source: Ace of Aces

Moviecut—Ace of Aces

Ace of Aces

Rocky is a first class heel to everyone, the whole time. It's never clear why he gets away with it, why he has a fiance, friends. Her talks about being "taught to kill" and so on, but there's no evidence of this. It cuts from the studio to showing up at the squadron in France, and he's just the same smug artist jerk, now a pilot jerk. He flatly murders a guy, assaults an enlisted guy (might have permanently scarred him), violates orders and at least once steals a plane, destroys it and is slightly injured and... that's it. Back to the estate to be romanced. Rocky should be in Leavenworth at the end.

First, you have to buy Richard Dix as an upper-crust sculptor and pacifist named "Rocky." Then you have to accept that after one dogfight he turns into a cold-blooded killing machine. There's no middle road with this guy! The aerial combat scenes are well done with an excellent use of miniatures, but they aren't in the same league as the ones in "Wings," "Hell's Angels" or "The Dawn Patrol." The squadron banter has a realistic feel to it unlike any of the other dialogue in the film. There's a particularly bad scene where the heroine is a warfront nurse and the wounded Private Exposition is brought in to fill her in on the story so far. Dix's rapid changes in personality are given no real reason and make hash of his character and anything profound the film is trying to say. Obviously modeled after "Journey's End" and all the other anti-war plays of the time, "Ace Of Aces" ends up making a travesty of both pacifism and soldiering.

An Anti-War Movie that is Filled with Dread. The Brooding, Sensitive Richard Dix Plays a Pacifist Goaded into Entering WWI with the rest of the Lemmings by His Cute Girlfriend (Elizabeth Allan). Once there He is Propelled into a Flying Killing Machine. He becomes and Ace of Aces as His near Psychotic Exploits are Turned when He is Forced to Confront His Death Talley by an Unarmed Kid He Shoots Down and Nearly Kills. After this He Snaps back to His Senses and All is Well, sort of. This has some Pre-Code Violence (suicide and a bloody face mashing) among its Sexual Take on a Relinquished Virginity brought on by the Uncertainty of War. Some of the Dialog has a Bite and it makes it Clear in its Anti-War Sentiments. Above Average in Theme and Wit, this will most likely Disappoint those Seeking Aerial Dogfights and Rah-Rah Action. But it makes up for it with a Strong, Sombre Stance and an Edgy Screenplay.

The Great War is declared, and every man and woman must do his or her duty. Sculptor Richard Dix doesn't want to do his duty, but fiancee Elizabeth Allan expresses his contempt. The next we see of Dix, he's joining the Lafayette Escadrille, where he becomes the top American ace. And he loves it. John Monk Saunders' script offers the aerial cavalry not as boys having a grand adventure, but as a brutalizing affair. Dix seems a odd choice as an artist yearning to express himself, but wen it turns out his efforts at self-expression are to shoot down other aviators, and to strike the enlisted man who loads his gunbelt wrong, that seems more him. Throughout his sound career, Dix played the stalwart, but occasionally he essayed the role of the big man who went to pieces under stress, and he was frighteningly believable in those movies.

Considering the era it was made this film was very well made. Of all the fluff that came out of Hollywood I'm sure this was a pleasant change of pace for moviegoers of the day and is still worth watching some 70 + years later. War and especially combat change a man and usually not for the better for a long time if not for life. This movie went into the dark corners of these human transformations. Great acting, writing, and directing was put into this effort. Richard Dix was well chosen for the lead of this film as the role called for a tough character in this lead role of fighter pilot ace. Although Mr. Dix is not as well known in film history as Gable or Bogart he was very popular back in the 30's and 40's and a leading man. His untimely death at age 56 shortened a great career. If you get the chance to see this movie, please seize the opportunity to view some real Hollywood history.

This movie, along with the similar EAGLE AND THE HAWK and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, is an excellent anti-war film made during the 1930s. It's completely original and unusual enough to merit you watching it. So what's so unusual about it? Well, Richard Dix plays a pacifist who only reluctantly agrees to go to war. However, once he becomes a fighter pilot and gets a taste for blood, his personality changes dramatically. Gone is the decent soul who had once longed to become a famous sculptor and in its place was a man who lived to kill--enjoying every minute of it! While this certainly isn't true of everyone who goes to war, the notion that personalities can dramatically change thanks to the carnage is an excellent point to make indeed.