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The Dawn Patrol (1938)
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Overview
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Release Date:
24 December 1938 (USA)
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Tagline:
They roared through the dawn . . . with death on their wings ! more
Plot:
British flying aces in World War I contend with the harsh realities of war. full summary | add synopsis
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The Dawn Patrol flies high
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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 |
Additional Details
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Runtime:
103 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
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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.
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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.
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Referenced in Behind the Tunes: Crash! Bang! Boom! - The Wild Sounds of Treg Brown (2004) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Plum and Apple
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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.