Most of the aerial footage comes from Warner Bros.' previous 1930 version (The Dawn Patrol (1930)).
The filmmakers needed several shots of the planes taking off and landing. They assembled a squadron of 17 vintage WW1 aircraft, most of them Nieuports. Flying them proved just as hazardous as in WW1. By the time filming ended, stunt flyers had crashed 15 of them.
One of the Nieuports used in the movie is now on display at the Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker Alabama.
Capt. Courtney:
Man is a savage animal, who, periodically to relieve his nervous tension, tries to destroy himself.
Phipps:
[Opens package dropped by enemy plane] It's his helmet and goggles. It means a very gallant gentleman died this afternoon. And for what? What have all these deaths accomplished? So many fine chaps have died in this war and are going to die in future wars.
[pause]
Phipps:
That's all, gentlemen.
Continuity: When Captain Courtney is rescued, he jumps on the wing and hangs onto the strut. When the actual aircraft takes off, the dummy used is much further forward on the wing than Captain Courtney was, and when the aircraft is in the air, Captain Courtney seems to be on the left wing; he originally hopped on the right wing.
Version of
The Dawn Patrol (1930)
Referenced in
My Wicked, Wicked Ways... The Legend of Errol Flynn (1985) (TV)
Salvador (1986)
Behind the Tunes: Crash! Bang! Boom! - The Wild Sounds of Treg Brown (2004) (V)
- Referenced by title
Featured in
Special Effects: Anything Can Happen (1996)