|
Actors: Richard Barthelmess, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
|
|
| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Dawn Patrol (1930) |
|---|
It is unfortunate that most viewers are only familiar with the dreadful remake (1938) of this film starring Errol Flynn rather than the original directed by Howard Hawks. (I was lucky enough to see a 35mm nitrate print held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive.) The other two famous World War I flying epics, Wings and Hell's Angels, both feature superb aerial fighting sequences, but Wings is a slow moving silent film which only gets into the action after an hour has gone by, and Hell's Angels is burdened with an absurdly bad scenario. Hawks had the genius to give equal importance to the drama behind the lines, counterpointing it with impressive dogfights in the air. Dick Courtney (Richard Barthelmess) is an ace who is taken out of combat, made commander of his squadron, and given the responsibility of having to decide who will fly each dawn. Ultimately, duty requires him to send the inexperienced younger brother of his best friend, Douglas Scott (Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), into battle. After the death of the latter destroys the friendship between the two men, Courtney goes on a suicide mission, sacrificing himself to destroy a chemical plant. Hawks's first sound film, The Dawn Patrol is a worthy harbinger of the masterpieces that were to follow.
--Dave C, Resident Scholar
|
| Analysis of The Dawn Patrol (1930) |
|---|
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/Era of Movie:
- 1900-1920's
War Thriller
Yes
Armed Forces:
- Air Force
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- military pilot
Age:
- 20's-30's
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- Germany
- France
Air?
Yes
Air:
- warplane
Misc setting
- fort/military installation
Style
Movie makes you feel...
- excited
How many deaths in film?
- 8 or more
How much use of techno gadgets?
- 2 (a little)
Kind of violence:
- air battles
- mission to rescue
Check here if B&W
Yes
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
|
| Most similar reviews by Gordonator ranking |
|---|
| Flyboys
starring James Franco, Jean Reno, Martin Henderson, David Ellison, Abdul Salis, Tyler Labine, Phillip Winchester, Augustin Legrand
|
| Lafayette Escadrille
starring Tab Hunter, Etchika Choureau, Marcel Dalio, David Janssen, Clint Eastwood
|
| Battleship Potemkin
|
| Capitaine Conan
starring Philippe Torreton, Samuel Le Bihan, Bernard Le Coq, Claude Rich, André Falcon
|
| Legionnaire
starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Farrell, Jim Carter, Ana Sofrenovic, Daniel Caltagirone,
|
|
Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
|
