Lafayette Escadrille (1958)

Interesting facts

Lafayette Escadrille is a 1958 American war film released by Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Tab Hunter, Etchika Choureau and features David Janssen and Will Hutchins; Clint Eastwood appears in an early supporting role. It was the final film in the career of director William A. Wellman and is based on his original story.

Production

Relying on his own World War I service, Wellman wrote the original story, based on the actual exploits of a friend from the war years. Earning himself the nickname "Wild Bill", Wellman was first an ambulance driver in the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps, then joined the French Foreign Legion.

Although he considered Lafayette Escadrille a "personal project", the studio did not give Wellman the budget he demanded and continued to interfere with the project, to the extent that the decisions on starring roles, title, ending and other important aspects of the production were taken out of his hands, including the title of the film: Wellman's original title was C'est la Guerre which the studio, despite his objections, changed to Lafayette Es…

The use of mocked-up Nieuport 28 and Thomas-Morse Scout fighters along with other period aircraft such as one real Fokker D.VII and the ubiquitous Travelair "Wichita Fokkers" were "lifted" from Wellman's earlier 1938 production, Men with Wings, an early color feature also directed by Wellman. Principal photography took place primarily at the Hancock Santa Maria, California airport.

According to information in the Warner Bros. Archive, the original script—with the tragic ending in which Walker dies in combat and Renée commits suicide—was written by Paul Fix. A later script, dated October 1956 and attributed to A. Fleischman (with story credit to Wellman) has the happy ending. Shooting took place October 19 to December 8, 1956.

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