Young Eagles (1930)

Add a Plot »

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt

Stars:

Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Jean Arthur, Paul Lukas

Cast

Cast overview:
Charles 'Buddy' Rogers	...	Lieutenant Robert Banks
Jean Arthur	...	Mary Gordon
Paul Lukas	...	Von Baden
Stuart Erwin	...	Pudge Higgins
Virginia Bruce	...	Florence Welford
Gordon De Main	...	Major Lewis
James Finlayson	...	Scotty
Frank Ross	...	Lieutenant Graham
Jack Luden	...	Lieutenant Barker
Freeman Wood	...	Lieutenant Mason
George Irving	...	Colonel Wilder
Stanley Blystone	...	Captain Deming

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

animal in title | paris france | aviation | world war one | spy | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 March 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

Águias Modernas

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

70 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

---

Connections

Follows Wings (1927)

---

Soundtracks

Love, Here Is My Heart
Lyrics by Adrian Ross
Music by Leo Silesu

User Reviews

Spy vs Spy

Reviewer wmorrow59 above just about covers all the bases for "Young Eagles", but I wanted to touch on the backdrop story he didn't mention. Without giving things away, one of the principals is a German spy assigned to give Paul Lukas safe passage back to the German lines. It adds another dimension, however slight, to the picture. It is sorely needed, because the slim plot can barely hold itself together otherwise.

Unlike WWII, fliers in The Great War observed all the niceties of gentlemanly conduct. In sporting fashion, they would help each other if one were shot down, and in some cases become friends or at least maintain a monotonous cordiality. I don't know if they went to the extreme portrayed here, wherein Buddy Rogers takes Lukas with him to Paris to enjoy one more night of freedom before being shipped off to a POW camp, but the plot hinges on this trip. You know, the spy thing.

The film is somewhat corny and stagey and with the stilted overacting characteristic of the early sound era. Paramount was trying to capitalize on the success of "Wings", which won the first Best Picture Oscar, but this film is only a pale imitation. There are some interesting dogfight sequences, Buddy Rogers and Jean Arthur are appealing, and Paul Lukas seems quite old for his role as a German ace. A good supporting cast helps matters, and I thought the whole production was good enough for a rating of six.