Movie Review – The Dawn Patrol (1938)

When looking back at the battles during World War 1, many people are aware of the countless slaughters as men were forced to go over the top of the trench and straight towards the enemy’s trenches.

This was a continual problem as the generals and commanders fought to find a way to break the stalemate.  The generals would form a battle plan, and those orders were passed down the chain of command to the battalion commanders, the platoon leaders, and ultimately the soldiers themselves.  No matter how pointless or suicidal the plan sounded, the men were expected to attack when ordered to.

Of course, it wasn’t only the soldiers in the trenches who had to deal with the orders from generals who were safely positioned far from the action.  This was also a problem for the bomber and combat pilots as well.

The 1938 film The Dawn Patrol addresses the problem of generals issuing orders and continually sending inexperienced pilots into dangerous situations.  The squadron commanders were forced to carry out those orders, knowing that many of the replacement pilots would be killed.  The 1938 version of the film is a remake of the original version released in 1930.  From what I understand, most of the dialogue is the same between the two versions, and most, if not all, of the flight scenes were taken straight from the original film.

Directed by Edmund Goulding, The Dawn Patrol stars Errol Flynn as Captain Courtney, the leader of A Flight.  Co-starring in the film are Basil Rathbone as Major Brand, the commanding officer of the squadron, and David Niven as Lieutenant Scott, one of the pilots in A Flight.

The Dawn Patrol takes place in 1915 at a Royal Flying Corps‘ airfield in France.

The movie begins with an action scene showing British combat pilots in a dogfight against the Germans.  We later learn that two of the British pilots, new replacement pilots in the squadron, were shot down and killed.

Back at the airfield, Major Brand (Basil Rathbone) is the commanding officer of the 59th Squadron.  He’s been under increasing pressure by headquarters to have his pilots produce better results on their missions, or he’s going to be transferred to a less important position.  Major Brand is nearing his breaking point as he has already lost 16 pilots in the last two weeks, nearly all of them replacement pilots with little to no flight or combat experience.

A Flight returns from its dawn patrol and lands at the airfield.  Flight leader Captain Courtney (Errol Flynn) and his good friend Lieutenant Scott (David Niven) have survived the mission, along with Lieutenant Hollister (Peter Willes), another experienced pilot, but they lost two of their replacement pilots.  Hollister is shaken up as one of the pilots that was shot down and killed was his best friend.  When Courtney tries to talk to Hollister and boost his spirits, it only makes him more depressed.

Courtney reports to Brand and expresses his anger about sending new recruits basically into the slaughter with very little chance of surviving.  Brand is well aware of the problem, but there’s nothing that he can do about it.  When the commanders pass down their orders, the pilots have to fly the missions, whether they’re experienced flyers or new recruits fresh out of flight school.

The pilots drink away their sorrows while Major Brand receives a telephone call from headquarters.  He then addresses the pilots and informs them that there will be another dawn patrol tomorrow morning.  When Courtney protests the mission and tells Brand that he doesn’t have enough pilots, the major informs him that more replacements are on their way to the airfield.  When the recruits arrive a few hours later, Courtney interviews them and selects the two recruits with the most amount of flight experience (measured in hours) to join his A Flight on the dawn patrol.

Sure enough, A Flight runs into heavy resistance while on their dawn patrol.  When the flight returns to the airfield, Courtney informs Brand that they lost three pilots, the two new recruits as well as Lieutenant Scott.  He tells Brand that Hollister was under attack by the Germans and that Scott risked his own life to save him.

Just then the pilots are joined by a captured German aviator, Hauptmann Von Mueller (Carl Esmond).  It’s the same German that Courtney shot down earlier that day, but also the same pilot who shot down Scott.  Courtney’s anger towards the German is quickly diminished when Von Mueller is respectful towards the British pilots.  He offers the German a drink, and soon they’re all drunk and having a grand old time.  Hollister arrives and tries to attack the German, but he’s restrained and sinks back into his depression over losing his friends.  The drinking between the pilots resumes.

Suddenly there’s joyous celebration when Scott walks into the building.  Not only was he not killed in action, but he was able to walk away from his crash without any major injuries.  When Scott is introduced to Von Mueller, the German who shot him down, there’s no anger between the two pilots, but rather a comaraderie instead.  They may have been enemies in the air, but they’re friends on the ground.

The next day B Flight is sent into the slaughter.  When Captain Squires (Michael Brooke), the commanding officer of B Flight, returns from the dawn patrol and is badly wounded, he warns the squadron that the dreaded Von Richter is in command of the German squadron.  Just then a lone German aircraft flies low over the airfield and drops a pair of trench boots onto the ground.  Along with the boots is a taunting message by Von Richter telling the British officers that they’ll be safer on the ground.  This incites the pilots but Major Brand orders them not to go up and retaliate.

Early the next morning, Courtney and Scott arm their airplanes with bombs.  Courtney then sneaks into Brand’s room and steals the trench boots.  He and Scott then start their engines and fly away on a retaliatory mission.  The two British pilots raid Von Richter’s airfield in a sneak attack, destroying many of the German airplanes while they’re still on the ground.  Two German fighters are shot down as they try to climb into the sky.  Courtney then makes a final pass and drops the trench boots, to which Von Richter himself recovers them.  He can only shake his fist in anger as Courtney and Scott fly away.

As they’re flying back over the lines, Courtney’s aircraft is shot down by anti-aircraft fire.  He’s able to make a crash landing in a nearby field.  Scott then lands his aircraft, Courtney climbs onto the side of it, and the two of them take-off.  Problems quickly arise again when Scott’s aircraft is also hit by anti-aircraft artillery.  His engine is hit and oil sprays into Scott’s face, temporarily blinding him.  Courtney has to talk him down and the two of them make a crash landing.  Fortunately, they’re both behind friendly lines at this point and out of danger.  Both pilots walk away from the crash and return to the 59th Squadron’s airfield.

Major Brand is ready to court martial Courtney and Scott until he receives a telephone call from headquarters.  The higher officers were impressed by the raid and that it was successfully carried out by only two pilots.  Thinking that Brand was responsible for planning it, Brand is given a promotion and transferred to the Wing’s headquarters.  Courtney is then promoted to major and given command of the 59th Squadron and all of the headaches with it.  As squadron commander, Courtney receives a phone call from headquarters.  He is to send both A and B Flight on a dawn patrol tomorrow morning.

Later that day, Courtney tries to persuade headquarters from ordering the dawn patrol.  He insists that he needs replacement pilots with experience.  Von Richter has shot down his best men, and he’ll easily shot down any new recruits.  Headquarters won’t listen to Courtney’s complaints.  He’s ordered to carry out the mission, whether his replacement pilots are experienced or not.  Those are the orders.

The new recruits arrive at the 59th Squadron, and one of them is Donnie (Morton Lowry), Scott’s younger brother.  He’s fresh out of flight school and eager to fight the Germans.  Scott begs Courtney not to send Donnie on the mission, to have him stay behind and receive a few hours of training to learn some tricks and techniques, but Courtney won’t allow it.  There cannot be any exceptions to the rules, family or not.  Unknown to Scott, Courtney calls headquarters again and uses the same argument about having the new recruits receive a few extra hours of training, but headquarters does not allow it.  The recruits have graduated from flight school and therefore ready for combat missions.

The dawn patrol departs on their mission in the morning, and just like last time, they meet heavy resistance from Von Richter’s fighters.  Von Richter himself shoots down Donnie.  Scott is powerless and can only watch in horror as his younger brother crashes into the ground and is killed.  When the pilots return to the airfield, Scott personally blames Courtney for the death of Donnie.

The following morning Brand makes a personal visit to the 59th Squadron.  He reports feeling much better and happier since leaving the command of the squadron.  He’s there though to deliver a message to Major Courtney, something that couldn’t merely be told over the telephone.  Courtney is to ask one of his pilots to fly on a suicide mission.  The pilot is to fly solo deep behind enemy lines and bomb a large munitions dump.  Sending a squadron of aircraft will attract too much attention, but it’s believed that a single aircraft might be able to sneak its way to the munitions dump.  Of course, such an attack will get the Germans’ interest, and that pilot will surely be shot down and killed by the German fighters.

Courtney insists on flying the mission himself, but Brand forbids him from doing it.  Courtney is the squadron commander, and he’s no longer to fly the missions.  His duty is to assign (or in this case ask for a volunteer) pilots to missions and send them out as ordered.

When Courtney addresses his pilots, Lieutenant Scott volunteers for the mission.  He then sits down and drinks with Scott, and the two men become friends again.  Scott drinks too much alcohol and has to take a short nap before flying on the mission.  Instead of waking him, Courtney lets Scott sleep while he takes Scott’s airplane and flies the solo mission himself.

Major Courtney sneaks his way and flies low through the countryside, but he’s still spotted by the Germans.  They alert the fighters and get them into the air.  Courtney ultimately reaches the munitions dump and his bombs his their targets, destroying most of the complex.  He then flees from the munitions dump, but he’s soon attacked by Von Richter’s squadron.  Courtney uses his aerial combat skills and fights for his life, shooting down several Germans including Von Richter, but he’s later shot by a different German pilot.

Back at the 59th, Scott is the senior officer and has assumed command of the squadron.  He believes that Courtney is still alive until a lone German aircraft flies over the airfield and drops Courtney’s flying helmet and goggles.  Now it’s official that Courtney is dead and Scott is in command of the 59th Squadron.

The Dawn Patrol ends with Major Scott addressing the experienced pilots and new recruits.  A Flight is to conduct a dawn patrol.  B Flight is to escort bombers into a particularly dangerous area.

So is 1938’s remake of The Dawn Patrol a good movie?

Yes, very much so.

Instead of glorifying the life of a combat pilot, The Dawn Patrol focuses on the commanders and how powerless they were in issuing the orders, knowing full well that the rookie pilots were probably going to get shot down and killed.  It’s an endless cycle as the squadron commanders move on (through promotion, transfer, or death) and their replacements have to step into the command position and issue the “death orders” themselves, powerless to change the cycle.  The commanders have to issue the orders and the pilots have to fly the missions, no exceptions.

It’s easy to sympathise with the commanders when you see their side of the equation.  The pilots may not understand it at first, but when they are promoted into the position, it becomes clear that they have little choice in the matter.  Those dangerous missions must be carried out, even if the pilots are going to be killed.

The Dawn Patrol also shows another infamous part of the First World War —- the remote generals.  One of the recent technological advancements in that time period was the telephone.  The telephone allowed for the generals to remain at the headquarters, a place often located well out of any immediate danger, and to make decisions and plan the next stages of the war.  If they determined that a dangerous or suicidal was needed, then all they had to do was place a phone call to the squadron commander and issue the order.  The squadron commander would pick the pilots and send them on the mission as ordered.

The further away you are from the danger and the men who put their life on the line, the easier it is to order them to their death.  This is seen throughout The Dawn Patrol as the squadron commanders, Brand, Courtney and then Scott, all receive their orders over the telephone and then send the men on their way, even when they know that some of them will be killed.

The Dawn Patrol (1938) – movie trailer

As a whole, The Dawn Patrol is a great World War 1 film that shows a different take on being a combat pilot in the war.  Since these were all British actors in the movie, I had to turn on the subtitles to be able to understand most of the dialogue.  My only problem with the film was that the bombs used in the final mission seemed to be a little too powerful for aerial bombs from that time period.  A single aircraft was able to destroy a train plus an entire munitions factory, something that it would have taken several heavy bombers to do in World War 2.

Other than that, the 1938 remake of The Dawn Patrol has quickly become one of my favorite films of the Great War.  Then again, that’s been a rapidly growing list this past month.  😉