Ace of Aces (1933)

Director:

J. Walter Ruben

Writers:

John Monk Saunders (story)
John Monk Saunders (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 October 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the army. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change.

Plot Keywords:

Aviation | WWI | Aerial Combat | Army Air Corps | Bombing

Cast

Richard Dix	...	2nd Lt. Rex 'Rocky' Thorne
Elizabeth Allan	...	Nancy Adams
Ralph Bellamy	...	Capt. / Maj. Blake
Theodore Newton	...	Lt. Foster 'Froggy' Kelley
Nella Walker	...	Mrs. Adams
Anderson Lawler	...	2nd Lt. Tim 'Tombstone' Terry, aka 'Dracula' (as Anderson Lawlor)
Frank Conroy	...	Maj. / Lt. Col. Wentworth
Joe Sawyer	...	Capt. Daly (as Joe Sauers)
Arthur Jarrett	...	2nd Lt. James 'Jenny' Lind
Claude Gillingwater Jr.	...	1st Lt. Tommy Gray
Clarence Stroud	...	2nd Lt. Billy Winstead
Claude Stroud	...	2nd Lt. Carroll Winstead
Frank Clarke	...	German cadet
Helmut Gorin	...	German cadet

Also Known As:

Bird of Prey (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1494, 11 September 1935 for re-release)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Even though the film takes place in 1917-1918, all of Elizabeth Allan's clothing and hairstyles are strictly early 1930s, the year the film was produced.

Quotes:

Lt. Foster 'Froggy' Kelley: Here today, hero tomorrow.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Hell's Angels (1930)

Soundtrack:

(I Wish I Was in) Dixie's Land

Potent Anti-War Polemic

A mild-mannered sculptor who hates war becomes the ACE OF ACES in World War One.

Although nearly forgotten for decades, this powerful little anti-war film packs a punch as it focuses on the young men of an American flying squadron stationed in France. Cynical & flippant, they know the odds are against them surviving the war and they each deal with that knowledge in their own way.

Richard Dix, an excellent actor who has become undeservedly obscure, gives a powerful performance as a pilot embittered by war's savagery yet delighting in his ability to kill. His reaction at finally meeting one of the Germans he has mortally wounded is only one moment which gives the actor much scope to display his craft. Lovely Elizabeth Allan portrays the weary front-line nurse, once Dix's fiancée, who brings some humanity back into his life.

Ralph Bellamy plays Dix's no-nonsense superior officer; Theodore Newton does well as Dix's barracks mate. Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Grady Sutton as an excited house guest.

RKO has given the film fine production values, with the flying sequences especially well mounted. The movie is marred slightly by the ending, which is rather unbelievable considering the moments leading up to it. And whatever happened to the chimp & the lion?