At a rural flight outpost during the First Great War, a pilot becomes everything he hates after being promoted to commander and is forced to send young, hard drinking pilots to their deaths, even including his closest friend. Howard Hawks' The Dawn Patrol, adapted from a short story by John Mark Saunders entitled Flight Commander (the title which it sometimes alternately bears) was remade only eight years later with Errol Flynn in an also acclaimed and likewise famously cliched version. Hawks' outing contains a rousing finale in addition to many great moments and individual shots even if it remains a little static and dated.
*** 1/2 out of ****
