World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but Courtney is soon promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their... Read allWorld War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but Courtney is soon promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.World War I ace Dick Courtney derides the leadership of his superior officer, but Courtney is soon promoted to squadron commander and learns harsh lessons about sending subordinates to their deaths.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win total
- Ackroyd - Mechanic
- (uncredited)
- Allen - Mechanic
- (uncredited)
- Minor Role
- (uncredited)
- German Pilot
- (uncredited)
- German Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Pilot
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Howard Hawks, who was a pilot in the US Army during World War I, flew in the battle scenes as a German pilot.
- GoofsWhen Captain Courtney is rescued, he jumps on the wing and hangs onto the strut. When the actual aircraft takes off, not only was dummy used much further forward on the wing than Captain Courtney was, but it is an entirely different plane - a two seat trainer.
- Quotes
Major Brand: Officious overdressed brass hat! Orders, orders. Thinks the 59th can't do it, eh? Well, the 59th can do anything he can think up! It's a slaughterhouse, that's what it is, and I'm the executioner!
- ConnectionsEdited into The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)
- SoundtracksStand to Your Glasses! (Hurrah for the Next Man to Die)
(uncredited)
Music traditional
Lyrics adapted from poem "The Revel" by Bartholomew Dowling
Played on guitar by an unidentified airman and sung by an unidentified airman and others
Reprised a cappella by the airmen
This may have been Howard Hawks's first sound feature and he debuted magnificently with a story about a group of fliers from the United Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps of World War I. John Monk Saunders wrote the original story for the screen that netted The Dawn Patrol an Academy Award for that category.
The story centers on three men. Group commander Neil Hamilton who has to send his men up against some of Germany's best fliers and two of his senior pilots, Richard Barthelmess and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Hamilton is a troubled man indeed, having to send barely trained kid pilots and he hears about it from Barthelmess and Fairbanks.
One fine day, oddly enough to do a daring assault that Barthelmess and Fairbanks pull off, Hamilton gets a promotion up to the staff headquarters. In a curious bit of poetic vengeance he names Barthelmess his replacement.
Of course when Barthelmess now is seeing the war from Hamilton's point of view, he starts to behave differently. What he does and the choices he makes are the basis for the rest of this story about some of the United Kingdom's most gallant generation lost in the first terrible total war of the last century.
As Fairbanks and Barthelmess criticize Hamilton in what he does, I do wonder about when they were the fresh recruits. They became the veterans more than likely by sheer chance that they did survive. Yet that never plays a part in their thinking.
The aerial combat sequences are excellently staged, Howard Hughes and William Wellman could hardly have done better. They were so good that they got used again in the 1938 remake of this film.
The Dawn Patrol also marked the film debut of Frank McHugh who graced Warner Brothers films for the next 20 years. I've said in many comments and on their respective pages that it could almost not be a Warner Brothers film without either Frank McHugh or Alan Hale or both in a given feature, they appeared so often. The brothers Warner, got their work out of those two.
The 1938 remake with Errol Flynn, David Niven, and Basil Rathbone is the one most are familiar with. Still this one is the real deal.
- bkoganbing
- May 31, 2007
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Flight Commander
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $611,722 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1