CONSENSUS #55. The Dawn Patrol (1938)

SYNOPSIS: "The Dawn Patrol" is a WWI air combat film set at a British aerodrome on the Western Front. Two best friends (Errol Flynn and David Niven) are pitted against a Flying Circus style German squadron replete with a Red Baronish commander and their own commander (Basil Rathbone) who insists on sending them off to war in WWI aircraft. What a jerk! One of the BFFs is promoted to command and now has to make the tough decisions, including a suicidal mission to bomb an ammunition dump.

BACK-STORY: “The Dawn Patrol” (1938) was a remake of a 1930 film and even uses a lot of the aerial footage from that film. The plot is from the short story “The Flight Commander” by John Monk Saunders (who also wrote the “Wings” story). It was the third teaming of Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn and once again they play antagonists. Rathbone was a decorated WWI veteran and wore his decorations in the movie. The film used 17 vintage aircraft (and 15 crashed during production).

TRIVIA:  Wikipedia, imdb 

1.  It has an all-male cast. 

2.  The script was by Howard Hawks and shows several of the “Hawksian world” elements his films were noted for:   “real men” placed in a harrowing situation, chivalry, bravado, camaraderie, individual initiative over orders.

3.  The production used 17 vintage aircraft, mostly Nieuports.  15 of the planes were crashed during the shoot.

4.  Basil Rathbone’s character proudly wears the Military Cross awarded to Rathbone during his service in WWI.

Belle and Blade  =  N/A

Brassey’s              =  4.0

Video Hound       =  4.4

War Movies         =  3.8

Military History  =  #38

Channel 4             =  no

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  no

Rotten Tomatoes  =  no 

OPINION: “The Dawn Patrol” deserves its place on the list because not only is it an important film, but  it created several air combat conventions.  Plus, it is simply a great movie.  “The Dawn Patrol” manages to influence future movies and maintain its entertainment value.  If this movie was made today, it would be considered a comedy because of the clichés. However, in 1938, it was breaking new ground. It’s main themes are going to be reused in numerous other war movies. One theme was the hard-drinking fatalism of the fighter pilots as seen in “The Longest Day”, “Fly Boys”, “Aces High”. “The Blue Max”, etc.  Another theme is the dead meat nature of replacements. This cliché branched off into other services like the infantry in “Platoon”. A third theme is the pressures of command and the stress of sending young men to their deaths. See “Twelve O’Clock High” as the best example. A similar theme is the insensitivity of higher command as seen in “Paths of Glory”. The movie is not heavy-handed in pushing these themes.  The movie holds up well. Much better than many old WWI movies. The acting is outstanding. Flynn and Rathbone were at the peak of their careers.  The cinematography is eye-opening. The aerial scenes are well done although you have to give a lot of credit to the earlier film. The vintage aircraft are obviously superior to modern CGI. The air combat looks more realistic than in “Flyboys”, for instance.