As a leader for one of the squadrons of the American Volunteer Group in China known as the Flying Tigers, "Captain Jim 'Pappy' Gordon" (John Wayne) has a lot on his hands. Not only does he have to contend with aerial combat against Japan, but he also has a limited number of airplanes and even fewer pilots. So, when he loses either one, his combat capability is severely impacted. For this reason, he is delighted to get a few well-trained pilots one day with one particular person named "Woody Jason" (John Carroll) being among the best. Unfortunately, he soon discovers that Woody is not a team player--which creates a serious problem with the other pilots in the group. Not only that, but he is also interested in Jim Gordon's girlfriend, "Brooke Elliott" (Anna Lee) as well. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay movie overall but--like most films produced during World War 2--it has it's fair share of propaganda. Additionally, it has one major historical inaccuracy in that it features aerial combat prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor when, in all actuality, this didn't occur until 2 weeks later. But even so, that doesn't change the fact of just how impressive the Flying Tigers were as they are credited with 296 kills against just 14 losses. Admittedly, they didn't go up against the famous Japanese Zero--but they did the best they could with the limited resources at their disposal. Be that as it may, while some viewers might consider this movie to be a bit corny, it served as a refreshing change of pace for many Americans during this particular time and all things considered I have rated this film accordingly. Slightly above average.
Review of Flying Tigers
