I got hold of a 50th Anniversary edition VHS of this movie. I dig old celluloid. This film is typical John Wayne stock of the period, though many of his scenes are stolen by John Carroll, who displays a lot of personality and gives the film a real boost. Carroll's character is introduced to the audience as a "devil may care' type, always bucking convention and discipline until...as you might expect...reality catches up with him. The Flying Tigers were a volunteer air security team stationed in China both before and during the second world war. Hostilities between Japan and China were in full sway by 1931, and the Chinese suffered many civilian casualties...especially women and children. But...not all of the volunteers were there for humanitarian reasons. Some were in it for the money, and a bounty paid for the number of Japanese planes downed by the Tigers made this an attractive means of income for some mercenary types. Woody ( Carroll) comes on-board just this way. But after a number of mis-steps...one of which costs the life of one of the members...he begins to take on a different perspective. There are the usual ups and downs of the crew in this situation...even to the point of Wayne and Woody jockeying for position with Wayne's girl, a nurse for the shelter. One tear jerking scene is where Woody gives his bounty earnings to the wife of a now dead flyer who was trying to right some past actions that had him thrown out of flying and which did not put him in good footing with the other men. Woody felt personally responsible, and made up a story that made the man's wife proud, though it did not take away the pain and grief of his loss entirely. Woody redeems himself in the end...but you will have to view the film in order to see that. In the cast are a few stalwarts of the period. Jimmie Dodd was there...he would later go on to Mickey Mouse fame and fortune. Mae Clarke was there...but no grapefruits were present. Tom Neal was also there, though "Detour" was yet several years off, along with other 'poverty row' features. This is the kind of film that is tolerable to watch, and the whole family can get in on the act, though it would be good if an adult is on-hand for the kids in order to answer questions about the "old school" way of doing things.
Review of Flying Tigers
