NR | 1h 42m | Action, Drama, Romance | 1942
Cinema is a medium that can illuminate gestalt guideposts through history like no other. This is especially evident in war films, since they encapsulate the geopolitics of the era in which they were produced.
The Russians, for example, were viewed as America’s allies during many of the World War II documentaries produced at that time. However, after the defeat of the Nazis and as the Cold War commenced, they were presented as reviled enemies.
The World War II film, “Flying Tigers” (1942), details the lesser-known Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), where the people of the Republic of China are viewed as the good guys, and those of the Empire of Japan as the evil aggressors. A few years after the war, the iron grip of China’s Communist Party took hold of the entire country. Conversely, Japan moved toward becoming a modern democracy allied with the West.
In “Flying Tigers,” John Wayne stars as Capt. Jim “Pappy” Gordon, who commands a squadron of American volunteers known as the American Volunteer Group (AVG), which helps the Chinese Nationalists defend China and Burma against the ever-encroaching Japanese forces. While some pilots volunteer strictly to earn the $500 bounty for each Japanese plane shot down, others have a strong sense of patriotism.
As the film opens, we see American aid workers feeding Chinese war refugees at a United China Relief camp. As the Chinese civilians receive food and medical care, an ominous buzzing sound is heard in the distance. The sound increases as a Japanese attack squadron approaches until it begins dropping its bombs on the camp, causing everyone to scramble for cover.
After the Japanese annihilate the camp, Gordon and his squadron, who are patrolling the skies nearby, move in on the enemy. In the ensuing aerial battle, the Flying Tigers prove their battle prowess by taking out many of the Japanese planes.
However, when the Americans land at their airbase, Gordon realizes that one of his men has been killed. Although wracked with guilt about the young man’s death, his girlfriend, nurse Brooke Elliott (Anna Lee), bolsters his spirits.
Gordon is then tasked with traveling to Rangoon to pick up replacements for the squadron. In Rangoon, he meets two potential replacements at a hotel but only hires one.
The unwanted man, Blackie Bales (Edmund MacDonald), has a tarnished reputation since he botched a past combat mission with Gordon. After politely turning Bales down, Gordon prepares to leave the hotel, but the disgraced pilot’s wife, Verna (Mae Clarke), convinces Gordon to enlist Blackie.
Trouble arrives in the form of Woody Jason (John Carroll), one of Gordon’s old aviator buddies. Jason marks his arrival by crash-landing a plane, which was damaged by Japanese fighters, on the squadron’s runway.
Almost immediately, there is friction between Jason and the rest of the squadron’s pilots; although Jason is a highly skilled fighter pilot, he’s extremely cocky and doesn’t believe in teamwork. His main objective is to collect as much bounty money as he possibly can and then returning to the United States.
John Wayne’s First War Film
As with many movies produced by film mogul Herbert J. Yates’s Republic Pictures, this actioner has a charming B-movie quality to it that manages to impress despite its limited budget. This film is also noted as being the first war movie John Wayne starred in. Many more followed because of his impressive performance here.The other cast members did solid jobs with their parts as well. While I usually don’t like arrogant characters, I especially enjoyed Carroll as the braggartly hotshot pilot Jason. Carroll has ample charisma and steals nearly every scene he’s in. His character arc is also meaningful and multidimensional since Jason undergoes some interesting changes as the film progresses.
Clarke also did an exceptional job with the small part she was given as Verna Bales, the wife of disgraced pilot Bales. In a touching scene, Verna delivers a heartfelt plea to Gordon that manages to change his mind about Bales, after appealing to his sense of forgiveness.
