The Last Flight

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.

WOW.... this film is excellent. The best "lost generation" film I've seen... perfectly captures the Hemingway/Fitzgerald feeling of hopelessness after WW I. It also boasts several terrific performances. Richard Barthelmess stars with the fragile Helen Chandler, Johnny Mack Brown, David Manners, Elliott Nugent, and Walter Byron as a group that boozes its way from Paris to Lisbon following the war.

Each has his/her wounds (physical or emotional) as they try to get their balance after the hideous war. Chandler's remark whenever she's confused is "I'll take vanilla." The film is full of wry humor and a deep sadness that is palpable.

Barthelmess is solid as always; Brown and Chandler are nothing short of superb. This is the first American film for German actor/director William Dieterle.

A must see film.

German Director had just segued past the shores of The Statue of Liberty from his native Germany when he made this movie, thus its European movie. Some plot-driven cineastes may argue that nothing happens in this movie but that is exactly the point. It is what is potently called a character study in the grand tradition of "new wave". Richard Barthelmess headlines a cast of five friends who after the end of WWI, disillusioned bythe events and their injuries wonder aimlessly, lolling and cajoling in Paris. They run into a female character played by Helen Chandler who is much like them, except she has hope for life. The first act or first hour has the characters chatting away at night clubs, cafes, nightspots and anywhere else delivering some of the wittiest remarks I've ever heard on camera. The relationships though are set up by an opening montage which is pure silent cinema with its MTV-style cutting and reliefing of images in juxtapositionIt sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The dark shades worn by the one of the characters, day or night adds to the phantasm of the whole scenario. A love story emerges between Helen and Richard and not so unexpected tragic occur before the end. Someone, earlier has noted a similarity to Hemingway's "he lost generation" novella, THE SUN ALSO RISES which was made into a fairly staid affair in the fifties with Ava Gardner, but this make no mistake is much better and one of the unknown gems of thirties cinema.

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.

My DVD is a region 2, but I cannot now recall where I bought it from. This is the nearest listing that Amazon run, so...

End of the Great War, Paris - four young U.S. pilots are discharged from hospital, for fairly minor ailments, but they will never will fly again. Thousands of miles from home and all sense of responsibilities abandoned, they just yearn to get 'tight'. Hitting the bright lights and seeking the gaiety takes away the memories and the pain. Whilst out, they encounter the free-spirited Nikki.

She lives off her wealthy mother and so, soon, we are treated to the antics of the young at the time and for the most part, it's light, frothy and often funny nonsense. When I read that it was about wounded servicemen being repatriated, I was sort of expecting a 'The Best Years Of Our Lives' but for the First War. There is very little similarity and you could think, for the worse. The band of new friends then travel by train to Lisbon - and continue as before, until tragedy strikes.

Apparently, this "lost generation" of American expatriates who found themselves in Paris or Madrid in the 1920s, were characters beloved by authors F Scott Fitzgerald (who coined the phrase) and Ernest Hemingway.

To my eyes, it works best as a snapshot of a time and a certain place and for its spritely humour. I'm sure 1930's Depression-hit Hollywood wasn't the place for a serious and possibly maudlin look at War. If ever there was a film that carried the expression "What's the idea?" to the point of repetition, it's this one.