''Ace of Aces'', also known as ''Bird of Prey'', is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

based on the story "The Bird of Prey" by

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

pilot

John Monk Saunders John Monk Saunders (November 22, 1897 – March 11, 1940) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and film director. Early life and career Born in Hinckley, Minnesota, to Robert C. Saunders and Nannie Monk Saunders, his family (6 children) move ...

that explores how war can turn a man's

moral compass A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

from

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

to warmonger. Starring

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

, it was similar to many of the period films that appeared to glorify the "knights of the air", but was more complex, examining the motivations of those who choose to go to war.

Plot

When the United States enters

, Rocky Thorne has no interest in joining the military, but just wants to pursue his career as a sculptor. He is cynical about the purpose of the war and the enthusiasm of those who have enlisted, comparing them to

lemming A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...

s that will swim until they drown themselves. But his fiancée, Nancy Adams, becomes a Red Cross nurse; she mocks his pacifism and accuses him of cowardice. To prove his bravery, he enlists and becomes a fighter pilot as part of the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

. Arriving at his assigned squadron, he is concerned about the people he is going to be shooting at; but his initial reluctance lasts only until he is shot at himself. Then he retaliates, shooting down his first enemy aircraft. Rocky now renounces his past attitude and becomes completely committed to the war in the air, even taking individual flights against orders, to get more chances to shoot down Germans. In a few months he becomes the leading

ace An ace is a playing card, Dice, die or domino with a single Pip (counting), pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit (cards), suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large a ...

. Then, while on furlough in Paris, he runs into his former love, who is a nurse on the front lines. She has been impacted by her experiences and is torn by guilt. When Rocky says that he does not want to waste his valuable leave time on talking and demeans her moral attitude for not wanting to spend the night with him, she agrees to do it. Back at the squadron, a German cadet on a mercy mission drops a note over the airfield, telling the Americans that one of their pilots who was shot down is alive as a prisoner. At this point Rocky's plane appears. Not having seen the note being dropped, Rocky attacks and shoots down the young German, who is badly injured but not killed. At the hospital, Rocky finds the German in the next bed. The young man is in agony and is not allowed liquids because of a stomach wound. Eventually he begs for water, saying he is going to die anyway, and Rocky leaves a bottle of wine by his bedside. Then Rocky is told he is being transferred away from the front to become an instructor. While he does not tell anyone, he feels guilty over the German's death, so the transfer comes as a relief. But before it takes effect, he learns that a young pilot has bettered his record of victories. He flies another unauthorized mission to fight individually against the newest German aircraft. But as he prepares to close in for the kill, he again thinks about the German cadet, and is unable to fire. The Germans see him and shoot him down, but he lives to return home to his sweetheart after the war. In the final scene, he still feels guilty for what he became, and says he has been unable to sculpt. But Nancy is supportive and still wants to marry him. They will get past it together.

Cast

William Cagney, the brother of

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

made his motion picture debut in ''Ace of Aces'' as an actor and went on to become a Hollywood producer."Notes: Ace of Aces (1933)."
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: May 20, 2012.

Production

John Monk Saunders wrote stories about flying that were influenced by his service as a flight instructor in World War I. In 1933, two of the stories that had a strong antiwar theme were turned into films. The first story, ''Death in the Morning'' was turned into '' The Eagle and the Hawk'' released in May 1933. His second story, ''The Bird of Prey'' became the basis of ''Ace of Aces'', which was shot in the summer and came out in October 1933. ''Ace of Aces'' featured five Waco 7s, five Travel Air Model B "Wichita Fokkers", a small number of

Nieuport 28 The Nieuport 28 C.1, a French biplane fighter aircraft flown during World War I, was built by Nieuport and designed by Gustave Delage. Owing its lineage to the successful line of sesquiplane fighters that included the Nieuport 17, the Nieu ...

s, a Curtiss JN4 Jenny,

Garland-Lincoln LF-1 The Garland-Lincoln LF-1 (Lincoln-Flagg-1) is a replica World War I Nieuport 28 aircraft used for movie stunts and reenactments.''Popular Aviation,'' June 1937. Design and development The LF-1 was built in Glendale, California specifically to re ...

(Nieuport 28 Replica), and a

Fleet Model 1 The Fleet Model 1 (originally the Consolidated Model 14 Husky Junior) and its derivatives were a family of two-seat trainer and sports biplanes produced in the United States and Canada in the 1920s and 1930s. They all shared the same basic desig ...

, along with two

SE.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the fast ...

mock-ups while a Waco also served as a camera plane for the aerial sequences. Noted Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Clarke was one of a team of eight pilots who flew in the film. Some of the aerial footage was taken from the earlier

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

opus, '' Hell's Angels'' (1930).

Reception

Contemporary reviews of ''Ace of Aces'' were not positive;

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reviewer noted, "In a style that is slow, obvious and at times childishly sentimental ... Richard Dix is heavy-handed and generally inexpert in the principal role. Elizabeth Allan, who seems to one biased observer to be the most genuinely talented and charming of Hollywood's recent acquisitions, gives 'Ace of Aces' its only good moments." More recent reviews have focused on the "strongly anti-war drama", and the callousness of killing men in the air in ''Ace of Aces'', revealed as the hero has to examine his life and the choices he has made as a fighter pilot.

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

considered it, a "Sincere antiwar tract, but far too melodramatic." Filmmaker

Guy Maddin Guy Maddin (born February 28, 1956) is a Canadian screenwriter, director, author, cinematographer, and film editor of both features and short films, as well as an installation artist, from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Since completing his first film in ...

is an avowed fan of the film, describing it in an article for ''

Film Comment ''Film Comment'' is the official publication of Film at Lincoln Center. It features reviews and analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world. Founded in 1962 and originally released as a quarterly, ''Film Co ...

'' as an "absolutely perfect low-budget fighter-pilot picture that deserves the same reputation as ''

Gun Crazy ''Gun Crazy'' (also known as ''Deadly Is the Female'') is a 1950 American crime film noir starring Peggy Cummins and John Dall in a story about the crime-spree of a gun-toting husband and wife. It was directed by Joseph H. Lewis, and produced ...

''" and praising Dix as a "forgotten American treasure."Maddin, Guy. "Guilty Pleasures." ''Film Comment'', January/February 2003.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Broken Wings: Hollywood's Air Crashes.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Pub Co., 1984. . * Neibaur, James L. ''The RKO Features: A Complete Filmography of the Feature Films Released or Produced by RKO Radio.'' Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2005. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ace of Aces 1933 films American war drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films based on short fiction Films directed by J. Walter Ruben Western Front (World War I) films RKO Pictures films World War I aviation films American World War I films 1930s war drama films 1933 drama films 1930s American films