The Eagle and the Hawk

All the airplanes except the DeHavilands are well past 1918 time period.

Curtiss P-1s are recognizable as well as other airplanes with highly tapered wings.

Even the DH-4s were dated by 1933, but had been kept around, first as mail planes, then as barnstormers.

A grim anti-war film that invites comparisons to "Wings" and "Hell's Angels," "The Eagle and the Hawk" falls a notch below those two classics. Set during World War I in France, the aerial shots of dueling bi-planes are quite good, although the drama on the ground is heavy on message.

A classic from the early days of the talkies, pairing Academy Award winning actor Frederic March and the young Cary Grant. The plot hits home about the absurdity of war (during World War I days).

IMDb shows a cover staring Cary Grant and Carole Lombard, and noted as being a 1933 movie. The Cary Grant movie was actually released in 1950.

This was directed by Stuart Walker with assistance from Mitchell Leisen. It was written to cash in on the success of Howard Hawks' The Dawn Patrol over at Warner Brothers.

At first sight this appears as a very typical film about WWI aviation heroes, almost a copycat of The Dawn Patrol which had been shot a few years earlier. In a way it is - in another it is not.

Stars John Payne, Dennis O'Keefe. During the civil war here in the states, france is trying to establish Maximillian as the leader of mexico, rather than someone from mexico.

Fredric March gives an outstanding performance as an Army pilot officer dealing with the issues of mortality as he deals with constant death surrounding him. Five of his men are killed in front of his eyes in a short period of time and when the next one comes in, it is Cary Grant, whom he had earlier fought with.

THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK (Paramount, 1933), directed by Stuart Walker, is not a national geographic story about birds in the wilds of the forest but a vivid account of three men (two Americans, one British) from different walks of life serving in the British Flying Corps during the World War. Featuring Fredric March, Cary Grant and Jack Oakie as the three men in question, the plot revolves mostly on the March character as he slowly goes through mental strain.

War is not my favourite genre when it comes to film, but it is a much appreciated one and re-visited every now and again. With there being so many brilliant, incredibly well made and important war films out there in each decade, and not just the First and Second World wars.