The Last Flight (William Dieterle, 1931)
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:06 am
Well I searched the boards and found only one passing reference to this film, so I thought it needed its own post.
I've now watched the film 3 times in the past couple weeks, and it's impressed the heck out of me. I think it might be the best picture on the so-called "Lost Generation", and is the closest I've seen a film come to capturing the spirit of Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". The film is probably best known for being Dieterle's first American film, and being scripted by Wings author John Monk Saunders .
What makes the film so great I think is the fact that nothing really happens. Here's a brief synopsis: 4 ex-pilots in 1919 Paris led by Richard Barthelmess, drink constantly, meet a single girl (Helen Chandler), and then go to Lisbon and drink some more. It's a film that is entirely driven by the rapport between the characters, and the pervasive ennui that covers each of their lives. All the characters are broken, and disenchanted, with alcohol being the only evident solution. The film also has a lot of quirky humor as well, which increases the sense of ennui, as none of the characters are able to speak honestly about their disenchantment and instead hide behind their whimsy.
The entire film is such an oddity, a character driven, almost plotless film about alcoholics. It does fit in with some of the other anti-war films of the era, although it's never explicitly anti-war. But I think the success of All Quiet on the Western Front meant a lot of pacifist films were made in the pre-code era. But I still think it's remarkable that the film was scripted, filmed, and completed without it would seem any attempt to Hollywood-ize it. My guess is that it slipped under the radar because it was essentially a Warner Bros programmer, with little invested in it's success or failure. I can't imagine the film found much of an audience in 1931, given how strange it was, and even now I find it tough to describe.
As for Dieterle's direction, well it's pretty standard, simple and effective, although he deserves much credit for understanding the script, and trusting the actors to keep up (which they do). I would have to think an German import like Dieterle was perfectly suited to direct such an un-Hollywood film, given his unfamiliarity with Hollywood. In the hands of a lesser director, or even a Hollywood director the film would likely have undergone script changes, or simply have had a few interesting moments and might be a mild curiosity. What Dieterle does is make the film cohesive and purposeful.
I've now watched the film 3 times in the past couple weeks, and it's impressed the heck out of me. I think it might be the best picture on the so-called "Lost Generation", and is the closest I've seen a film come to capturing the spirit of Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". The film is probably best known for being Dieterle's first American film, and being scripted by Wings author John Monk Saunders .
What makes the film so great I think is the fact that nothing really happens. Here's a brief synopsis: 4 ex-pilots in 1919 Paris led by Richard Barthelmess, drink constantly, meet a single girl (Helen Chandler), and then go to Lisbon and drink some more. It's a film that is entirely driven by the rapport between the characters, and the pervasive ennui that covers each of their lives. All the characters are broken, and disenchanted, with alcohol being the only evident solution. The film also has a lot of quirky humor as well, which increases the sense of ennui, as none of the characters are able to speak honestly about their disenchantment and instead hide behind their whimsy.
The entire film is such an oddity, a character driven, almost plotless film about alcoholics. It does fit in with some of the other anti-war films of the era, although it's never explicitly anti-war. But I think the success of All Quiet on the Western Front meant a lot of pacifist films were made in the pre-code era. But I still think it's remarkable that the film was scripted, filmed, and completed without it would seem any attempt to Hollywood-ize it. My guess is that it slipped under the radar because it was essentially a Warner Bros programmer, with little invested in it's success or failure. I can't imagine the film found much of an audience in 1931, given how strange it was, and even now I find it tough to describe.
As for Dieterle's direction, well it's pretty standard, simple and effective, although he deserves much credit for understanding the script, and trusting the actors to keep up (which they do). I would have to think an German import like Dieterle was perfectly suited to direct such an un-Hollywood film, given his unfamiliarity with Hollywood. In the hands of a lesser director, or even a Hollywood director the film would likely have undergone script changes, or simply have had a few interesting moments and might be a mild curiosity. What Dieterle does is make the film cohesive and purposeful.