The Dawn Patrol (1938)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Deeper than the descriptions

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

In France for service in the Great War (aka World War I), handsome pilot Errol Flynn (as Dick Courtney) and pal David Niven (as Doug "Scotty" Scott) clash with commander Basil Rathbone (as Drake Brand) over his decisions to send young fliers out on suicide missions in rickety planes. But, with the Germans active nearby, Mr. Rathbone has limited options. Taking the lead, Mr. Flynn decides to go over Rathbone's head, completing a foolish mission with Mr. Niven co-piloting. Rathbone threatens to have him court-martialed, but a worse fate awaits Flynn – he is quickly promoted to commander of "The Dawn Patrol". Now in charge, Flynn must order young fliers out on suicide missions in rickety planes...This is close re-make of the Warner Bros. own "The Dawn Patrol" (1930), with its most exciting aerial footage simply flown in (figuratively) from the previous film. While a more crude production, the earlier film is superior. The 1930 version captures the story's sense of war dread far better. In the original, a sense of doom permeates everything, even when the characters are having a good time. Original stars Richard Barthelmess (as Courtney) and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (as Scott) acted like characters trying to drown the horror of war by carousing in drink. They seemed tortured. Here, at times, Flynn and Niven look more like actors having fun with their roles. An exception, Rathbone keeps a serious foundation.****** The Dawn Patrol (12/23/38) Edmund Goulding ~ Errol Flynn, David Niven, Basil Rathbone, Donald Crisp

"The Dawn Patrol" came out at a strange time: a few years later and it would have been a product of Warner Bros' propaganda department, matching a vicious enemy against selfless heroes. But in 1938 war was still a long way from Hollywood, so instead we get one of the last great anti-war films of the Golden Age.The cast, as usual, is superlative. Errol Flynn and David Niven are friends and drinking buddies (in real life as well as on screen) in the Royal Flying Corps, straining against the strict discipline of their commanding officer, Basil Rathbone. Rathbone gets a different sort of role: rather than the sneering villain, he portrays a sympathetic character torn apart by his duty to his superiors and his responsibility to the men he commands. In fact, the same dramatic arc afflicts Flynn and Niven in time, and the three great actors turn in some of the best performances of their careers.The flying scenes of "Dawn Patrol" lack the scale of "Hell's Angels" or "Wings", and a lot of scenes were lifted directly from a 1930 film of the same name, directed by Howard Hawks. The California scenery distracts a little from the verisimilitude, but the squadrons of vintage Nieuport 28's and other aircraft should make up for any shortcomings in the locations. The meat of the story takes place on the ground -- unlike in "Hell's Angels" -- so the action scenes in the air serve more as punctuation marks.Like previous First World War movies, "Dawn Patrol" portrays the cynicism and fatalism of the fighter pilots. They drink a toast to "the next man that dies", sing boisterous songs to bury their grief, and even welcome an enemy captive into their mess -- who cares whose side he's on, the war's over for him, so let's get drunk. There's a lot of manly horseplay and fooling around, and probably a bottle of brandy in every scene, making for a heck of a drinking game. The awful truth of the war is hammered home in scenes of youthful recruits arriving fresh from their public schools, brimming with childish bravado, ready for a great adventure -- and totally ignorant of the fate that awaits them.

The Dawn Patrol stands out as my personal favourite of all WW1 films and also the best in Air warfare films. The plot is at once appealing and filled with wartime adventure. Two classmates from England enlist in the RFC and grow up in a short span (unusually a long period during the early years of the Great War) to become flying aces. Their daredevil aerobatics are admired and envied secretly by their stern commander Basil Rathbone who the duo nick-name as Killer brand as his duties are generally limited to send raw pilots against the war seasoned German Air Force. the plot is not far from depicting actual events of that period as one may read about the actions of pilots in the real RFC or Lafayette Escadrille and also the Red Baron. The stress of command thrust upon one of the friends strains and later destroys the friendship. It later is bonded in the untimely death of the Flight Commander who tricks his pal to undertake a suicide mission. Errol Flynn as the hero plays the part of the happy-go-lucky and later highly stressed commander with perfection. David Niven is adequate as the pal but it is Basil Rathbone who walks away with top honours as the original Flight Commander who envies the daredevil pilots while hating himself for sending raw pilots to their death. The scene where he hands over command to Flynn is excellent. Another actor worth mentioning here would be Donal Crisp who has the last word about the futility of war and the loss of valuable lives - certainly a line that does not age as it is relevant even today. This film is one of the rare ones that is entirely male and only hints at females but does not show them on screen. Edmund Gouldings direction is far superior to that of the earlier version but then he is helped by Errols strong charisma. On my list of the 100 movies one should see in his/her lifetime

It's Top Gun time! You know the drill-Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone and David Niven take on the Red Baron (von Richter my eye!) in WWI France, w/ high doses of carousing, drunkenness, young recruits trotted out wayy too early for their own good as cannonfodder, and of course, Errol doing what Errol always does-take on the the world and (pretty much) come out grinning.Well okay, not this time-winds up a glorious death instead-but you know how I mean. I enjoyed the stunts, the shots of the bombs falling, hitting and the explosions then surging back upwards at the camera--amazingly well done considering the age of the movie.Don't think for a second that George Lucas hasn't seen this, either.Oh, the acting-pretty much what you'd expect. The stock characters-including Barry Fitzgerald being Oirish and Melville Cooper a stiff upper lipper--all there. By all means check it out. It's not earth shattering but you will like what you see.*** outta ****