Search - The Dawn Patrol on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children, War Violence Movie Release: 1938 DVD Release: 03/27/2007 Format: DVD - Black and White Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 43 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Drama, War, War Drama, Combat Films, Anti-War Film See Also: The Dawn Patrol

This 1938 remake of Howard Hawks' 1930 film The Dawn Patrol is faithful to the original's basic plotline. The story is set during World War I; the scene is the French headquarters of the British Royal Flying Corps, 59th division. The corps is suffering heavy losses, a fact that ace pilot Courtney (Errol Flynn) ascribes to the supposed ruthlessness of squadron commander Brand (Basil Rathbone). What the audience knows that Courtney doesn't is that Brand is distraught at losing his men, but is forced by his own superiors to push the pilots beyond their limits. After being accused day after day of being a butcher, Brand takes grim delight in turning over his command to Courtney. Soon Courtney finds himself enduring the "butcher" tag, especially after the younger brother of his best friend Scott (David Niven) is killed. To redeem himself, Courtney gets Scott drunk and takes his place in a suicidal bombing mission. Courtney is killed, Scott assumes command, and the cycle begins again. The extensive use of combat scenes from the original Dawn Patrol has led some viewers to assume that the 1930 version is the superior of the two. In fact, the remake is far better than the original on several counts, not least of which was the star power of Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in their third screen teaming. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Errol Flynn - Capt. Courtney
David Niven - Lieut. Douglas Scott
Basil Rathbone - Major Brand
Donald Crisp - Phipps
Melville Cooper - Watkins