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The Dawn Patrol poster

MOVIE · 1938

The Dawn Patrol

ActionAdventureDramaWar103 min

Captain Courtney watches young Royal Flying Corps pilots climb into bullet-riddled planes over 1915 France, then blames the officers sending them up again and again. Errol Flynn is Courtney, a swaggering ace whose open contempt for command keeps colliding with Basil Rathbone's Major Brand, the squadron leader caught between his men and the demands of headquarters. As losses mount inside the 39th Squadron, the film stays close to the strain behind the banter: packed mess rooms, stiff upper lips, and dawn missions that leave fewer pilots coming back.

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