Review of The Dawn Patrol (1938) by Greg W — 25 Apr 2014
Great WW1 flying drama.
A remake of Howard Hawks' "The Dawn Patrol" (1930) (sometimes known as "Flight Commander"). Not sure why it needed to be remade - it was great as it was.
This version doesn't add anything. Plot is almost to-the-letter identical to the original. Flying sequences and cinematography here are about as good, even though this movie was made 8 years later.
Not that there's anything wrong with this movie. Still a very gritty and accurate look at life, and death, in a Royal Flying Corps (RFC) fighter squadron. Details fairly well the burden of command, of sending pilots to almost certain death.
One area where this version trumps the original is in the performances. The original's performances weren't bad, but weren't great either. Here the performances are superb, especially from Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone.
As said, not sure why this was (re)made, but a great movie nevertheless.
This review of The Dawn Patrol (1938) was written by Greg W on 25 Apr 2014.
The Dawn Patrol has generally received very positive reviews.
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