  A Shining Example of Good Film, 2002-09-19
We've been watching a lot of Fredric March movies in the past several months. It amazes me how many times he appears in uniform. This is one of at least four times in WWI uniform. Anyway.It was really interesting to see him working with Cary Grant, who plays a former labourer with an attitude. But deep down he has compassion on Fred's character, a former polo player who can't deal with all the killing and death he is witnessing. He thought the war would be a party. The movie shows his progression from a carefree soldier to one who has nightmares and is losing his sanity. Although Cary Grant acts as if he can't stand Fred, in the end he steps in and - well, watch the movie and you'll see. Jack Oakie plays a loafer at home and a loafer at the front. Occasionally he does fly the airplane, but only once do you see him in the plane - always he's sitting in a wheelbarrow reading "A Night in a Turkish Harem", lounging in a bathtub, and so forth. Carole Lombard had a platinum blonde and overly made up bit part as a trampy-looking woman who shows kindness to Fred when he's on leave. I couldn't really figure out what purpose she played in the movie... kind of strange. I don't have a lot to say about this movie except that it is really really good, and you should see it by all means.
MCA/Universal Classic 1933 - early look at Cary Grant!!, 2003-03-21
MCA/Universal is re-releasing the great Stars of early Hollywood Classics. It is truly great to see these stars in their early careers. "The Eagle and The Hawk" - starring A young Fredric March & Cary Grant. (With a cameo of the fabulous Carole Lombard). This World War I film is a psychological battle of the aerial dog fighting between young men and the lasting effect on these young pilots and observers. March & Grant are bitter enemies who respect each others professional abilities. Who team up to become the squadrons best aerial team. The stress of the job and the constant exposure to death take their toll on our stars. Excellent protrayal of young men and their experiences in war. The acting of March & Grant are tops. A brief visit of Carole Lombard eases the pain & sufferings. This VHS, Standard version is a good copy with an original trailer included. Enjoy.
March + Grant = Excellent action drama, 2006-06-07
Crackerjack war/anti-war yarn starring Frederic March and Cary Grant as two flying aces in WW I who don't like each other, with events leading to a surprise turn-around for one of them. Despite their antipathy for each other, when they fly together they actually make a good team. March begins to lose his grip on things after some of the pilots are killed and especially after he shoots down the German ace Greentail, only to find out he was just a boy. He delivers a scorching anti-war diatribe after that and then commits suicide. Grant, who recognizes the nobleness of March, refuses to let it be known he died by suicide, so takes him up in his plane, riddles his body with bullets, and makes it look like he was killed in combat. The script is a good one, and the acting is intelligent. Carole Lombard appears briefly as March's love interest (for one night) while on leave in London. The dramatic tension is relieved wonderfully along the way by Jackie Oakie, until he's killed in a mission. And after that the tension builds superbly to the climax. It's a well-done production - definitely worth a watch.
Before its time, 2007-01-26
1930's movies are a hobby for me. I have seen thousands. It is obvious that the overwhelming majority were made for one purpose-- to maximize profits. To do this they were "designed" to give the public what it wanted--and still wants, i.e., bigger than life movie stars, a few endlessly repeated popular themes, shamelessly uncomplicated scripts, formula directing. In the 30's, they were the ultimate mindless escape entertainment for hard times. For these reasons (and the black and white, 4:3 format), most of my friends think I am wasting my time with these "old movies." I can't really defend myself and don't try. I am having a good time.
The Eagle and the Hawk is different from what I just described. It isn't a great, but it is a far better movie than the standard fare today. Roger's and Miller's screenplay was a thoughtful treatment of one man's struggle with the human wreckage of war. Stuart Walker's direction captured many of the subtleties of real people doing real things. The sets were completely believable and the cast well chosen. The climax was not the inevitable feel-good, tiddying-up of loose ends to keep us happy. It was ultimately a sad movie. A statement movie. You think about it afterwards. It was a powerful production that owes much to whoever so expertly brought all the pieces together.
Do not, however, go for the illustrations on the VHS box. Carole Lombard and Cary Grant never share a scene. In fact, Lombard's part is best described as a cameo, as another reviewer has already said. Furthermore, Cary Grant's role is minor when compared to Frederich March's. March is the focal point and does a fabulous job.
There are quite a few other really good and even great movies from the 30's. Unlike "Gone With the Wind" or "It Happened One Night," these often have unrecognizable titles and will remain unknown as long as audiences favor "modern" star vehicles, repetitous story lines, etc.
Another Great Fredric March Performance, 2002-09-07
Just this year I have discovered Fredric March, and what a great actor he is. He does not disappoint in "The Eagle and the Hawk" either. He plays an ace American flyer in the Royal Flying Corps, who was at first eager to go to war, but once in France and actually participating in the war, he finds that war is not the romantic glamour thing he envisioned it would be. War, he found, is actually killing people. It disturbs him greatly to realize that so many must die, and that he has a part in so many deaths. He begins to slowly lose his grip on his sanity, for none of the other men seem to feel the way he does, about the senslessness of war, of killing young boys just free from their mothers. He is a skilled flyer and earns many medals, but in the end they mean nothing to him, for he earns them by killing, which he cannot stand. The commanding officer grants him 10 days leave to hopefully "cheer" him up, but it does not work, for at the party he attends, all people want to talk about is the war; even one woman's young son asks him gory details about planes going down and people dying. It is during the leave that the Carol Lombard character enters the picture. I don't think she was really necessary. I personally felt she wasn't right for the role. I didn't care for her personality, her make-up and hair, and her ridiculous fur coat! But she was there to listen to Fredric talk to himself about the senselessness of war, and he needed to vent, and she was there. I think another woman would have been better, a more naturally beautiful one, one with more naivity and gentleness of spirit. I believe that the scene had much more potential than it was given. Anyway, Fredric goes back to war, and finally cracks up, and kills himself. The Cary Grant character, who was antagonistic toward Fredric March in the whole movie, is kind to him in the end, and makes it so noone knows he lost his sanity, but that instead he died a war hero. I do not know why Fredric March is not on the cover of this video, HE is the star, not Grant or Lombard! I recommend this for a good example of Fredric March's acting. I should mention that his scene where he was having the nightmare of all the people who died was very touching. This isn't a very long movie, so give it a watch, you'll like it.
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