The Dawn Patrol (1938)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Edmund Goulding

Writers:

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

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 | Drunkenness | Biplane | Gallantry | Suicide Mission

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hal Brazeale	...	Gregory (uncredited)
Tyrone Brereton	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Richard Deane	...	'B' Flight Replacement (uncredited)
Burnett Fergrison	...	Henry Burt (uncredited)
Fred Graham	...	Running Man on Airfield (uncredited)
Douglas Henderson	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Ivo Henderson	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Tim Henning	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Young Recruit (uncredited)
George Kirby	...	Orderly Kirby (uncredited)
Anthony Marsh	...	Rutherford (uncredited)
John Meredith	...	'B' Flight Replacement (uncredited)
Wally Rairden	...	Cleaver (uncredited)
Jack Richardson	...	Mechanic (uncredited)
John Rodion	...	Lieutenant Russell (uncredited)
Speirs Ruskell	...	'B' Flight Replacement (uncredited)
Tom Seidel	...	Jones (uncredited)
John Sutton	...	Adjutant (uncredited)
F. Philip Sylvestre	...	'B' Flight Replacement (uncredited)
Gordon Thorpe	...	Smythe (uncredited)
Charles Waldron Jr.	...	Lieutenant Billings (uncredited)
Gordon Wallace	...	'B' Flight Replacement (uncredited)
Norman Willis	...	Von Richter (uncredited)
Gilbert Wilson	...	Moorehead (uncredited)

Directed by
Edmund Goulding

Writing credits
Seton I. Miller		(screenplay) and
Dan Totheroh		(screenplay)
John Monk Saunders		(story)
Howard Hawks		story (uncredited)

Produced by
Robert Lord	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Tony Gaudio		(photography by)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
John Hughes

Makeup Department
Bill Phillips	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Robert Ross	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Oren Haglund	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Frank Heath	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
William Kissell	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
C.A. Riggs	....	sound

Special Effects by
Edwin B. DuPar	....	special effects (as Edwin A. DuPar)

Camera and Electrical Department
Carl E. Guthrie	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
Glen Harris	....	grip (uncredited)
Vic Johnson	....	gaffer (uncredited)
William Reinhold	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bert Six	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Claude Swanner	....	best boy (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rene Wilson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Victor Kline Jr.	....	assistant cutter (uncredited)

Music Department
Alfred Domett	....	lyricist: "Stand to Your Glasses"
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Capt.L.G.S. Scott	....	technical advisor
Jean McNaughton	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Jacques Swaab	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

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:

The filmmakers needed several shots of the planes taking off and landing. They assembled a squadron of 17 vintage WW1 aircraft, most of them Nieuports. Flying them proved just as hazardous as in WW1. By the time filming ended, stunt flyers had crashed 15 of them.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning the planes shown landing and the planes that taxi up to the hangers.

Quotes:

Capt. Courtney: [drunkenly] Gentlemen, keep the war going please. We're going to roll in a few gutters.

Movie Connections:

Features The Dawn Patrol (1930)

Soundtrack:

Plum and Apple

One of the very best of all war films

The Dawn Patrol, one of Director Eddie Goulding's very finest, is as tense and tightly wound as the characters it portrays, who face the awful question, 'what is maximum effort', how much can a man give in combat before breaking? The story revolves around the vividly drawn characters of Lt. Scott,'Scotty', played by David Niven in one of his most genuine performances, and that of his chum, Captain Courtney, well played by Errol Flynn. Together the two friends face death each day in machines held together by 'spit and baling wire' and each night drink themselves into oblivion. Their antics contrast with the concern that is eating at their commanding officer, Major Brand, wonderfully portrayed by Basil Rathbone. Brand is visibly cracking under the strain, while the oblivious Courtney and Scott play at war, seemingly unconcerned by death or anything else. Paired with Brand is the unflappable Phipps, presented by stalwart character actor Donald Crisp. It is Crisp, who is finally made to express the film's underlying anti-war theme, questioning the point of sending all the fine young men to their deaths, "...and for what?", he asks though no answer is forthcoming. The tension is expertly broken by comic interludes of genuine hilarity as well as great scenes of World War air combat. One sees a reflection of Renoir's 'Rules of the Game', when a German pilot, who is thought to have killed Scotty, is brought in to meet Courtney, who shot him down and they show each other the mutual respect and chivalry that still crossed the no-mans land between the two sides. Like '12 0'Clock High'

its World War II counterpart, this film puts the viewer under the skins of these men as they face death. No phony posturing or heroics, no masks, just humanity faced with something which, ultimately is inhuman. This intelligent and questioning film is at the very top of my list of great war films, and is an absolute must see for new generations of movie goers.