The Dawn Patrol is a 1938 aviation war-drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The film stars Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and David Niven. The Dawn Patrol is a remake of the 1930 film of the same name, both films were based on the short story “The Flight Commander” by John Monk Saunders.
Director: Edmund Goulding
Production Company: Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Cast: Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, David Niven, Donald Crisp, Melville Cooper, Barry Fitzgerald, Carl Esmond, Peter Willes, Morton Lowry
US Box Office: $3,282,500 ($130,900,000 adjusted for inflation)
Film Format: Black & White
Genre: War, Drama, Action
Release Date: December 24, 1938
Plot Summary: In 1915 France during World War I, British Major Brand (Basil Rathbone) leads the Royal Flying Corps’ 59 Squadron. As the squadron’s commander, Brand is forced to send young and inexperienced pilots on dangerous missions, which often lead to their deaths. The two veteran pilots of 59 Squadron, best friends Captain Courtney (Errol Flynn) and Lieutenant Scott (David Niven), resent Brand and blame him for the deaths of the young pilots. Courtney and Scott disobey orders to bomb a German air base, as a result of this mission the higherups unexpectedly promote Brand and Courtney is given Brand’s job. Courtney is now forced to give dangerous assignments to the young pilots, including Scott’s inexperienced younger brother Donnie (Morton Lowry), which creates a rift between Courtney and Scott.
Production: The idea for the 1938 version of The Dawn Patrol came from executive producer Hal B. Wallis. In April of 1938, Wallis wrote a memo to Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner, inquiring about the possibility of creating several new war films, given American public awareness of the likelihood of a new European war (given that Nazi Germany had recently annexed Austria). Warner gave Wallis his approval to create a new war film. Wallis and associate producer Robert Lord decided the film should be a remake of the 1930 aviation war-drama The Dawn Patrol, which had been directed by Howard Hawks.
Edmund Goulding was chosen to direct The Dawn Patrol. Goulding was hired by Warner Bros. on a per-film basis in 1937. He had originally been chosen to direct the romantic drama Jezebel (1938) but was dropped in favor of William Wyler, so Wallis assigned The Dawn Patrol to Goulding to keep him busy while the studio was completing preparations for Dark Victory (1939), Goulding’s next planned film. Although Goulding normally disliked remakes, he agreed to direct The Dawn Patrol. His first film for Warner Bros. had been the romantic drama That Certain Woman (1937), which had been a remake of an earlier film Goulding directed, The Trespasser (1929). The screenplay for the 1938 version of The Dawn Patrol was written by Seton I. Miller, who had been one of the writers on the original 1930 film. Both films were based on John Monk Saunders’ story “The Flight Commander.” After the three main roles had been cast, Miller and director Goulding rewrote the original film’s dialog to better fit the established screen personas of the news stars. The 1938 film’s script was so similar to the original film, that original co-writer Dan Totheroh (who didn’t actually work on the 1938 film) was still credited as a writer.
Australian actor Errol Flynn was cast as Captain Courtney, the main character of The Dawn Patrol. Following his starring role in the swashbuckling adventure film Captain Blood (1935), Flynn quickly became one of Warner Bros.’ most popular stars. He recently starred in the adventure The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) and the drama Green Light (1937). The role of Major Brand was played by British character actor Basil Rathbone. Rathbone had been working in Hollywood for more than ten years at this point and he frequently played villains including in David Copperfield (1935) and Romeo and Juliet (1936). The Dawn Patrol was the last of three films to co-star Flynn and Rathbone, the previous two were Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). British actor David Niven was cast as Lieutenant Scott, Courtney’s good friend. Niven had supporting roles in a variety of Hollywood films at the time, including the drama Dodsworth (1936), the adventure The Prisoner of Zenda (1937), and the comedy Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938). Niven was friends with Flynn at the time and the two previously appeared together in The Charge of the Light Brigade.
Director Edmund Goulding began filming The Dawn Patrol in early August of 1938 and shooting wrapped up in September. The Dawn Patrol was primarily shot on set at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Exterior scenes of the British airfield were shot on location at Warner Bros.’ movie ranch in Calabasas, CA. Establishing battlefield shots were filmed on location near Palmdale, CA by a second unit crew. Despite the serious themes of The Dawn Patrol, the film shoot itself was apparently quite a bit of fun. The tone on set was usually cheerful and members of the cast and crew frequently played jokes on each other.
Nearly all long shots of the planes flying in the air were reused footage from the 1930 version of The Dawn Patrol. This was done as a cost saving measure. With the story being nearly identical to the 1930 film, there was simply no good reason for Warner Bros. to shoot new aerial shots when they already had plenty of acceptable footage. In the original 1930 film, most of the British planes were portrayed by rebuilt Nieuport 28s while most of the German planes were portrayed by American Travel Air 4000s (which when modified and repainted were nicknamed “Wichita Fokkers”). Three replica Nieuport 28s were used to portray the British fighters in new footage shot for the 1938 film. These Nieuports were used for shots of the planes on the ground with the actors, for close ups of the actors “flying” in front of a rear-projected background, as well as in shots of the planes taking off and landing. Thomas-Morse S-4C Scouts modified to resemble Nieuports were used in closeups for the scene where of Courtney and Scott attack the German air field. For the scene at the German air field, the moving German airplanes were portrayed by Wichita Fokkers painted black and given German markings. Two genuine German Pfalz D.XII fighters were also used in this scene as static background objects. Movie stunt pilot Leo Norris was credited as the aeronautic supervisor on The Dawn Patrol. Norris was the supervisor for the 1930 film and had actually been killed in an accident in 1932, but he still received credit for the 1938 film as most of his old footage was reused.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Lieutenant Russell, the leader of the first group of doomed replacements, was played by actor John Rodian. Rodian (who’s real name was Rodian Rathbone) was the son of Basil Rathbone and The Dawn Patrol was his first film. He also appeared in The Tower of London (1939), which starred his father. Captain Squires was played by Charles Greville, who was credited as his stage name “Michael Brooke.” Greville was a British aristocrat and the 7th Earl of Warwick. He lived in Los Angeles in the 1930s and had roles in a few Hollywood films. Greville was cast in The Dawn Patrol because he was the roommate of director Edmund Goulding at the time.
In The Dawn Patrol Courtney mentions that his father was a professor of biology at Queen’s University. In real-life, Errol Flynn’s father Theodore was also a biology professor, first at the University of Tasmania and was later a zoology professor at Queen’s University. He was still employed by Queen’s University when The Dawn Patrol was released.
Reception: The Dawn Patrol was released in the United States on December 24, 1938. The film was a success at the box office, becoming one of the top thirty highest grossing films of 1938, and it earned a healthy profit for Warner Bros. Several factors contributed to the success of The Dawn Patrol including: the popularity of Errol Flynn as a leading man, the film’s status as a remake of an acclaimed drama, and renewed American public interest in war films given the rising tensions in Europe. After the release of the 1938 version of The Dawn Patrol, Warner Bros. retitled the 1930 film Flight Commander after Saunders’ short story.
The Dawn Patrol received positive reviews from critics when it was first released. Variety magazine had strong praise for the acting performances (especially Errol Flynn) and for Edmund Goulding’s direction. The Tacoma Times also approved of The Dawn Patrol. The newspaper argued that the 1938 film was at least as good as the original, if not better, due to the performances of Basil Rathbone and Errol Flynn, and described it as being “an unforgettable film.” The Tri-County News similarly commended The Dawn Patrol for Flynn’s performance and for the general heroism of the story. The February edition of Photoplay magazine ranked The Dawn Patrol as one of the best films of the month and David Niven’s performance as being among the best of the month.
Why You Should See It: The Dawn Patrol is a strong war drama with plenty of action. The three main leads Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, and David Niven all give good performances and the dynamics between the characters are interesting. Director Edmund Goulding skillfully handles the tone of The Dawn Patrol. He adds enough humorous moments to the film (especially in the first half) to keep it from being too heavy, yet he also shows enough restraint with this to keep the film serious and prevent it from turning into a comedy. Courtney and Scott’s attack the German air field and Courtney’s final bombing of the German munitions dump were both exciting.
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