The Last Flight

I have never seen a 1930's American film like this one! Perhaps this is because it was directed by German director William Dieterle when he was fresh off the boat. Apart from a slightly pontifical doctor musing about the difficulties of war-time flyers adjusting to civilian life near the beginning of the film, this is a subtle, evocative, under-stated and powerful depiction of this mal-adjustment. Following the end of World War One a group of American flyer buddies go on a six months long bender in Paris and Lisbon. They link up with a rich young woman, beautifully played by Helen Chandler, who drinks as hard as they do. They are all a little in love with death and wander from one meaningless adventure to another in pursuit of it. It is here that the film encounters some difficulties - making meaninglessness dramatically interesting is very difficult.

But the actors do an admirable job in suggesting the huge pain under the jovial partying. Richard Barthelmess was one of the greatest screen actors ever, and his talents are well utilised here. Johnny Mack Brown is a revelation as the rougher Bill - who knew this cowboy star was such a fine actor? David Manners is also a surprise, much better here than in "Dracula", he proves to be capable of doing great emotional work. Elliott Nugent as the heavily traumatised Francis is unforgettable, and Walter Byron is fine as an unscrupulous hanger-on.

This is not a perfect film, but it is a brave one, and is absolutely essential to an understanding of the mood after World War One. It is no surprise that the writer was also responsible for "Wings" (1927) - his understanding of the relationships between men in and after wartime is phenomenal. Make sure you see it.

Four former flying aces, scarred both physically & emotionally, make THE LAST FLIGHT through the bars of Paris & Lisbon with an eccentric American girl.

Well-crafted & poignant, this film tells the sad tale of American World War One buddies whose lives are essentially over with the cessation of the conflict. Aimless & drifting, but seemingly very well financed, they stagger from bar to bar, looking for the forgetfulness that comes with drunken oblivion. If not for the noble loyalty they feel for each other their story, and the sundering of their quartet, would be almost unremittingly lugubrious.

Director William Dieterle was given fine service by his cast: silent screen star Richard Barthelmess, leader of the band, as a pilot sensitive about his burned hands; gunner David Manners dealing with a nervous tic in his left eye; country boy Johnny Mack Brown letting high jinks and alcohol define his new existence; and sharpshooter Elliott Nugent, shell-shocked into extreme lethargy.

Helen Chandler is remarkable as the highly unusual young woman who is allowed to become an essential part of the fliers' lives. Her kooky vagueness and affection for pet turtles is most endearing. Walter Byron gives an effective performance as a caustic reporter who tags along with the others for his own motives.

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At one point in the story Mr. Barthelmess & Miss Chandler visit the cemetery of Père-Lachaise in Paris, where he tells her something of the history of the tragic lovers Pierre Abélard (1079-1142) and Héloïse (1098-1164), who lie interred there. Barthelmess mentions the terrible revenge visited upon Abélard by the Canon Fulbert, the uncle of Héloïse, without actually saying what it was. Even with Pre-Code liberality, forced castration was not a subject to be broached lightly.

I came across this unheralded early William Dieterle film a while back and it blew me away. Quite an astonishing film for a 1931. I believe it was Dieterle's first Hollywood outing. It's a "Sun Also Rises"-like story of several ex-WWI American fliers living, relaxing and drinking in Paris and the wacky, free-spirited woman they "adopt" into their group. A truly unusual film--the dialogue is almost entirely in non sequitors which gives it an almost ahead-of-its time feel. The editing and the frenetic energy of it all are spectacular. It offers an accurate and immediate picture of post-war disillusionment of its time, the confused emotional/psychological state of the characters, much the same way Henry King's 1957 "Sun Also Rises" captured 1950s post-WWII mentality.

Dieterle is a talented stylist, and it shows all the way through, using fast-moving and inventive camera work. And it's beautifully photographed in that "German-looking" Expressionism early-1930s style.

The performances are top-notch. Richard Barthelmess is excellent as Cary Lockwood. Helen Chandler is quite distinctive as the leading lady Nikki. And I especially like David Manners in this film. He's one of the forgotten leading men of the 30s. Manners is best known today for his appearances in the Universal horror films, but he made a wide range of films--one of my favorites is his scrupulous secretary in love with a glamorous Kay Francis in Dieterle's other unheralded classic of the early 30s, "Man Wanted."

This early talkie was an exciting experience. The script was charming, the performances intriguing. Author John Monk Saunders managed to combine just the right touch of whimsy with the desperation and hopelessness of post-war life. The story was fascinating, a look at what was to become known as "The Lost Generation," or maybe already was so known by 1931. I hope Turner Classic Movies will show this movie again, and I would like to have a recording. A great cast with an excellent script directed by a master made "The Last Flight" a superb motion picture. I was moved and charmed. And I'm grateful for the chance to have seen it.

I first read about The Last Flight maybe 20 years ago, in a book on movies by Tom Shales of the Washington Post. What I remember about his comments was that The Last Flight flopped at the box office and, as a result, movies of its type fell by the way side. In the Depression year of 1931, only MGM of the major studios turned a profit. Warner Bros. and its producing supervisor, the then-great Darryl Zanuck, did anything they could to attract paying customers, making some movies in two-strip Technicolor, some showing the dark side of life and giving a chance for their actresses to show as much skin as they could get away with. When The Last Flight finally made it to TCM last March 2004, I made sure to record it onto a DVDR. You would not know from looking at the movie it was made at Warner Bros., where the policy once filming started there were to be no script rewrites and few, if any, retakes to cut down on production costs (unlike MGM, whose Culver City studio had the nickname "retake valley"). From the montage at the start, showing through rapid cuts a well staged World War One battle, to the end, the pace almost never slackens. Sometimes, the message is heavy handed, as when the hospital officer physician describes the discharged aviator patients as "spent bullets." For the most part, though, the actions of the characters show the effects of the war trauma on their lives. Disabled veterans trying to make a go of their lives during peacetime is usually not a subject that was big box office except for the period right after World War Two. Richard Barthelmess usually played offbeat roles, in movies that did not score at the box office in the early thirties. By 1934, his relatively expensive Warner Bros. contract was up, and the studio released him.

Now, thanks to TCM, one of his forgotten pictures from the pre-Code era appears briefly from the film vault. Maybe The Last Flight did not do as well as expected at the box-office. This movie has one fine characteristic, it stands the test of time. To me, the movie seems to be a reflection of real people, even if their behavior is a little exaggerated to make a point. The Last Flight shows a world long gone, when the Hollywood dream factory could give the appearance of an effortless portrayal of people on the fringes of society. Whenever TCM shows this movie again, it is a must see.