Ace of Aces (1933 film)

Last updated

Ace of Aces
Ace-of-aces-movie-poster.jpg
Original theatrical poster
Directed by J. Walter Ruben
Screenplay by John Monk Saunders (screenplay)
H.W. Hanemann (screenplay),
Based onThe Bird of Prey
by John Monk Saunders
Produced by Merian C. Cooper (executive producer)
Starring Richard Dix
Elizabeth Allan
Ralph Bellamy
Cinematography Henry Cronjager
Edited byGeorge Hively
Music by Max Steiner
Production
company
Distributed byRKO Radio Pictures
Release date
  • October 20, 1933 (1933-10-20)
Running time
76 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Ace of Aces, also known as Bird of Prey, is a 1933 American pre-Code war film based on the story "The Bird of Prey" by World War I pilot John Monk Saunders that explores how war can turn a man's moral compass from pacifism to warmonger. Starring Richard Dix, it was similar to many of the period films that appeared to glorify the "knights of the air", but was more complex, examining the motivations of those who choose to go to war. [1]

Contents

Plot

When the United States enters World War I, Rocky Thorne has no interest in joining the military, but just wants to pursue his career as a sculptor. He is cynical about the purpose of the war and the enthusiasm of those who have enlisted, comparing them to lemmings that will swim until they drown themselves. But his fiancée, Nancy Adams, becomes a Red Cross nurse; she mocks his pacifism and accuses him of cowardice. To prove his bravery, he enlists and becomes a fighter pilot as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. Arriving at his assigned squadron, he is concerned about the people he is going to be shooting at; but his initial reluctance lasts only until he is shot at himself. Then he retaliates, shooting down his first enemy aircraft.

Rocky now renounces his past attitude and becomes completely committed to the war in the air, even taking individual flights against orders, to get more chances to shoot down Germans. In a few months he becomes the leading ace. Then, while on furlough in Paris, he runs into his former love, who is a nurse on the front lines. She has been impacted by her experiences and is torn by guilt. When Rocky says that he does not want to waste his valuable leave time on talking and demeans her moral attitude for not wanting to spend the night with him, she agrees to do it.

Back at the squadron, a German cadet on a mercy mission drops a note over the airfield, telling the Americans that one of their pilots who was shot down is alive as a prisoner. At this point Rocky's plane appears. Not having seen the note being dropped, Rocky attacks and shoots down the young German, who is badly injured but not killed.

At the hospital, Rocky finds the German in the next bed. The young man is in agony and is not allowed liquids because of a stomach wound. Eventually he begs for water, saying he is going to die anyway, and Rocky leaves a bottle of wine by his bedside. Then Rocky is told he is being transferred away from the front to become an instructor. While he does not tell anyone, he feels guilty over the German's death, so the transfer comes as a relief. But before it takes effect, he learns that a young pilot has bettered his record of victories. He flies another unauthorized mission to fight individually against the newest German aircraft. But as he prepares to close in for the kill, he again thinks about the German cadet, and is unable to fire. The Germans see him and shoot him down, but he lives to return home to his sweetheart after the war.

In the final scene, he still feels guilty for what he became, and says he has been unable to sculpt. But Nancy is supportive and still wants to marry him. They will get past it together.

Cast

William Cagney, the brother of James Cagney made his motion picture debut in Ace of Aces as an actor and went on to become a Hollywood producer. [2]

Production

The ubiquitous Travel Air Model B "Wichita Fokker" made up the core of the German enemy air force. Travel Air 2000 OX Creve Coeur MO 10.06.06R.jpg
The ubiquitous Travel Air Model B "Wichita Fokker" made up the core of the German enemy air force.

John Monk Saunders wrote stories about flying that were influenced by his service as a flight instructor in World War I. In 1933, two of the stories that had a strong antiwar theme were turned into films. The first story, Death in the Morning was turned into The Eagle and the Hawk released in May 1933. His second story, The Bird of Prey became the basis of Ace of Aces, which was shot in the summer and came out in October 1933. [3]

Ace of Aces featured five Waco 7s, five Travel Air Model B "Wichita Fokkers", a small number of Nieuport 28s, a Curtiss JN4 Jenny, Garland-Lincoln LF-1 (Nieuport 28 Replica), and a Fleet Model 1, along with two SE.5 mock-ups while a Waco also served as a camera plane for the aerial sequences. [4] Noted Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Clarke was one of a team of eight pilots who flew in the film. [5] Some of the aerial footage was taken from the earlier Howard Hughes opus, Hell's Angels (1930). [6]

Reception

Contemporary reviews of Ace of Aces were not positive; Mordaunt Hall, The New York Times reviewer noted, "In a style that is slow, obvious and at times childishly sentimental ... Richard Dix is heavy-handed and generally inexpert in the principal role. Elizabeth Allan, who seems to one biased observer to be the most genuinely talented and charming of Hollywood's recent acquisitions, gives 'Ace of Aces' its only good moments." [7] More recent reviews have focused on the "strongly anti-war drama", and the callousness of killing men in the air in Ace of Aces, revealed as the hero has to examine his life and the choices he has made as a fighter pilot. [8] Leonard Maltin considered it, a "Sincere antiwar tract, but far too melodramatic." [9]

Filmmaker Guy Maddin is an avowed fan of the film, describing it in an article for Film Comment as an "absolutely perfect low-budget fighter-pilot picture that deserves the same reputation as Gun Crazy " and praising Dix as a "forgotten American treasure." [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Angels with Dirty Faces</i> 1938 American gangster film

Angels with Dirty Faces is a 1938 American crime drama film directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Brothers. It stars James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, The Dead End Kids, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan, and George Bancroft. The screenplay was written by John Wexley and Warren Duff based on the story by Rowland Brown. The film chronicles the relationship of the notorious gangster William "Rocky" Sullivan with his childhood friend and now-priest Father Jerry Connolly. After spending three years in prison for armed robbery, Rocky intends to collect $100,000 from his co-conspirator Jim Frazier, a mob lawyer. All the while, Father Connolly tries to prevent a group of youths from falling under Rocky's influence.

<i>The Great Waldo Pepper</i> 1975 film by George Roy Hill

The Great Waldo Pepper is a 1975 American drama film directed, produced, and co-written by George Roy Hill. Set during 1926–1931, the film stars Robert Redford as a disaffected World War I veteran pilot who missed the opportunity to fly in combat, and examines his sense of postwar dislocation in 1920s America. The cast includes Margot Kidder, Bo Svenson, Edward Herrmann and Susan Sarandon. The Great Waldo Pepper depicts barnstorming during the 1920s and the accidents that led to aviation regulations by the Air Commerce Act.

<i>Captains of the Clouds</i> 1942 film by Michael Curtiz

Captains of the Clouds is a 1942 American war film in Technicolor, directed by Michael Curtiz and starring James Cagney. It was produced by William Cagney, with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer. The screenplay was written by Arthur T. Horman, Richard Macaulay, and Norman Reilly Raine, based on a story by Horman and Roland Gillett. The cinematography was by Wilfred M. Cline and Sol Polito and was notable in that it was the first feature-length Hollywood production filmed entirely in Canada.

<i>Flight Lieutenant</i> (film) 1942 film by Sidney Salkow

Flight Lieutenant is a 1942 American drama war film starring Pat O'Brien as Sam Doyle, a disgraced commercial pilot who works to regain the respect of his son against the backdrop of World War II. Its advertising slogan was "roaring with thrills, throbbing with romance" with the love interest provided by Evelyn Keyes as Susie Thompson.

<i>Body and Soul</i> (1931 film) 1931 film

Body and Soul (1931) is an American Pre-Code action drama film directed by Alfred Santell and starring Charles Farrell, Elissa Landi, Humphrey Bogart, and Myrna Loy. The story, adapted from the stage play Squadrons by Elliott White Springs and A.E. Thomas, depicts Royal Air Force pilots in World War I.

<i>West Point of the Air</i> 1935 film by Richard Rosson

West Point of the Air is a 1935 American drama film directed by Richard Rosson and starring Wallace Beery, Robert Young, Lewis Stone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Rosalind Russell, and Robert Taylor. The screenplay concerns pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the early 1930s.

<i>Parachute Jumper</i> 1933 film by Alfred E. Green

Parachute Jumper is a 1933 American pre-Code black-and-white comedy drama film directed by Alfred E. Green. Based on a story by Rian James titled "Some Call It Love", it stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Bette Davis and Frank McHugh.

<i>The Dawn Patrol</i> (1938 film) 1938 film by Edmund Goulding

The Dawn Patrol is a 1938 American war film, a remake of the pre-Code 1930 film of the same title. Both were based on the short story "The Flight Commander" by John Monk Saunders, an American writer said to have been haunted by his inability to get into combat as a flyer with the U.S. Air Service.

<i>The Eagle and the Hawk</i> (1933 film) 1933 film by Stuart Walker

The Eagle and the Hawk is a 1933 American Pre-Code aerial war film set in World War I. It was directed by Stuart Walker and Mitchell Leisen and was based on an original story by John Monk Saunders. The film stars Fredric March and Cary Grant as Royal Flying Corps fighter pilots. The supporting cast includes Carole Lombard, Jack Oakie, and Sir Guy Standing.

<i>Dangerous Moonlight</i> 1941 British film by Brian Desmond Hurst

Dangerous Moonlight is a 1941 British film directed by Brian Desmond Hurst and starring Anton Walbrook. The film is perhaps best known for its score, written by Richard Addinsell and orchestrated by Roy Douglas, that includes the Warsaw Concerto. The gowns in the film were designed by Cecil Beaton.

<i>Death in the Air</i> 1936 film by Elmer Clifton

Death in the Air is a 1937 American film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring Lona Andre, John Carroll, Leon Ames and Henry Hall. The film is also known as Murder in the Air in the United Kingdom and as The Mysterious Bombardier. The film was Fanchon Royer's first production for her new company, Fanchon Royer Features, Inc. Film Daily reported that former FBI agent Melvin Purvis was offered a role in the film but declined.

<i>Flight Command</i> 1940 American film

Flight Command is a 1940 American U.S. Navy film from MGM, produced by Frank Borzage and directed by J. Walter Ruben and Frank Borzage (uncredited), starring Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, and Walter Pidgeon. It has the distinction of often being credited as the first Hollywood film glorifying the American military to be released after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, a year before the U.S. entered the conflict.

<i>The Lost Squadron</i> 1932 film

The Lost Squadron is a 1932 American pre-Code drama, action, film starring Richard Dix, Mary Astor, and Robert Armstrong, with Erich von Stroheim and Joel McCrea in supporting roles, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Based on the novel The Lost Squadron (1932) by Dick Grace, the film is about three World War I pilots who find jobs after the war as Hollywood stunt fliers.

<i>Crack-Up</i> (1936 film) 1936 film by Malcolm St. Clair

Crack-Up is a 1936 American film directed by Malcolm St. Clair. Peter Lorre plays a harmless, half-addled aircraft enthusiast who is actually a ruthless spy desperate to get his hands on the blueprints for an experimental aircraft for a trans-Atlantic flight. He faces off against Ace Martin, played by Brian Donlevy, the pilot of the aircraft, whose motives are spurred by feeling cheated by his own company. The supporting cast includes Helen Wood, Ralph Morgan and Thomas Beck.

<i>Women in the Wind</i> 1939 film directed by John Farrow

Women in the Wind is a 1939 film directed by John Farrow and starring Kay Francis, William Gargan and Victor Jory. The plot concerns women pilots competing in the so-called "Powder Puff Derby", an annual transcontinental air race solely for women.

<i>Flying Devils</i> 1933 film by Russell Birdwell

Flying Devils is a 1933 American Pre-Code action film dealing with aviation. The film was directed by former Hollywood agent Russell Birdwell and photographed by film noir cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca. The screenplay was written by Byron Morgan and Louis Stevens, based on an original story by Stevens. In an unusual move, Bruce Cabot was the star, with perennial "good guy" Ralph Bellamy playing the villain in a love triangle involving Arline Judge and Eric Linden. Although considered a "B" feature, audiences enjoyed the aerial scenes, which helped elevate the feature to a minor box-office hit.

<i>Captain Eddie</i> 1945 film by Lloyd Bacon

Captain Eddie is a 1945 American drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, based on Seven Were Saved by "Eddie" Rickenbacker and Lt. James Whittaker's We Thought We Heard the Angels Sing. The film stars Fred MacMurray, Lynn Bari and Charles Bickford. Captain Eddie is a "biopic" of Rickenbacker, from his experiences as a flying ace during World War I to his later involvement as a pioneering figure in civil aviation, and his iconic status as a business leader who was often at odds with labour unions and the government.

<i>Hell in the Heavens</i> 1934 film by John G. Blystone

Hell in the Heavens is a 1934 American aviation drama film directed by John G. Blystone and written by Byron Morgan, Ted Parsons and Jack Yellen based on the stage play Der Flieger by Hermann Roßmann. The film stars Warner Baxter, Conchita Montenegro, Russell Hardie, Herbert Mundin, Andy Devine and William Stelling. It was released on November 9, 1934 by Fox Film Corporation.

<i>Captain Swagger</i> 1928 film

Captain Swagger is a 1928 American synchronized sound crime drama film directed by Edward H. Griffith and stars Rod La Rocque. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects utilizing the RCA Photophone sound-on-film sound system. The film was released with both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film formats. The film was produced and distributed by the Pathé Exchange company.

<i>The Lone Eagle</i> 1927 film directed by Emory Johnson

The Lone Eagle is a 1927 American silent melodrama directed by Emory Johnson, based on the story by Emilie Johnson, and starring Raymond Keane, Barbara Kent and Nigel Barrie. It was released by Universal Pictures on September 18, 1927.

References

Notes

  1. Neibaur 2005, p. 1.
  2. "Notes: Ace of Aces (1933)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: May 20, 2012.
  3. Phillips, Michael W. Jr. "Ace of Aces (1933)." Goatdog's Movies, April 30, 2006. Retrieved: May 20, 2012.
  4. Wynne 1987, pp. 136–137.
  5. Farmer 1984, p. 4.
  6. Erickson, Hal. "Overview: Ace of Aces." allmovie.com. Retrieved: May 21, 2012.
  7. Hall, Mordaunt. "Movie Review: Ace of Aces (1933)." The New York Times, November 11, 1933.
  8. Beck, Sanderson. "Ace of Aces." Movie Mirrors, 2000. Retrieved: May 20, 2012.
  9. Maltin, Leonard. "Leonard Maltin Movie Review: Ace of Aces (1933)." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved: May 20, 2012.
  10. Maddin, Guy. "Guilty Pleasures." Film Comment, January/February 2003.

Bibliography

  • Farmer, James H. Broken Wings: Hollywood's Air Crashes. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Pub Co., 1984. ISBN   978-0-933126-46-6.
  • Neibaur, James L. The RKO Features: A Complete Filmography of the Feature Films Released or Produced by RKO Radio. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. ISBN   978-0-786421-664.
  • Wynne, H. Hugh. The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. ISBN   0-933126-85-9.