Kenneth Gamet

Wayne stars as squadron leader of the American Volunteer Group of Flying Tigers, who fought for China's freedom from the Japanese before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
John Wayne plays the tough commander of Flying Tigers, the famous fighter squadron that fought to save China from the Japanese. Wayne finds he is fighting a war on two fronts: he's taking on the enemy with only a handful of inexperienced men and patched-up planes while keeping a cocky new pilot from stealing his girl. The story show more has little in common with real history, and lots of classic post-Pearl Harbor propaganda fills the script. Regardless, the movie is all Wayne's, and Wayne fans will enjoy seeing the prototype for what would become the Duke's trademark portrayal of the military fighting man.

Although the pressure of making life-and-death decisions in wartime may be more maturely explored in Twelve O'Clock High, Flying Tigers still has enough characterization and action to keep the viewer's attention (not to mention special effects by the pioneering Howard Lydecker). show less

2021 movie #117. Bogart made 7 movies in 1939, all forgettable fare like this. Here he's a gangster who leads a kid to crime and murder. But you know what they say "You can't get away with murder".