Ace of Aces
Tags: melodrama

Plot synopsis:
When the United States enters World War I, Nancy Adams (Elizabeth Allen) becomes a Red Cross nurse, while her fiancé, Rex "Rocky" Thorne (Richard Dix), registered as a conscientious objector, pursues his sculpting career. She mocks his pacifism and accuses him of cowardice. Thorne, in retaliation for her rejection and determined to prove his bravery, enlists and trains to become a fighter pilot. As part of the American Expeditionary Forces, he is, at first, a hesitant combat pilot until he encounters his first enemy aircraft and shoots it down. Renouncing his past, Thorne becomes completely committed to the war in the air, vowing to become the "ace-of-aces".
While on furlough in Paris, Thorne, now the leading ace, runs into his former love, who is a nurse on the front lines. She has been impacted by her experiences and torn by guilt, agrees to spend the night with her former fiancé. Returning to his squadron, Thorne suffers a head wound in a skirmish and as he reaches his base, he shoots down a German cadet on a mercy mission to drop a note over the airfield, telling the squadron of the whereabouts of one of their downed airmen.
Thorne lands in the hospital, next to the German cadet who is dying, and gives in to the young man's pleas for a drink, giving him some wine, knowing it will speed his death. When he recuperates, unable to bear his guilt for killing an innocent flyer, Thorne asks to be relieved from combat to become an instructor. Before leaving his squadron, the realization that a young pilot has bettered his record of victories, leads him to one last mission, albeit unauthorized. Encountering the new German fighter aircraft that are the match for his fighter, he prepares to close in for a "kill", but sees the face of the German cadet that he had needlessly shot down, and is unable to fire. In the fight, Thorne is wounded and crashes, but lives to return home and marry his sweetheart.

Review: this movie dares to be different and makes an excellent point.
This movie, along with the similar EAGLE AND THE HAWK and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, is an excellent anti-war film made during the 1930s.
Well, Richard Dix plays a pacifist who only reluctantly agrees to go to war.
However, once he becomes a fighter pilot and gets a taste for blood, his personality changes dramatically.
Gone is the decent soul who had once longed to become a famous sculptor and in its place was a man who lived to kill--enjoying every minute of it!
While this certainly isn't true of everyone who goes to war, the notion that personalities can dramatically change thanks to the carnage is an excellent point to make indeed..
Potent Anti-War Polemic.
A mild-mannered sculptor who hates war becomes the ACE OF ACES in World War One.Although nearly forgotten for decades, this powerful little anti-war film packs a punch as it focuses on the young men of an American flying squadron stationed in France.
Cynical & flippant, they know the odds are against them surviving the war and they each deal with that knowledge in their own way.Richard Dix, an excellent actor who has become undeservedly obscure, gives a powerful performance as a pilot embittered by war's savagery yet delighting in his ability to kill.
Lovely Elizabeth Allan portrays the weary front-line nurse, once Dix's fiancée, who brings some humanity back into his life.Ralph Bellamy plays Dix's no-nonsense superior officer; Theodore Newton does well as Dix's barracks mate.
Movie mavens will recognize an uncredited Grady Sutton as an excited house guest.RKO has given the film fine production values, with the flying sequences especially well mounted.
The movie is marred slightly by the ending, which is rather unbelievable considering the moments leading up to it.
Considering the era it was made this film was very well made.
Of all the fluff that came out of Hollywood I'm sure this was a pleasant change of pace for moviegoers of the day and is still worth watching some 70 + years later.War and especially combat change a man and usually not for the better for a long time if not for life.
This movie went into the dark corners of these human transformations.
Great acting, writing, and directing was put into this effort.Richard Dix was well chosen for the lead of this film as the role called for a tough character in this lead role of fighter pilot ace.
Although Mr. Dix is not as well known in film history as Gable or Bogart he was very popular back in the 30's and 40's and a leading man.
If you get the chance to see this movie, please seize the opportunity to view some real Hollywood history..
Rocky and Nancy, couple in love, when War is declared (WWI, in spite of their early 30s clothing).
Rocky (played by Richard Dix) compares soldiers to lemmings "trying to reach a goal that doesn't exist" - Nancy (Elizabeth Allan) thinks her man is "yellow" as she pushes him into going to battle.
Next thing you know, Rocky has joined an Aero Squadron and is encamped in a barracks full of nicknamed comrades and a menagerie of "mascots" not limited to a goat, pig, chimp, parrot, and Rocky's personal mascot, a cute little lion cub (actually, he looked sort of like a leopard to me).
Rocky starts out fighting his morals against shooting another man - but not for long, it seems, as Rocky gets pretty darn aggressive amazingly quickly - the war has completely gone to his head as Rocky turns into the fighting ace of all aces!This film is a bit hit or miss - parts of it are good, other parts are quite slow-moving and boring.
Richard Dix gives a somewhat hammy performance and there are some pretty fake looking kisses between the two leads, a real lack of chemistry there, I would say.
BUT - there is some interesting photography in the air battle scenes, and a few other interesting scenes here and there, especially notable is a scene where Dix is confronted by one of the German soldiers he shot down, now on his death bed.
A Taste For War. Ace Of Aces casts Richard Dix as a sculptor who is determined just not to get
involved in the war even after the USA enters.
and when his own girlfriend Elizabeth Allan shames him into it he joins the Army
and gets into the new Army Air Corps.Once he's involved Dix discovers he has a taste for war and gets real good at
up by the media and is soon like Eddie Rickenbacker, the Ace Of Aces.
Elizabeth Allan does not like what she sees when she visits the front doing war
work.Dix gives a fine performance, one of the best I've seen in his talkie period.
good use is made of the combat footage.
Still it's effectively added in.Kudos also go to Ralph Bellamy as Dix's immediate superior who doesn't like
Blood in the Air. Idealistic young sculptor Richard Dix (as Rex "Rocky" Thorne) decides not to enlist when President Woodrow Wilson calls for US soldiers to enter the Great War (aka World War I).
A pacifist, Mr. Dix explains, "I just don't like the idea of killing my fellow man." His pretty Boston fiancée Elizabeth Allan (as Nancy Adams) calls Dix a coward and joins the war effort as a nurse.
Suddenly ashamed, Dix enlists as a fighter pilot.
On his first day with the squadron, in France, Dix is sent out on a mission.
At first he is unable to kill his fellow man.
But, when shot at, Dix turns into the Germans' worst nightmare, killing them at breakneck speed.
Soon, Dix holds the record for the most kills...During the heat of battle, Dix and Ms. Allan find their views on war have evolved...This is a fine 1930s (anti-) war film, with exciting airborne battle scenes.
In the leading role, Dix seems miscast, however.
Many older men enlisted in both World Wars, but he appears too old for the role.
The script might have been altered to include some mention of him getting a late start in marriage and claiming to be "too old for war." Even then, the part probably should have been played by a more delicate actor.
His first scene, introducing Dix to the squadron, is so good you can almost hear director J Walter Ruben yell, "Cut, print!" Yes, he nailed it.****** Ace of Aces (1933-10-20) J.
Walter Ruben ~ Richard Dix, Elizabeth Allan, Theodore Newton, Ralph Bellamy.
A Richard Dix Ace. I never liked Richard Dix very much.
Any other film I've seen in him seems to show him off as a hammy, middle-aged actor just going through the paces.
This WW I story about a pacifist artist who joins up and become a bloodthirsty killer under the guise of being a flying "ace" seems like the kind of role he needed.
In a way it's similar to the role of Yancy in Cimarron, but minus the "Wahoos" he lets out sporadically in that film.
Plus in Cimarron Dix pales in comparison to the great performance turned in by Irene Dunne.
In Ace of Aces, Dix is the star.
Elizabeth Allan is the girl friend, Ralph Bellamy the commanding officer, Theodore Newton the best friend, Nella Walker the socialite, and the Stroud twins (Claude and Clarence) play fellow flyers.
Not a great film by any means, but a solid story certainly helps.
First, you have to buy Richard Dix as an upper-crust sculptor and pacifist named "Rocky." Then you have to accept that after one dogfight he turns into a cold-blooded killing machine.
The aerial combat scenes are well done with an excellent use of miniatures, but they aren't in the same league as the ones in "Wings," "Hell's Angels" or "The Dawn Patrol." The squadron banter has a realistic feel to it unlike any of the other dialogue in the film.
Dix's rapid changes in personality are given no real reason and make hash of his character and anything profound the film is trying to say.
Obviously modeled after "Journey's End" and all the other anti-war plays of the time, "Ace Of Aces" ends up making a travesty of both pacifism and soldiering..
Strong Screenplay Somberly Takes An Anti-War Stance.
An Anti-War Movie that is Filled with Dread.
The Brooding, Sensitive Richard Dix Plays a Pacifist Goaded into Entering WWI with the rest of the Lemmings by His Cute Girlfriend (Elizabeth Allan).
Once there He is Propelled into a Flying Killing Machine.He becomes and Ace of Aces as His near Psychotic Exploits are Turned when He is Forced to Confront His Death Talley by an Unarmed Kid He Shoots Down and Nearly Kills.
After this He Snaps back to His Senses and All is Well, sort of.This has some Pre-Code Violence (suicide and a bloody face mashing) among its Sexual Take on a Relinquished Virginity brought on by the Uncertainty of War. Some of the Dialog has a Bite and it makes it Clear in its Anti-War Sentiments.Above Average in Theme and Wit, this will most likely Disappoint those Seeking Aerial Dogfights and Rah-Rah Action.
"Ace of Aces" was deliberately acted by Richard Dix while the role of Elizabeth Allen remains unclear.
But she did attempt to convey the entire picture of a girlfriend during World War I who sees it as being a true requirement.
Thus this is a suppressed movie.
It's known that the British sent about 300 conscientious objectors to the firing squad during World War I.
No one on the allied side in the movie, set of course in a flying squadron base, has any idea what World War I is about.
You're not going to find from the movie whether the U.S. entering it helped anything.
So assuming the movie's value is the precise degree of disparity between Richard Dix and Elizabeth Allen, it is noteworthy that his character, Rocky Thorne, has the same last name as a major freeway exit adjacent to Fort Lewis, Washington.
This is a film that uses the truncated running times of the early 30's to its advantage.
While it's a rule of thumb in film-making to slowly develop characters, Ace of Aces, perhaps because it's a programmer and simply doesn't have the time, skips the usual intermediate stages -- you know, like introspection.
Characters here go from pacifism to bloodthirsty insanity in the time it takes to cut from one scene to the next.Richard Dix is a sculptor who is accosted in his studio one day by "girlfriend" Elizabeth Allen, who, in the space of about three seconds, threatens to break up with him if he doesn't give up his fancies about art and get his head blown off in WWI ( and there is the tantalizing suggestion that she is sexually unsatisfied with him and is using the war as an opportunity to slake her lust.
Meanwhile we get lots of superimposed heraldic animal heads, dragons, lions, falcons and such layered on top of the soldiers in their bunker, leering, grimacing beasts of war that give the film a haunting medieval flavor.
When the soldiers talk to each other, the tone is unlike any other war film -- we aren't meant to reflect poignantly on their impending deaths or get to know them as individuals so that we're caught up in their fates.
Instead their conversation is fairly eloquent-sounding ( a lot of these guys are swanky Brits ) yet subtly drained of meaning so that we hear their witty, boastful words almost as the squawks, barks and roars of barnyard animals.
Not one character is sympathetic.This is a film whose transitions are so abrupt that the end result comes close to something like Kleist's play The Prince of Homburg, a jagged, neurotic ride through an insanely arbitrary world.
When Dix and Allen get together at the end and fall in each other's arms again, you feel sick..
War redefines a pacifist..
J. Walter Ruben directs this air combat movie based on Bird Of Prey by John Monk Saunders.
Some of the aerial scenes are actually borrowed from Howard Hughes's HELL'S ANGELS(1930).
By no means ACE OF ACE'S is no masterpiece, but very worthy of your time.
Richard Dix plays Rex Thorne, a sculptor who registers as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of WWI.
He thinks nothing more of being shy of taking up arms and going to war.
His sweetheart Nancy(Elizabeth Allen)sees him differently.
She sees him as a coward and shames him into joining the Army as a fighter pilot.
Soon Thorne does an about face and unlikely becomes reckless and ruthless and one of the most prolific flying aces.
At the same time, Nancy has joined the Red Cross as a nurse and is appalled at the transformation of her 'Rocky' now a arrogant hero of the skies.
The apt list of players includes: Ralph Bellamy, Frank Conroy, Theodore Newton, and James Cagney's look-alike brother William Cagney.
Look for this one on Turner Classic Movies..
It's 1918 and the war is being waged on the battlefields of France -- and over those battlefields too.
Richard Dix wants no part of it.
However, his girl friend, the cute and saucy Elizabeth Allen, shames him into enlisting, and he becomes a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corpe and is sent overseas, where he is soon joined by Allen as a nurse.
In his first combat mission, he flies as part of the squadron, manages to get on the six o'clock position of a "Heinie" but can't bring himself to pull the trigger on his machine guns.
His superior officer, Ralph Bellamy, chews him out.On a later flight, after watching a friend being shot down, he become animated and scores his first "kill." And, actually, he feels pretty good about when he thinks it over.
(Historically, Eddie Rickenbacker was the highest scoring American ace with 26 aerial victories.) By now, Dix has begun to enjoy his job and has a sneaky tactic whereby he leaves the squadron and pulls up into a position that puts his airplane between the enemy and the sun, thus blinding the Heinies to his attack.
In World War II, we accused the Japanese of being sneaky for doing the same thing.
(You can ignore that gloss if you want.) Meanwhile, his commanding officer, Ralph Bellamy, is getting furious.
In not playing with the team, Dix has lessened its strength by one airplane, and all for his own self aggrandizement.
But does Dix do it?
Dix tells him to shut up but learns from a nurse that the patient can't drink anything because he's been shot through the stomach and is dying.
While listening to the wounded boy Dix is stunned to learn that this is the Heinie pilot he'd just shot down, only a cadet with few hours flying time.
Chagrin time for Dix. He accepts Bellamy's offer of an instructor's job back in the states but when taunted by some of his squadron mates, he decides to regress and go back to killing.The only problem is that once in the air, again at a Heinie's six, he can't bring himself to pull the trigger.
He and his cute and saucy girl friend are finally together, hugging each other decorously among the wildflowers and dreaming of a home and four children.It's an anti-war movie from 1933, with World War I safely behind the audience.
Nobody's performance stands out especially, nor does anyone's performance torpedo the movie.
Just about everyone who is downed does a nose dive into the earth but -- this being 1933 -- there are not yet bouquets of exploding fireballs with each mishap.The moral evolution of Dix's character is kind of interesting and I rather enjoyed it for all its primitive techniques.
I liked it too because it SHOWS us how to dislike war without a single sermon being preached.
Not that I mind the pep talks that show up so often in movies about war but they're usually so unoriginal, so filled with clichés.
It's not often we hear anything like "when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger.".
Potential SPOILER.OK, so it's not a great movie.
For it's time, it was probably considered pretty damn good but some movies, and this is just my humble opinion, just don't hold up over time.
Albert Fin....sorry, Richard Dix was a pretty OK actor, as one other reviewer put it, a bit hammy, but over all, for the 30s, not bad but I have to admit, his maniacal killer stuff was the stuff that modern film considers parody.
His obsession with the kill (a guy who was very much a pacifist) was maybe a tad overdone.
I'd LOVE to see this movie remade with a more gradual change in the character instead of almost immediately, though you can see how getting MAD can change a person's outlook.I'm not sure if that was really a spoiler, but I'll click the box to be on the safe side.Mr. Finney...DAMMNIT, Mr. Dix plays crazy well, I'll give him that, campy, hammy, but well and as I said, almost funny.
I find it sad that almost every war movie made up until the 1960s seemed to find a need for a love story.
...because there is never a defining moment where protagonist "Rocky" goes from pacifism to being a war monger.
What pushed him to join the US Air Corps in the first place?
Dix character strikes me as psychotic; he kills without mercy, then is utterly ruined as a combat pilot after seeing one dying German Faehnrich (officer cadet.) Nearly twenty guys in his squadron die in the air, men he was comrade with.
Bad writing attempts to be Hemingway-esque, comes off sounding like War Department training film diologue.
A good rainy day WWI film.