Douglas Fairbanks Jr. guns 'em down in the final sequence of "The Dawn Patrol"

This certainly wasn’t my favorite Howard Hawkes movie. That title remains in a tie between Bringing Up Baby and Rio Bravo. But that been said, this movie certainly had that classic Hawkes touch. The smooth, effortless storyline, the big finish at the end, I knew I wasn’t going to hate this movie. In a way, it was kinda like Top Gun before Top Gun existed. And considering this movie was shot in 1930, that’s a rather impressive accomplishment.

The final climactic shootout is so well-choreographed and while the sets and props look extremely dated, I must say it still works. You can view it here.

Originally, I was going to watch the classic anti-war movie All Quiet on the Western Front but then I’d already seen that movie several times and wanted to see something different. That’s when I stumbled across this Hawkes anti-war movie, the only difference being that this movie doesn’t relate the anti-war sentiment as poetically and overtly like Western does.

I must say though that it feels nice to watch a movie with actual dialogue and sound effects. We’ve stepped into the modern age baby! Now bring on M and The Most Dangerous Game!