The Dawn Patrol (1938)

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

Seton I. Miller (screenplay) and
Dan Totheroh (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 December 1938 (USA)

Genre:

War | Drama

Tagline:

They roared through the dawn . . . with death on their wings !

Plot:

British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war.

Plot Keywords:

France | Orchestral Music Score | Commander | Raw Recruit | Honor

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Errol Flynn	...	Captain Courtney
Basil Rathbone	...	Major Brand
David Niven	...	Lieutenant Scott
Donald Crisp	...	Phipps
Melville Cooper	...	Sergeant Watkins
Barry Fitzgerald	...	Bott
Carl Esmond	...	Von Mueller
Peter Willes	...	Hollister
Morton Lowry	...	Donnie Scott
Michael Brooke	...	Captain Squires
James Burke	...	Flaherty - Motorcycle Driver
Stuart Hall	...	Bentham
Herbert Evans	...	Scott's Mechanic
Sidney Bracey	...	Major Brand's Orderly (as Sidney Bracy)
Leo Nomis	...	Aeronautic Supervisor

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #4585)

Filming Locations:

Calabasas, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

As Major Brand, Basil Rathbone is seen wearing the ribbon for the Military Cross. He was awarded this medal for bravery during the First World War as a second lieutenant. Captain Courtney, Errol Flynn and later Lieutenant Scott, played by David Niven are also seen with ribbons but were too young to server in that conflict. Niven attended Sandhurst Military Academy and then served for two years in Malta. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he returned to England and re-joined the army. Flynn was granted a 4-F deferment during then Second World War due to his weak heart. He later stated that his only regret was his non-participation in that conflict.

Goofs:

Continuity: (At 14:00) Phipps is writing a letter of condolence to the mother of a recruit who has been killed in action. As he stops writing to talk with Major Brand, he switches his pen from his right hand to his left hand and removes his glasses with his right hand. In the next shot, his pen is back in his right hand and his glasses are in his left hand.

Quotes:

Lt. 'Scotty' Scott: It's a funny war.
Phipps: [sadly] No, not awfully.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Behind the Tunes: Crash! Bang! Boom! - The Wild Sounds of Treg Brown (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Plum and Apple

The Dawn Patrol flies high

One of the very few classic World War I adventures, the work of swashbuckling Errol Flynn, the staid, villainous Basil Rathbone and David Niven who transcends from Flynn's light-hearted sidekick to a combative inferior officer light up the skies over enemy territory.

The carefree camaraderie bolstered by excessive drinking in the face of certain doom provides an uplifting theme. I particularly like the songs they sing as they belly up to the bar, most notably, "Hurrah for the Next Man that Dies." The dogfights in the biplanes of that era are so vivid because you can see the pilots' every move, and they can see each other -- the thumbs-up when one of them is shot to pieces and about to plummet to his death.

The film captures the reality of a war that history tends to overlook more and more as time goes on. It should go down as one of the classics of the era.