''Young Eagles'' is a 1930 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 ...

romantic drama film directed by

William A. Wellman William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...

for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It stars

Charles "Buddy" Rogers Charles Edward "Buddy" Rogers (August 13, 1904 – April 21, 1999) was an American film actor and musician. During the peak of his popularity in the late 1920s and early 1930s he was publicized as "America's Boyfriend". Life and career Early ...

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

, and

Paul Lukas Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance in the film ''Watc ...

. The story is based on the stories "The One Who Was Clever" and "Sky-High", written by American aviator and war hero

Elliott White Springs Elliott White Springs (July 31, 1896 – October 15, 1959), was a South Carolina businessman and an American flying ace of World War I, credited with shooting down 16 enemy aircraft. Early life Springs was born to Col. Leroy Springs and Grac ...

.Hall, Mourdant
"Lovin the Ladies (1930) The Screen; Warriors of the clouds. Laughter and love."
''

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 ...

'', March 22, 1930. The film's hero is a "heroic combat aviator of the

Lafayette Escadrille The La Fayette Escadrille (french: Escadrille de La Fayette) was the name of the French Air Force unit escadrille N 124 during the First World War (1914–1918). This escadrille of the ''Aéronautique Militaire'' was composed largely of Ameri ...

".Shawna 2008, p. 103. Wellman, himself a former pilot in the

Lafayette Flying Corps The Lafayette Flying Corps is a name given to the American volunteer pilots who flew in the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air) during World War I. It includes the pilots who flew with the bona fide Lafayette Escadrille squadron. Numbers The ...

, for whom aviation was a passion, directed the film, the last of his "unofficial trilogy" that included ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

'' (1927) and ''

The Legion of the Condemned ''The Legion of the Condemned'' (aka ''Legion of the Condemned'') is a 1928 American silent film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Wellman, and Adolph Zukor and distributed by Paramount Pictures.Wynne 1987, p. 62. ...

'' (1928).Tibbetts and Welsh 2010, p. 100. The director had hoped that the film would prove as popular as his acclaimed World War I aviation drama ''Wings'', which had won the first

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...

in 1927. Wellman cast Buddy Rogers again as his lead in the new film, but ''Young Eagles'' proved to be not as successful.

Plot

Lieutenant Robert Banks (Buddy Rogers), a young American aviator in the Lafayette Escadrille, on leave in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, meets Mary Gordon (Jean Arthur), a young American living abroad. Their romance is cut short by his return to the front. In an air battle, Robert brings down and captures von Baden, nicknamed the "Grey Eagle" (Paul Lukas), and takes him to Allied headquarters in Paris, to obtain intelligence on German plans. Mary, ostensibly a spy for the Germans, drugs Robert, who awakens to find that his uniform has been stolen by von Baden. Later, in another air conflict, von Baden is wounded, but shoots down Robert's aircraft. The German rescues him, however, and takes him to an Allied hospital, assuring him of Mary's love; his faith in her is restored when Robert learns that Mary is actually an American spy.

Cast

as Lieutenant Robert Banks *

as Mary Gordon *

as Von Baden, the "Grey Eagle" *

Stuart Erwin Stuart Erwin (February 14, 1903 – December 21, 1967) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. Early years Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California. He attended Porterville High School and the University of ...

as "Pudge" Higgins *

Virginia Bruce Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Early life Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, ...

as Florence Welford *

Gordon De Main Gordon De Main (born Floyd Wood; September 28, 1886 – March 5, 1954)''Who Was Who on Screen'', p. 119 c.1977 by Evelyn Mack Truitt *note his publication claims his date of birth as 1897-March 5, 1967/ref> was an American film actor. He ...

as Major Lewis * James Finlayson as "Scotty" * Frank Ross as Lieutenant Graham *

Jack Luden Jacob Benson Luden (February 8, 1902 – February 15, 1951) was an American film actor. Early life The son of Jacob and Anna Luden, he grew up in Reading, Pennsylvania. His uncle was confectioner William H. Luden, who developed the menthol coug ...

as Lieutenant Barker *

Freeman Wood Freeman Wood (July 1, 1896 – February 15, 1956) was an American character actor of the silent and sound film eras. Biography Born in 1896 in Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous cit ...

as Lieutenant Mason * George Irving as Colonel Wilder *

Stanley Blystone William Stanley Blystone (August 1, 1894 – July 16, 1956) was an American film actor who made more than 500 films appearances between 1924 and 1956. He was sometimes billed as William Blystone or William Stanley. Early years Blystone was ...

as Captain Deming

Production

''Young Eagles'' called for only two scenes depicting air battles, with more of the action centered around a story of espionage and unrequited love.Orriss 2013, p. 35. Wellman began pre-production in November 1927, making the decision to use aerial footage from ''Wings'' matched to new sequences.Tibbetts and Welsh 2010, p. 94. Wellman hired veteran film pilot Leo Norris as the aerial coordinator, responsible for assembling a small fleet of World War I aircraft that included a

SPAD VII The SPAD S.VII was the first of a series of highly successful biplane fighter aircraft produced by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) during the First World War. Like its successors, the S.VII was renowned as a sturdy and r ...

and Thomas-Morse Scout. Other airworthy aircraft were obtained, such as

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

, Travel Air 2000 & 4000 and

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

biplanes that at least were close facsimiles of wartime aircraft. Film sets for a wartime airfield were built at

Lake Sherwood, California Lake Sherwood is an unincorporated community in the Santa Monica Mountains, in Ventura County, California overlooking Lake Sherwood reservoir. It is a body contact lake, swimming, fishing, SUP and boating allowed, located south of the Conejo Vall ...

, with three weeks spent on location shooting. Two crash scenes were staged by Norris on location, with the second one nearly causing the death of the veteran movie pilot

Dick Grace Richard Virgil Grace (October 1, 1898 – June 25, 1965), known as Dick Grace, was an American stunt pilot who specialized in crashing planes for films. Films that he appeared in include ''Sky Bride'', ''The Lost Squadron'', '' Lilac Time'', and '' ...

when he flipped his aircraft in a crash so violent that his shoes were ripped off his feet. He walked away with only minor bruises.

Reception

''Young Eagles'' was released in the United States on March 21, 1930.Thompson 1983, p. 98. A

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

(Western Electric Sound System) print with a running time 72 minutes was premiered at the Paramount Theater in New York."Overview: Young Eagles (1930)".
''

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

''. Retrieved: September 13, 2013.Mavis 2013, p. 690. To promote the film at the premiere, an aircraft was on display inside the theater.

Critical response

Released only a month after Wellman's '' Dangerous Paradise'', ''Young Eagles'' received mixed reviews. The film was also not a commercial success, performing poorly at the U.S. box office. Wellman's portrayal of air warfare, however, received praise for its "... beauty and freedom of flight".Slide 2010, p. 238. Wellman and the crew expressed personal disappointment with how the film was received. When unfavorable reviews began to come in, a distraught Wellman asked to be let out of his contract with Paramount, with the studio agreeing to sever ties with the acclaimed director.

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 ...

'' was extremely critical of the film, calling it a "... highly incredible narrative with two good air-fighting episodes and a mass of wild and absurd incidents ..." and noted that the "... pivotal idea is a stab at subtlety, but in mapping it out a Teutonic prisoner of war has to be extraordinarily gullible." He sarcastically added that the production "... could have been named 'Young Goats,' for Banks and another flying officer are evidently made the goats so that a spying expedition is helped along". Of the cast, Hall said, "Mr. Rogers's acting never rises above the level of the tale. Jean Arthur seems to be somewhat afraid of the character she plays. The only real performance is that of Paul Lukas as von Baden."

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Kelly, Shawna
in Early Hollywood''
Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2008. . * Mavis, Paul
''The Espionage Filmography''.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2013. . * Orriss, Bruce W. ''When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War I.'' Los Angeles: Aero Associates, 2013. . * Slide, Anthony
''Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses''
Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2010. . * Thompson, Frank T
''William A. Wellman''.
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1983. . * Tibbetts, John C. and James M. Welsh
''American Classic Screen Features''.
Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2010. . * Villecco, Tony
''Silent Stars Speak: Interviews with Twelve Cinema Pioneers''
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001. .

External links

* * {{William A. Wellman American black-and-white films American romantic drama films American war films American aviation films Films about shot-down aviators Films based on short fiction Films directed by William A. Wellman Films scored by John Leipold Films set in Paris Paramount Pictures films War romance films Western Front (World War I) films World War I aviation films World War I prisoner of war films World War I spy films 1930 romantic drama films 1930 films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films