"The Last Flight" released in 1931 by First National Pictures, is a rather pointless tale of four flying aces (Johnny Mack Brown, Elliot Nugent, David Manners, and Richard Barthelmess) who drift aimlessly through Europe after World War I. They drink a lot, party a lot, apparently to forget the horrors of war, although the story never really explores this in any depth. There is a strange girl (Helen Chandler) who acts and talks as if she was from another planet. For whatever reason, she befriends the men and takes a liking to Richard Barthlemess' character. Some of the acting is far from great, and the dialogue at times is unnatural sounding, although many films of the early talkies suffer from this. I will say one thing about this film; it does have movement, something unusual in these early days of sound, as the recording equipment was cumbersome and difficult to deal with. Other than that, I see little point to this film. I supposed it's to show us the way men bond who are in the military together. Too bad they couldn't do more with that, instead of just showing us four guys and a girl who drink and carry on. Interestingly, both Manners and Chandler would star in another -- and far superior -- film in 1931: "Dracula."
Review of The Last Flight
