World War II. He is in love with Women Airforce Service Pilot Dorinda Durston (Irene Dunne), a civilian pilot ferrying aircraft across the Atlantic. Pete's commanding officer, "Nails" Kilpatrick (James Gleason), first transfers Pete and his crew to a base in Scotland, then offers him a transfer back to America to be a flight instructor. Dorinda begs him to accept; Pete agrees, but goes out on one last mission with his best friend Al Yackey (Ward Bond) to check out a German aircraft carrier. Wounded after an attack by an enemy fighter, Pete has his crew bail out before bombing the ship and crashing into the sea.
Pete then finds himself walking in clouds, where he first recognizes an old friend, Dick Rumney (Barry Nelson). Pete suddenly becomes uneasy, remembering that Dick went down with his aircraft in a fiery crash. Pete tells Dick, "Either I'm dead or I'm crazy." Dick answers, "You're not crazy." Dick ushers Pete to a meeting with "The General" (Lionel Barrymore), who gives him an assignment. He is to be sent back to Earth, where a year has elapsed, to pass on his experience and knowledge to Ted Randall (Van Johnson) at flight school, then in the South Pacific, where Ted is a Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter pilot. Ted's commanding officer turns out to be Al Yackey.
The situation becomes complicated when Ted meets the still-grieving Dorinda. Al encourages Dorinda to give the young pilot a chance. The pair gradually fall in love; Ted proposes to her and she accepts, much to Pete's jealous dismay.
When Dorinda finds out from Al that Ted has been given an extremely dangerous assignment to destroy the largest Japanese ammunition dump in the Pacific, she steals his aircraft. Pete guides her in completing the mission and returning to the base to Ted's embrace. Pete accepts what must be and walks away, his job done.