Howard Hawks’s first sound picture. Barthelmess plays a cynical World War I pilot at odds with commanding officer Hamilton. When orders send Hamilton to a different outfit, Barthelmess assumes Hamilton’s position and struggles under the burden of command.

Hawks bursts into the sound era with terrific (for the time) dialogue, dynamic aerial photography (love the POV bomb shots), and the burgeoning Hawksian theme of men enduring grim fates as a duty. Remade eight years later with Errol Flynn in Barthelmess’s role.