Ace of Aces

Ace of Aces (1933)

A Woman's Love Made Him Forget His Fears!

A sculptor who doesn't want to have any part of World War I is shamed by his girlfriend into joining the fight. He becomes a fighter pilot, and undergoes a complete personality change.

Date of release
1933-10-20
TMDB
5.9 / 10 (9)
Runtime
1h 16m
Genres
Drama, War
Director
J. Walter Ruben

Casting

Interesting facts

Ace of Aces, also known as Bird of Prey, is a 1933 American pre-Code war film based on the story "The Bird of Prey" by World War I pilot John Monk Saunders that explores how war can turn a man's moral compass from pacifism to warmonger. Starring Richard Dix, it was similar to many of the period films that appeared to glorify the "knights of the air", but was more complex, examining the motivations of those who choose to go to war.

Production

John Monk Saunders wrote stories about flying that were influenced by his service as a flight instructor in World War I. In 1933, two of the stories that had a strong antiwar theme were turned into films. The first story, Death in the Morning was turned into The Eagle and the Hawk released in May 1933. His second story, The Bird of Prey became the basis of Ace of Aces, which was shot in the summer and came out in October 1933.

Ace of Aces featured five Waco 7s, five Travel Air Model B "Wichita Fokkers", a small number of Nieuport 28s, a Curtiss JN4 Jenny, Garland-Lincoln LF-1 (Nieuport 28 Replica), and a Fleet Model 1, along with two SE.5 mock-ups while a Waco also served as a camera plane for the aerial sequences. Noted Hollywood stunt pilot Frank Clarke was one of a team of eight pilots who flew in the film.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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