Standard 1930s WWI aviation drama. But that's a pretty good standard, especially with John Monk Saunders, source of late-silent/early Talkie classics like THE DAWN PATROL and WINGS* on story (some aerial footage nipped from both films), and producer/ director Stuart Walker (helped by director-in-training Mitchell Leisen, listed as Associate) getting unusually detailed work from Fredric March & Cary Grant, both in youthful prime. As the unit’s ace aerial photo pilot (‘the Eagle’), March is at his early best, realistically aging about ten years over three months of service, earning medals without getting a scratch while five young observation-gunners (his ‘Hawks’), directly behind in his two-seater, die in action. Enter Grant, in something of a breakthru perf, his face now leaner, his restraint newly evident, called out as a flop pilot by March back in training, now the best gunner/observation man around, still holding a grudge. Their up-and-down frenemies pact put to the test when jovial pilot Jack Oakie buys it. And if the first half dramatics are something of a retread, the film just grows stronger, even perverse, on the back end, hitting its peak at a grand reception in London where March, on a ten-days leave, meets society dame Carole Lombard (very good here) for a bit of Pre-Code comfort, and where he’s introduced to the young son of the house who politely asks if the men he’s killed went up in flames like a Roman Candle. Chilling stuff, perfectly played by March holding on by a thread. Neatly served ending back at The Front, too.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID/DOUBLE-BILL: *Saunders trained for WWI, but remained Stateside as a flight instructor. This film an excellent midway point between the early Talkie roughness of Howard Hawks’ 1930 DAWN PATROL and Edmund Goulding’s slicker 1938 remake.
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