United States. English. Black-and-white. 103 minutes. Available: VCR.
Crew
Director: Edmund Goulding
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio
Screenplay: John Monk Sanders (story), Seton I. Miller, and Dan Totheroh
Editor: Ralph Dawson
Art Direction: John Hughes
Music: Max Steiner
Special Effects: Edwin B. DuPar
Cast
Errol Flynn (Captain Courtney)
Basil Rathbone (Major Brand)
David Niven (Lt. Douglas "Scotty" Scott)
Donald Crisp (Phipps)
Melville Cooper (Sgt. Watkins)
Barry Fitzgerald (Bott)
Carl Esmond (Von Mueller)
Peter Willes (Hollister)
Morton Lowery (Donnie Scott)
Michael Brooke (Captain Squires)
James Burke (Flaherty, the Motorcycle Driver)
Stuart Hall (Bentham)
Herbert Evans (Scott's Mechanic)
Sidney Bracey (Major Brand's Orderly)
Leo Nomis (Aeronautic Supervisor)
The film opens with the Royal Flying Corps of Great Britain, stationed in France in 1915 during World War I. The company's commander, Brand (Basil Rathbone), is upset that the squadron is losing so many men on the missions. Among the seasoned veterans, there is Courtney (Errol Flynn) and Scott (David Niven), who try and console their fellow officers on the loss of men on the last mission. Every few days, the squadron receives new recruits who get younger and younger. With a very dangerous mission coming up, the new recruits are scheduled to fly out on the dawn patrol with Scott and Courtney. All but three come back, losing many of the new recruits and Scott, who went to help a new recruit in battle and was shot down. The squadron captures a German pilot, who they treat more like a guest than a prisoner. Hollister, a young recruit, gets angry and feels the squadron has forgotten about those who have died and who is responsible for it. Scott comes back to the base; he was not killed but just shot down and he made his way back. Courtney and Scott go out on the town to celebrate and get arrested for their drunken revelry. When the B-flight comes back after a mission, only one pilot survives (Hollister is killed in battle) and tells them that Von Richter (aka The Red Baron) is up there. Scott and Courtney disobey orders and go after Von Richter, bombing a German airfield in the process. Brand is furious at their actions, but HQ is so happy with the results that Brand is promoted to new base and Courtney is promoted to squadron commander.
With Courtney in charge, he now realizes the struggle the commander must go through to send fresh recruits to their deaths in the sky. More replacements arrive, one of them Scott's brother Denny. Scott and Courtney argue about sending Denny up in battle, but Courtney demands that every man go up. Courtney tries to get his new recruits time to train, but is denied that time. Courtney now sees this war as a big, stupid and noisy game that makes no sense to him at all. In the next run, the fighters go up and Denny is killed. Scott blames Courtney for it, not willing to forgive him for doing his job.
Brand returns for a visit and brings new orders. A German ammo factory needs to be destroyed, but to minimize risk they want to send only one fighter at dusk. Scott volunteers to go, but Courtney doesn't want to lose his friend. Instead, he gets Scott drunk the night before and doesn't wake him in time for the flight. Courtney goes instead, blows up the ammo factory and gets into a dogfight with Von Richter himself. He manages to kill Von Richter but goes down himself. With Courtney missing and presumed dead, Scott is now the squadron commander. He is certain that, like himself, Courtney will come back. A German plane flies overhead, dropping Courtney's pilot's hat and goggles on the airfield, a sure sign that Courtney is dead. The film ends with Scott wondering whether the war is worth fighting at all with all the death that occurs. He knows that it will continue, though, with new recruits and new orders, as before.
"War Again in Hollywood: Dawn Patrol Remake Follows Chronicle of Sub Patrol Newsweek 12 December 1938, 25.
The reviewer immediately cites the similarities between 20th Century Fox's earlier film Submarine Patrol and The Dawn Patrol (1938, also put out by Fox). However, he comments positively on the feeling of nervous tension that is created in the film as Basil Rathbone (and later Errol Flynn), the Flight Commander, waits and counts how many planes have returned from the day's battle, as well as the absurd process of sending new recruits up in the sky to die with almost mechanical pace. Without spoiling any key plot points or surprises, the reviewer comments positively on the acting and even on the theme of the futility of war.
"The Dawn Patrol" Time 2 January 1939, 17.
The reviewer claims that although Hollywood may not be cranking out original ideas lately, they present the old ideas very well. The elements (as well as some of the air fighting footage) are taken right from the original version released in 1930, but the acting is superior. The reviewer also provides some behind the scenes information, like the fact that the film was rushed to completion during the Munich crisis because actors David Niven and Basil Rathbone were expected to be called to fight the war. The reviewer provides a well written (although brief) run through of the film, and his extra information is very interesting.
Nugent, Frank S. "The Dawn Patrol," New York Times 24 December 1938, 6.
Nugent claims that although American cinema seemed to be inundated with wartime aviation films and full of its endless clichés, audiences are still captivated by them, the reviewer included. We still feel excitement, he claims, as the hero aviators hit their targets and make the world safe once again. Although the reviewer feels that the overall message of the film (the pointlessness of war) is presented half-heartedly and almost as an afterthought, he feels the acting by Basil Rathbone, and David Niven is excellent in the film, due largely to their training in the British Air Force. Nugent gives the film a fair treatment while managing to only spoil a few key plot points.
Did you know?
- Both David Niven and Donald Crisp were British Air Force pilots. The production of the film was rushed at the end for fear that Niven and Crisp would be called to serve their country in World War II and not be able to finish shooting the film.
- Unlike the 1930 version of this film, the 1938 version used British actors to play the British pilots. The 1930 version contained all Americans.
- Most of the aerial footage for the plane combat scenes was taken from the 1930 version of the film.
- This version is generally favored over the original version of the film. Many critics claim the original version of the film was too stiff and drawn out. Despite the criticism, however, the 1930 version won an Academy Award for Best Writing (John Monk Sanders) while the 1938 version received no awards.
- This genre of film was spoofed in a 1964 Warner Brothers cartoon called The Dumb Patrol, featuring Bugs Bunny and Yosemitie Sam.
- Actor Donald Crisp appeared as an extra in D.W. Griffith's 1916 epic Intolerance.
-The earlier film was renamed Flight Commander to avoid confusion. It shows up on cable movie channels under this title.
Only eight years after its original release, Warner Brothers remade The Dawn Patrol in 1938. The film, set in World War I, depicted the lives of pilots of the British Air Force and their fight against German forces. So why remake the film? The original film had done well in theaters and even picked up an Oscar for Best writing in 1930. What else could the film say that it hadn't already said before?
In 1938, the scars of World War I were still lingering. But in the not too distant future, another war was brewing in Europe. A new kind of war film was needed. During World War I, the war films were almost celebratory. Depicting the American side of World War I as the good fight was a common theme. But after the war, America was in no hurry to go back to the European front for another round against Germany.
The Dawn Patrol (1938) had a new message to give. War is a noisy, destructive and seemingly pointless endeavor. This is most present in the dialogue at the end of the film. Scott, the new flight commander of the company, speaks to his advisors about the futility of sending young men up in the air to fight when time has shown them that very few of them come back after their first run, and even fewer survive for much longer than a few runs. The speech at the end of the film represents the overall idea of the film: war is a stupid waste of time that leads only to death.
Yet, oddly enough, that speech was not seen in the 1930 version of the film at all. A very concise version of that speech is heard, but it fails to carry the weight that the 1938 film's speech carries. This is perhaps the only major difference between the two films. Why would this be? What was so different in 1938 that it called for a speech like Scott's to exist?
After the casualties suffered by England, France and America in World War I, it is clear why they wouldn't be jumping into another war. Franklin Roosevelt himself had issued the American policy of neutrality in the years before World War II, saying that America would remain neutral in the coming conflict. So now a different kind of propaganda would be necessary in America. Rather than the propaganda of World War I that urged young men to enlist with the army and keep the world safe for democracy, a more reserved kind of propaganda would be necessary. Hollywood's war films of the past had been in support of the old propaganda. They would have to switch their message and preach a message of neutrality and non-involvement in the coming war.
Hence, The Dawn Patrol is remade. This time, by rewriting the end of the film, we get a film that is in support of the feelings of the time: war is destructive and we want no part in it. Although most of the movie is the same as the original, adding the speech at the end would make the audience view what they had seen in the film differently. In the 1930 version, the casualties the company suffers could be viewed as a necessary price to pay for fighting against Germany. In the 1938 version, we hear Scott's speech and wonder what all the fighting and dying was even for. Rather than viewing the new recruits coming in as patriotic and brave, we view them as naive and doomed, even before they go up in the air to fight. With the message changing from one film to the other, the film is viewed as supporting a completely different side of war.
This film was remade, and with great results. Along with the new message, the film itself is more interesting to look at than its 1930 predecessor; the cinematography is not as dull and static as many people criticized the 1930 version of being at times. And the message is more powerful in the 1938 version than in the 1930 version. Perhaps the 1930 version was in fact trying to send the same message as the later version, but the latter does a much better job. It is no surprise why this is the preferred version of the film. A stronger and more timely message makes for a much better film. Although in a few short years, America would change its stance on the war, the films of the time that pushed a policy of neutrality come off as more moving films than those that would insist on action and fighting.