“Flying Tigers” was John Wayne’s first war film. It was the first of 12. As is well known, Wayne did not serve in the military in WWII. This movie is part of the argument that he better served his country by making “flagwaving” films like this one. Since it is unlikely that the uniformed Wayne would have killed as many Japanese in reality as compared to the celluloid hero, let’s concede the argument. The fact that the movie was made in 1943 means that there were technical constraints on the effects and they impacted the script with the requisite propaganda themes. The movie is meant to be a tribute to the American Volunteer Group (popularly known as the “Flying Tigers”) and leads off with a testimonial by Chiang Kai-shek. The plot is basically the story of the leader of the unit (Wayne as Jim Gordon) and a hot shot jerk named Woody (John Carroll). Gordon is the empathetic head pilot who takes in black sheep pilots to shoot down Japanese planes for the saintly (but hickish) Chinese people. Woody is a wolf who makes no secret that he is in it just for the bounty money given for each kill. He says “get out your checkbook, General” when he shoots down a Zero. There is a love triangle involving a nurse named Brook (Anna Lee). Woody wears out his charming roguishness when he contributes to the downing and subsequent strafing while parachuting death of the beloved exec “Hap” (Phil Kelly). He does get a chance to redeem himself at the end and the love triangle conundrum is solved via subtraction.
“Flying Tigers” was a big hit in a country that was craving Japanese ass-kicking. People had heard of the famous unit already, but if they were hoping for a history lesson they were disappointed. None of the characters were based on real people. The only thing the movie gets right is the fact that the pilots were paid a bounty for each kill. The biggest whopper is having the unit earning those bounties before Pearl Harbor. In reality, the AVG did not go into action until after Pearl Harbor. The other departure from reality is in the air combat depicted in the movie. That can partly be blamed on the available technology. The effects make heavy use of models (P-40 Warhawks) and footage (including Japanese newsreels to show the effects of bombings). Although the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Effects, it looks decidedly quaint. There are three ways to go in dogfight movies: the use of models, the use of actual planes to reenact, and the use of CGI. The use of models can be pulled off if you are making “Star Wars”, but in this case it just looks like models. Plus models pre-Star Wars often defy the realities of physics and look foolish doing so. “Flying Tigers” also falls into the Old School of showing dogfights via cockpit shots and machine guns blazing. Any plane shot at goes down and usually with the bullet ridden body of the pilot on board (unless you want to reenact the dastardly strafing of an American pilot early in the war).
“Flying Tigers” is patriotic bull shit, but it is not
painful to watch. The acting is
good. Wayne is Wayne, as usual. Carroll gets the meaty role and digs his
teeth into it. The character is not
two-dimensional and although quite a cad, he has some redeeming qualities. Anna Lee is lovely and can actually act a bit
(usually not a requirement in movies like this). The plot is very predictable, but what do you
expect from a 1943 movie? I could say
the same for the dogfighting scenes, but they were done much better by movies
pre-1940s
GRADE = C
This is one of those movies that demonstrates how solid sets, good acting, and good direction can (up to a point) make up for weak special effects. I agree with your rating but think that if graded on a curve against all war movies actually made during the Second World War this one would rise at least one grade.
ReplyDeleteI think it is somewhat strange that John Wayne is the only actor who is regularly criticized for his activities during WWII. Other established actors did not serve in uniform. Many of those who did joined up in the later years of the war. And while I don't think that any of them enjoyed LBJ-level cushy positions it was nevertheless often the case that their experiences were different than those of ordinary draftees. The controversy as to this one man's service gives me the sense that there are people out there who really dislike John Wayne.