The Dawn Patrol [Flight Commander] (1930)

(On Cable TV, October 2022) How can something made to be so exciting end up being so dull? I’m not kidding when I say that The Dawn Patrol was meant to be a spectacle: Directed by real-life aviator Howard Hawks, it’s a big re-creation of WW1 air combat, duelling with Howard Hugues’s Hell’s Angels for the same topic matter. It’s executed with the finest technical means of the time, resulting in some footage that remains impressive—the bombing sequence, in particular, still has a nice kick to it. And yet, for all of the technical razzle-dazzle, the large-scale battle sequences and the obvious affection for the material that Hawks had, the result is… not so impressive. (In fact, the 1938 Errol Flynn-starring remake is often cited as being more popular, something easily proved by both films’ total IMDB votes.) The dramatic aspect to the film is slightly humdrum, more clearly limited by the technical issues of the time. I’m also aware that there were a lot of big spectacular WW1 aviation films made in the same decade (Wings, Hell’s Angels, etc.), and their impact is blunted somewhat by repetition. This certainly doesn’t make The Dawn Patrol a lesser film… but perhaps one that exists in a too-crowded space.