The Eagle and the Hawk (1933)

Wow! Such a good movie.

One of my all time favorites.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

Often when a classic movie is forgotten there is a good reason for it. However this is not the case with Eagle & the Hawk. Sure it's no masterpiece but it's a pretty solid WWI movie that focuses on the realities of war. It reminds me somewhat of "All Quiet on the Western Front." It's not quite as good as that but it has similar themes. The movie stars Fredric March & Cary Grant. Cary Grant is probably the more well known star today but back in 1933 March was the bigger name and he is the main star with Grant as the supporting player. I love Cary Grant and he does a pretty good job here playing a character that is not completely sympathetic. This is the type of part that you would not really see from him later in his career. However March is the real star of this picture and he is absolutely fantastic as a soldier who slowly loses his nerve. It's a real shame March is not better remembered today. Overall March and Grant have great on screen chemistry and interact well as two WWI pilots who dislike each other yet respect the others' abilities. The ending in my opinion is also quite memorable.The only sour point of the film is a small cameo by Carole Lombard. Don't get me wrong I am a big fan of Lombard but her part is pretty pointless here and it doesn't mesh with the rest of the film. It just seems the writers wanted to add a little romance to the movie whether it fit or not.

Not too much is new in THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK. It's an anti-war story about fliers, the men in command and the new men who are really just kids and who lose their lives in what seems like a senseless string of tragedies.It's been done before in stories like DAWN PATROL--and more effectively when it concentrated on the men and their relationships under stress. Here, for no apparent reason, CAROLE LOMBARD has a brief ten minutes of screen time as "a beautiful woman" who gives emotional support (and more) to FREDRIC MARCH, who is hell bent on trying to forget the casualties of war under his command.The anti-war sentiment is hammered home pretty hard with March as the stressed out lieutenant who has to cope with the losses around him and animosity in his relationship with CARY GRANT, a tail gunner who confronts him in cynical distrust and appears to be jealous of March's medals. Their unstable interplay is the only aspect of the story that is given a new twist, especially toward the end.There are plenty of good flying scenes and most of the performances are smooth, but Lombard's part is little more than a bit at a time when she had the leading femme role in many other films. The decision to use her here is questionable.Grant hadn't yet developed his lighter persona but is reasonably good as the conflicted gunner and March is excellent as the equally conflicted top gun.Personally, I prefer DAWN PATROL to this World War I tale of men under combat stress.

Bought my own copy. A film in the old style with many faults, but for someone who enjoys flying fliks, especially World War One aviation, it is great. Dialogue is terrible, the acting bad, plot predictable, but it has airplanes and derring-do in the air. All the "Dawn Patrol" cliches are there. Good fun and well worth seeing...if you like this sort of thing. I do.cheers, Boom

"The Eagle and the Hawk" follows the World War One exploits of three American volunteer airmen who are members of Britain's Royal Flying Corps (which was later to be renamed the Royal Air Force). After months of training, Jeremiah Young (March) and Mike Richards (Oakie) are transferred from England to an observer unit in France. The third airman, Henry Crocker (Grant), washes out and later becomes an aerial gunner.The observer unit flies two-seat biplanes doing primarily reconnaissance work, but this does not stop Young from being a very successful pilot, downing two enemy aircraft on his first mission alone. His initial jubilation over this feat is crushed when he discovers that his observer has been killed. Though he continues to shoot down many German aircraft, he has the appalling luck of losing five observers in his first two months.The film follows the career of this heroic pilot and his comrades, including Crocker who ultimately becomes his observer. As the weeks go by, Young becomes more and more guilt-ridden, not only over losing those who fly with him, but over the many young Germans he has slain."The Eagle and the Hawk" is a well-made, well-acted film with decent aerial footage and a wonderful, anguished performance by Fredric March. Though he might be overlooked, Forrester Harvey's character is rather thought-provoking. He plays an enlisted man who has the unenviable task of collecting the belongings of slain airmen for safekeeping. On Young's first day, he had to perform this task five times.This film is truly a gem which presents a strong anti-war message, one which is particularly interesting considering the time it was made (1933 being the year that Hitler achieved power in Germany and the 1930s being the period of appeasement). Its ending has a pair of surprises which are well worth the price of admission. This is a film which is highly recommended for classic movie fans.