The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)

Director:

Stuart Walker

Writers:

Seton I. Miller (writer)
Bogart Rogers (writer)

Release Date:

6 May 1933 (USA)

Genre:

War | Action | Drama

Tagline:

They dedicated their lives - to DEATH!

Plot:

The pilots of a Royal Air Force squadron in World War I face not only physical but mental dangers in their struggle to survive while fighting the enemy. |

Plot Keywords:

Aviation | WWI

Cast

Fredric March	...	Jerry H. Young
Cary Grant	...	Henry Crocker
Jack Oakie	...	Mike Richards
Carole Lombard	...	The Beautiful Lady
Guy Standing	...	Major Dunham
Forrester Harvey	...	Hogan
Kenneth Howell	...	John Stevens
Leyland Hodgson	...	Kingsford
Virginia Hammond	...	Lady Erskine
Douglas Scott	...	Tommy Erskine
Robert Seiter	...	Voss (as Robert Manning)
Adrienne D'Ambricourt	...	Fifi

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate not issued at release)

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: All the airplanes except the DeHavilands are well past 1918 time period. Curtiss P-1s are recognizable as well as other airplanes with highly tapered wings. Even the DH-4s were dated by 1933, but had been kept around, first as mail planes, then as barnstormers.

Quotes:

Jerry H. Young: [about Richards's death] Somebody will get a nice, shiny medal for this.

what an intelligent and unusual war picture

This is a mostly forgotten film today, though it deserves to be seen. It bears a lot of similarity to the great All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) in that the film is meant to warn against the horrors of war instead of glamorize it.

Frederick March does an excellent job in portraying a troubled WW1 ace. Despite his success, he can't seem to forget that each victory equals him killing another human being. This inner turmoil continues throughout the film and climaxes when he is given yet another accolade.

I don't want to spoil the film by revealing what happens next. But, it came as a bit of a surprise! The ending clearly makes the movie.

By the way, the VCR box cover shows Cary Grant. Yes he was an important supporting actor in this movie, but considering March's performance, it is a darn shame they are trying to capitalize on Grant and not March.

PS--if you liked this film, try watching the hard to find ACE OF ACES, starring Richard Dix. It's very similar except that Dix is a pacifist who only reluctantly goes to war. Once he becomes a pilot, unlike March, he finds he LOVES killing and his personality changes dramatically! A truly unusual film.