Squadron commander Neil Hamilton (Brand) is very troubled in his position on the Front during WW1. He sends aircraft on missions as well as carrying out the dawn patrol. There are always casualties and he faces challenges from his more experienced flyers, especially Richard Barthelmess (Courtney) who questions the decisions to send out inexperienced pilots in sub-standard aircraft to take on German military veterans. But Hamilton is following orders and doing his job. Wartime creates personal tensions and hierarchical divides which becomes clearer to Barthelmess as the film develops. Maybe Hamilton isn't such a bad guy after all? The dawn patrol must continue.
James Finlayson of Laurel & Hardy fame pops up in this film and within seconds he throws out a "Doh!" - a quality moment. The cast are fine and you'll have to excuse some over-acting, eg, Gardner James (Hollister) who plays a pilot who loses his best friend. The film succeeds in setting the scene of camaraderie and shows how human life was expendable. There are good action scenes worthy of "Hell's Angels" (1930), laugh-out-loud moments of dialogue and the themes explored are quite poignant and moving. The cast give the film depth and it is a memorably enjoyable film.
One moment had me laughing about health and safety and how times change. I went for a recruitment selection day to become a UK air traffic controller. I fancied the salary. Anyway, one question they asked us was regarding the procedure for a plane that is coming in for a crash landing. Contrary to what everyone said - switch on all the runway lights - the strategy is actually the opposite and it is recommended that you kill the lights. This is so the plane doesn't crash and cause a larger inferno than anticipated. In the film, they light a paraffin line to attract a plane towards their camp. Ha ha - not any more they wouldn't. As for the air traffic controller job, I was unsuccessful although I suspect I was the victim of positive discrimination. There was one particularly dodgy muslim candidate who kept asking about military airspace to everyone's disbelief. I bet he got selected in the politically correct nonsense that is called Britain. Happy landings.
James Finlayson of Laurel & Hardy fame pops up in this film and within seconds he throws out a "Doh!" - a quality moment. The cast are fine and you'll have to excuse some over-acting, eg, Gardner James (Hollister) who plays a pilot who loses his best friend. The film succeeds in setting the scene of camaraderie and shows how human life was expendable. There are good action scenes worthy of "Hell's Angels" (1930), laugh-out-loud moments of dialogue and the themes explored are quite poignant and moving. The cast give the film depth and it is a memorably enjoyable film.
One moment had me laughing about health and safety and how times change. I went for a recruitment selection day to become a UK air traffic controller. I fancied the salary. Anyway, one question they asked us was regarding the procedure for a plane that is coming in for a crash landing. Contrary to what everyone said - switch on all the runway lights - the strategy is actually the opposite and it is recommended that you kill the lights. This is so the plane doesn't crash and cause a larger inferno than anticipated. In the film, they light a paraffin line to attract a plane towards their camp. Ha ha - not any more they wouldn't. As for the air traffic controller job, I was unsuccessful although I suspect I was the victim of positive discrimination. There was one particularly dodgy muslim candidate who kept asking about military airspace to everyone's disbelief. I bet he got selected in the politically correct nonsense that is called Britain. Happy landings.