Introduction

The Millionaires’ Unit is a 2015 American documentary film by Darroch Greer and Ron King about the First Yale Unit, a group of Yale college students who took the initiative to learn to fly in preparation for America’s entry into the Great War.

Also known as The Millionaires’ Unit: U.S. Naval Aviators in the First World War.

• 

• 

• 

Outline

Based on a book by author Marc Wortman, the film is narrated by Academy Award-nominated actor Bruce Dern. It was filmed in the US, England, France, Belgium and New Zealand over the course of seven years.

The documentary charts the romantic, little-known story of the origins of American airpower and features sequences filmed air-to-air with original WW1 planes.

The documentary tells the dramatic story of a group of Yale students who were the first to fly for America in WW1, some of them making the ultimate sacrifice.

Trivia

• The film won the Best Documentary Feature honour at the 2015 G.I. Film Festival and the Garden State Film Festival.
• It also screened at the Kansas City Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival and the Julien Dubuque Film Festival, as well as at numerous museums and the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture event.

Production & Filming Details

• Narrator(s): Bruce Dern.
• Director(s):
  • Darroch Greer.
  • Ron King.
  • Darroch Greer … (co-director).
  • Ron King … (co-director).
• Producer(s):
  • Harry Davison … producer.
  • Mike Davison … producer.
  • Hugh Esten … executive producer.
  • Mimi Freedman … executive producer.
  • Darroch Greer … executive producer / producer.
  • Darroch Greer … co-producer.
  • Ron King … co-producer / executive producer / producer.
  • Morgan Sloane … executive producer.
  • Woody Wolf … executive producer.
• Writer(s): Darroch Greer.
• Music: Ryan Shore.
• Cinematography: Ron King.
• Editor(s): Brian Derby, Harry B. Miller III, and Sergio Palermo.
• Release Date: 24 May 2015 (G.I. Film Festival).
• Production: Humanus Documentary Films Foundation.
• Distributor(s):
• Running Time: 120 minutes.
• Rating: PG.
• Country: US and New Zealand.
• Language: English.

YouTube Link