The Dawn Patrol tells the story of a British flying squadron in WW I. Dick Courtney (Richard Barthelmess) is the ace pilot facing the problem that his squadron is sent on mission impossible almost every day. Major Brand (Neil Hamilton) is his commander who suffers under the circumstances that he has to send inexperienced pilots on those missions with the knowledge that every time his squadron is at least halved.
The first half of the film we see the struggle between Courtney and Brand. The Major is criticized and blamed by Courtney for sending all those young pilots into their untimely death. Brand defends himself because he only follows the orders of his superiors. Then Major Brand is promoted and Courtney becomes commander of the squadron. Instead of flying with his pals he faces a career behind a desk and after a while he realizes that he is in the same position as Major Brand before him. He looses himself in depression and alcohol before operating in a final heroic flight.
At first we don't see to many action in this movie. Most scenes are in Major Brand's office or at the bar of the airport. We see the companionship between the pilots but also the despair, the fear and a lot of drinking. In the second part we follow the pilots as they do their missions. Taking into account that this movie was made in the early thirties the war in the air is very well pictured. Those scenes were used again for the remake of 1938. Still I don't think that The Dawn Patrol gives a realistic view of the lives of RAF pilots during the Great War. It wouldn't be possible to consume so many alcohol and still control those early airplanes to survive the missions into enemy territory.
The film shows a lot of respect for the pilots but also for the enemy. When a German is captured he joins the drinking bout before he is taken to prison. The most striking moment in the film is the salute that Courtney gives the German pilot who has just shot him down. The pilots are portrayed as modern knights whose war in the air knows other rules and the dirty war on the ground.
So in a year wherein legendary anti war films like All Quiet on the Western Front and West front 1918 were made The Dawn Patrol was already a bit old fashioned. Although the harsh reality of war is shown by the losses of young men's lives and the hard choices that the command of squadron had to made the film also glorifies the pilots, their loyalty and their respect for their enemy. The action scenes are very well photographed but that doesn't compensate the long scenes in the office and at the bar with drunken pilots. As said better movies are made about the Great War and the circumstances the soldiers were in.
The first half of the film we see the struggle between Courtney and Brand. The Major is criticized and blamed by Courtney for sending all those young pilots into their untimely death. Brand defends himself because he only follows the orders of his superiors. Then Major Brand is promoted and Courtney becomes commander of the squadron. Instead of flying with his pals he faces a career behind a desk and after a while he realizes that he is in the same position as Major Brand before him. He looses himself in depression and alcohol before operating in a final heroic flight.
At first we don't see to many action in this movie. Most scenes are in Major Brand's office or at the bar of the airport. We see the companionship between the pilots but also the despair, the fear and a lot of drinking. In the second part we follow the pilots as they do their missions. Taking into account that this movie was made in the early thirties the war in the air is very well pictured. Those scenes were used again for the remake of 1938. Still I don't think that The Dawn Patrol gives a realistic view of the lives of RAF pilots during the Great War. It wouldn't be possible to consume so many alcohol and still control those early airplanes to survive the missions into enemy territory.
The film shows a lot of respect for the pilots but also for the enemy. When a German is captured he joins the drinking bout before he is taken to prison. The most striking moment in the film is the salute that Courtney gives the German pilot who has just shot him down. The pilots are portrayed as modern knights whose war in the air knows other rules and the dirty war on the ground.
So in a year wherein legendary anti war films like All Quiet on the Western Front and West front 1918 were made The Dawn Patrol was already a bit old fashioned. Although the harsh reality of war is shown by the losses of young men's lives and the hard choices that the command of squadron had to made the film also glorifies the pilots, their loyalty and their respect for their enemy. The action scenes are very well photographed but that doesn't compensate the long scenes in the office and at the bar with drunken pilots. As said better movies are made about the Great War and the circumstances the soldiers were in.