Thompson Submachine Gun - In The Movies

Interesting thing about the Thompson, when the National Firearms Act was being written, the price for the tax stamp was chosen to be the price of the Thompson, because the idea was that all criminals were running around using the Thompson, despite it being one of the worst selling firearms at the time. The idea was that it would prevent them from getting them by making them too expensive, but the ironic thing was that the gangsters became one of the few groups that could still afford to buy the Thompson after the NFA

Not many firearms can consider themselves a triple threat. The Thompson is a War Hero, a Criminal Mastermind, and a Hollywood Star. 👍👍

I had an opportunity to shoot a Thompson model 1928 years ago. I quickly learned firing long bursts from the shoulder resulted in muzzle climb and twisting motion getting it off target quickly. Firing from the hip made the weapon more controllable. A really cool old school weapon.

Thompson in a nutshell: We we're bad (Mafia stories), but now we're good. (WW2 stories)

Family friend was SF in Vietnam and he ended up using a 1921 throughout his time in service and has nothing but praise about it’s overall performance. He even got his hands on a few drum mags but said he never used them all that much, due to how much noise they made, whiled being carried.

The history of the Thompson is very interesting. What’s really sad though is the Inventor John T. Thompson regretted making the SMG because of the bad publicity from the Media Sensationalizing the use by the Mob. He never got to live to see US Troops use the weapon and nor his kin.

Here's one for the history buff: look at the WW2 Tables of Organization and Equipment (TO&E) for a standard US Army infantry regiment in WW2 and you won't see the Thompson SMG in line companies! It's a common fact that GIs "acquired" Thompsons (or M3 "Grease Guns") to add to their firepower. Look at Robert Mitchum in "The Story Of GI Joe" - he carries a Thompson instead of the carbine that a company commander would be issued. The classic Sgt Saunders from "Combat" always managed to have an M1928A1 - no matter how many times he lost his weapon, by the next week he had another M1928A1. The paratroopers always had "Tommy Guns" assigned, partly because their original TO&E didn't have the BAR (too big and heavy to jump with, but the BAR WAS authorized before the Holland jumps). The extra SMGs were also authorized to a parachute rifle company to boost their firepower since that didn't have as many heavy weapons as a "leg" infantry outfit. The Marines always seened to have SMGs around .

M1928 is what my father carried in Korea ‘52-54 and his first tour in Vietnam ’60-62. I actually was a firearm instructor teaching certain Central American dudes on its use and maintenance; I also have one in my personal collection.

Just love the fact that one of the first and last scenes you show is from New Kids Turbo. Those movies are just so ridiculous and you have to love them for it.

In the great, made on a set, 1943 movie "Bataan", nearly every one of the 13 soldiers depicted, carried a Thompson sub-machine gun, (highly unlikely)! However, this morale building film, set a the very start of WWII, showed the effectiveness of the "Tommy-Gun", against the Japanese carrying only rifles! The scenes, firing this weapon for extended periods, were some of the most awesome, ever filmed! Don't miss it! p.s. I was in the Army National Guard with the son of one of the stars of this movie, i.e. Lee Bowman!

The best thing about the Thompson is that it never misses when pointed at criminals or Nazis.

My grandfather carried one across France in Patton’s 3rd Army. Shortly before the Battle of the Bulge it was “suggested” by his captain for anyone with a Thompson to turn it in and draw a new grease gun per some memorandum. He said he looked at the cheap stamped grease gun, turned right around, and stayed out of sight thinking “there is no way I’m giving up my Thompson for that POS!” No one ever mentioned it from then on and he hung onto it until he was wounded during an artillery attack near the end of the Battle of the Bulge.

I work in an Irish museum, and we were able to date certain photos because the guys in them were carrying Thompsons, which meant they were either taken at the very end of the war for independance or, more likely, during the civil war of 1922. Being able to identify the guns in the pictures has been a huge advantage sometimes.

A fun fact about the Thompson: one reason the British army didn't want to use it (pre war, because in war they found out that not having sub machine guns was bad), was because its image of a gangster weapon. Now they did anyway, because they desperately needed weapons in the first years of the war.

Thomson was one bad ass weapon. In our old neghiborhood we had a couple of ww2 army vets who sang praises about the " Tommy gun".

If I’m not mistaken, drum mag Thompsons also saw some use by the US military during the war but were limited. It was commonly saw in the hands of British or commonwealth troops

One of my elementary school teachers was a B25 pilot in the CBI theater in WWII. He told a story about his group of pilot trainees being taken to the range and firing a number of different weapons. One of them froze on the trigger of a Thompson, the barrel climbed straight up, everyone hit the deck except the range sergeant, who hit that Lt. in a flying tackle.

In "Dads Army" the UK home guard comedy series set in ww2 they get a Thompson with the pistol grip front and drum. This is played as a big event and they all want to hold it ( one doing the typical gangster impersonation) but it would have been undoubtedly a big event getting such a weapon at a local defence level at that time.

Always good to starts off with Kelly's Heroes. That and Where Eagles Dare are my all time favorite movies.

Let's face it, for an entire generation of men alive today, the quintessential Thompson character was Sgt. Chip Saunders played by Vic Morrow in the TV series 'Combat!!!'.