Desperate Journey (1942)

Powerful

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

"The Thief of Bagdad" director Raoul Walsh's "Desperate Journey" ranks as one of Errol Flynn's most entertaining but lightweight World War II propaganda war films. For the record, Flynn would make five wartime film for Warner Brothers: "Edge of Darkness," "Northern Pursuit," "Uncertain Glory," "Thank Your Luck Stars," and his best wartime epic "Objective, Burma," that made the world believe that Uncle Sam was winning the war single-handedly! Naturally, the British were not pleased with this ideology, and the film drew protests in the United Kingdom. In "Desperate Journey," Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Arthur Kennedy, Alan Hale, and Ronald Sinclair are cast as Allied fliers who survive the crash landing of their British bomber in enemy country. They have to bury their pilot, Squadron Leader Lane-Ferris (Patrick O'Moore) and then flee on foot through Nazi Germany. Our heroes do their best to dodge the Hun, but eventually they set out to commit sabotage in one of the most far-fetched, cliffhanger style plot. Quoting Forbes: "We're going to be the first invasion to hit Germany since Napoleon." Along the way, they lose two more of their own, and Flynn gets a moment or two of romance with pretty Nancy Coleman as a local who tries to help them. Of course, the Germans are ruthless in their pursuit. They manage to capture our heroes, but our guys don't loiter long before they escape them again. "Captains of the Clouds" scenarist Arthur T. Horman received screenplay credit, and Walsh and he keep our guys scrambling desperately with the Germans nipping at their heels the whole way. Indeed, the film lives up to its fast-paced title as Flynn and company make the Germans look like simple-minded goons. Their chief adversary, Major Otto Baumeister (Raymond Massey of "Santa Fe Trail") interrogates them, and one of the funniest scenes has Flying Officer Johnny Hammond (Ronald Reagan) telling them about the non-existent 'thermotrockle' on Allied planes. Hammond gleefully delivers enough double-talk to have your head spinning when he explains to Baumeister how a 'thermotrockle' works. "Thermotrockle amfilated through a daligonitor. Of course, this is made possible because the dernadyne has a franicoupling." Reportedly, Flynn wanted those lines for himself. The Government's Office of War Information didn't appreciate the way that Hollywood portrayed the enemy and made the war look like a lark. Ultimately, our guys steal a captured British bomber and fly back to England. In an appropriately heroic ending, Forbes vows next to take on the Japanese with the last line in the film: "Now for Australia and a crack at those Japs!" This Warner Brothers' nonsense painted an idealized picture of war when it wasn't slipping patriotic messages about the Allies down our collective throats. Naturally, Flynn is as gallant and foolhardy as ever as Flight Lieutenant Terrence Forbes who is tired of flying ice wagons (i.e. bombers) and wants to get into a Spitfire. Kennedy plays the level-head navigator who takes things seriously, while Alan Hale acts as their scrounger. "Desperate Journey" is a lot of rip-snorting fun.

Well, OK my review title overemphasizes the frequent characterization of the Nazis as robotic bumbling fools, surely the most inept marksmen on the planet. The film also has its serious moments and themes.The costars: Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, and Raymond Massey, of the previous "The Santa Fe Trail", return to star in this Nazi-bashing Warner film, released in the midst of WWII. As usual, during this era, Massey plays the sinister villain, here in the guise of an important Nazi desk officer, who chases a downed British bomber crew across Germany, into Holland, before the 3 survivors manage a miraculous takeover of a captured British warplane from maybe 50 swarming Nazis, as their ticket back to the UK.In "Santa Fe Trail", Massey's John Brown is presented as a murdering madman, who thinks of himself as a messiah: not unlike Warner's perception of Hitler and the other Nazis. Now that the US was officially at war with the Axis, Warners no longer felt constrained to making Flynn-starring films, such as "Santa Fe Trail", "The Sea Hawk", and more obtusely "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "Virginia City", in which the Nazis are allegorically represented by long past historical villains. Now, Warners could feel fully justified in releasing films scripted as taking place in the present, that gave hope that the Nazis and Japs could be defeated before they took over the entire world. Thus, a series of 5 Flynn-starring films promoting such hope was released between 1942-45. The present one was the first, and the only one scripted as taking place mainly within Germany. It also has the best balance of seriousness, humor and sentimentality, and includes excellent background music by Max Steiner. It's also the only one not focused on a single objective to accomplish. The bomber crew find themselves not only hitting several bomb targets, but unexpectedly undertaking a sabotage operation and engaging in espionage, when they steal Massey's important classified documents relating to an aircraft factory. Thus, I would guess this film to be the clear winner of the 5 films, as entertainment for audiences, including kids, of the time. However, when Flynn was slated to star in the last of the series : "Objective Burma", in which he again leads a small group on a long sojourn through enemy-held territory, he initially refused, until assured that a more realistic characterization of the Japanese would be followed.By including several acts of sabotage and help from a 'resistance' organization within the occupied country, this film established a theme central to most of the following films. Thus, in "Edge of Darkness" and "Uncertain Glory", the focus is on sabotage by 'resistance' organizations in occupied Norway or France, respectively. In "Objective Burma", as in the present film, external allied military personnel carry out the sabotage, before fleeing back to 'safe' havens.In contrast to the 3 films in this series, which include a leading lady romantic interest for Flynn for much of the film, there is no woman at all in "Objective Burma", and Nancy Coleman, who plays an anti-Nazi German helper in the present film, has very limited screen time, providing a very fleeting romantic interest for Flynn.Of the bomber crew, only 3 survive their various ordeals to get to Holland and beyond. Interestingly , none of the 3 is scripted as a Brit. Flynn, for once, is realistically scripted as an Australian, Reagan as an American, and Arthur Kennedy as a Canadian. Presumably, this is to emphasize the importance of a worldwide collaboration of all the British Commonwealth plus the USA in defeating the Axis. Apparently, the screenplay for this film was written before the USA was officially in the war. I was surprised that frequent film Flynn pal Alan Hale wasn't among the 3 survivors. Hale mainly served as the most consistent 'cut up' of the bunch, spitting BBs(presumably), as if spit balls, at his comrades and Nazis. But, Reagan gets his chance to shine as a comedian is his double-talk description of the workings of a new American bomber engine to a most perplexed Massey. During much of their overland journey, the fliers are wearing German uniforms they stole from dispatched Nazis. Flynn, as the only one who speaks German, provides the other essential ingredient in getting them accepted as genuine Nazi soldiers, in several key situations. Unfortunately, I don't understand German, but my impression was that much of the 'German' was Germanized gibberish. Correct?The long chase of the fliers in a stolen Nazi car, across the Dutch countryside, by Massey and his crew, in a car plus motorcycles, smacks of a Keystone cops chase. Why didn't the Germans shoot at their tires, instead of their smaller heads? Ditto in the later escape of our heroes in a stolen bomber surrounded by Nazis!The American-built Lockheed Hudson that the lucky 3 captured from the Germans was a 2-engine light bomber, most of which were sold to the RAF and Canadians for antisubmarine warfare and other smallish targets, reconnaissance, convoy protection, troop movement, spy transport, and training. Thus, their claim to have trained in this type of bomber is quite feasible.Flynn's parting ambition: to fight the Japs, would later come true in "Operation Burma": a more serious war film, except that in the main confrontation, the Japs fell like so many dominoes, like the Nazis in the stolen bomber scene. Flynn, of course, tried to become a real fighting man in the war, but was deemed physically unfit.

Errol Flynn (as Terry Forbes), Alan Hale (as Kirk Edwards), Ronald Reagan (as Johnny Hammond), Arthur Kennedy (as Jed Forrest), and Ronald Sinclair (as Lloyd Hollis) are fighting the Germans during World War II. Their plane crashes in Germany. They are taken as POWs, but attempt a "Desperate Journey" to escape.The film starts with a very exciting battle and plane crash. The five surviving soldiers are captured by the Germans, and (highly implausibly) spend the film on the run. It starts out threatening to become an adventure/war/drama - with some comic touches. BUT, it really becomes an action/war comedy. The action and direction (Raoul Walsh) are great; though, the pace of the excitement may be a bit lopsided. The comedy works - both intentionally and intentionally.Mr. Reagan (unexpectedly; and, Reagan "steals" the film) and Mr. Hale (expectedly) are great. If you take the film as comedy, they have the best lines and the most fun. The others are okay. Do note that the film loses some elements during the runtime - a little of its heart and a little of its comedy - and the film doesn't really take the loss well, thematically. ****** Desperate Journey (1942) Raoul Walsh ~ Errol Flynn, Alan Hale, Ronald Reagan

With Errol Flynn, Nancy Coleman, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy in a picture, how bad can it be? Not at all. "Desperate Journey" is an exciting fast paced film about American and British soldiers inside Nazi Germany after their bombing plane crashes.There is plenty of excitement as they try to evade their captors, the head being a very German-like Raymond Massey in another of his stellar performances. Alan Hale and Sig Ruman, the latter in one scene, bring comic relief.Of course, there is the cliché speech of Nancy Coleman, a German helping the allies, who stays despite the fact that the Nazis know her whereabouts. Her speech about patriotism is familiar but keenly on target.We have exciting chase scenes, and wonderful sabotage by our heroes inflicted upon Massey and his group of vultures.A wonderful war-time journey that should be viewed by all.