Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Albert Sidney Fleischman (writer)
William A. Wellman (story)

Release Date:

March 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | War

Plot:

American youth and flying ace flys for France in World War I; meets & loves a French girl & prostitute. |

Plot Keywords:

Layfayette Esquadrille | WWI | Beautiful Woman | Aviation

Cast

Tab Hunter	...	Thad Walker
Etchika Choureau	...	Renée Beaulieu
Marcel Dalio	...	Drill Sergeant
David Janssen	...	Duke Sinclair
Paul Fix	...	U.S. General
Veola Vonn	...	The Madam
Will Hutchins	...	Dave Putnam
Clint Eastwood	...	George Moseley
Robert Hover	...	Dave Judd (as Bob Hover)
Tom Laughlin	...	Arthur Blumenthal
Brett Halsey	...	Frank Baylies
Henry Nakamura	...	Jimmy
Maurice Marsac	...	Sgt. Parris
Raymond Bailey	...	Amos J. Walker
William Wellman Jr.	...	Bill Wellman Sr.

Also Known As:

C'est la guerre (USA) (alternative title)
Hell Bent for Glory (UK)
With You in My Arms (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Santa Maria, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Director "Wild Bill" Wellman wanted to give the lead part of Thad Walker to a young, new actor named Clint Eastwood, but the studio insisted on the part going to Tab Hunter who did play the lead. Clint Eastwood ended up playing the supporting role of George Moseley.

Quotes:

Jimmy: [to the American flyers] Oh, say can you see, by dawns early light!

Movie Connections:

Version of Flyboys (2006)

Romance vs action

I saw this movie while stationed on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA42 sailing in the Mediterranean sea in 1959. It's true that it was more a romantic than an action movie. However, at the time I was thinking more about meeting women than flying airplanes, and I was completely caught up in the engrossing love story. It was a movie that I walked out of on air, and couldn't get out of my mind for months! My visits to Med ports such as Cannes and Nice, France, Majorca and Barcelona, Spain were totally changed as I looked for, and eventually found, a real-life Renee (although in Majorca not France).

The true action movie of this story has now been made in the form of "Flyboys", which I just saw and liked also. The story had a bit of the romance in it, with a very appealing French girl as well, but told much more of the flying, and heroic side, of the story. Aside from some hooky computer effects, this was a great flying tale, appealing equally to the flier and action fan in me.

Both are highly recommended.