Exciting WW2 actioner about flight commander John Wayne and his crew having to deal with hot shot pilot John Carroll's recklessness. I was loving the first thirty minutes and then Carroll shows up. Right away I got that old familiar feeling of dread. You see, I've seen more than my fair share of older films and one of the most clichéd plot lines was a cocky, flirty guy who swoops in and steals the girl of the nice, upstanding guy. This was the plot of quite a few Jimmy Cagney pictures. In this case, it was looking like Carroll would steal Anna Lee away from John Wayne which is a movie-killing idea if there ever was one. I don't watch John Wayne movies to see him play runner-up to mustachioed cheeseballs. The movie tries to go there but still have it all end well and all it does is leave a bad taste in your mouth. It's a shame really as the movie would have been much better without Carroll's clichéd character. It's still a good movie, thanks to Duke's performance and the exceptional aerial action scenes.

Did John Wayne really win the Second World War? Perhaps not, but he certainly took the attack across the silver screen. In this early war film Wayne played Claire Chennault disguised under a pseudonym Jim Gordon perhaps to keep US intentions from the Japanese.AVG, the official acronym of the Flying Tigers, was composed of American mercenaries who flew for the Chinese Republic. A picture of Chiang Kia-chek the nationalist leader hangs on the door. The pilots are paid on apiece work basis. Yet they work together against the fearsome Japanes onslaught besieging China.Enter Woody, a wise guy, who wants to be an ace, mostly for the money. He's an overgrown teenager in a fighter aircraft. Will he mature in the role or destroy the unit by showboating? It is easy to dismiss this as a formula US war movie but there is some perception of the difficulties faced in running a mercenary unit.

I am a real sucker for some of the old Republic films--particularly the wartime films. Yes, I know they are NOT artistic masterpieces and the movies of course take advantage of many cinema clichés BUT they also deliver wonderful, if somewhat low-brow, entertainment.Despite John Wayne being billed as the lead, he is in fact somewhat of a background figure during much of the movie. Instead, the main focus seems to be on the incredibly glib and cocky John Carrol. He's a jerk and he's terribly selfish but boy can he fly. And, Wayne, being an old pal of Carrol's knows that down deep Carrol will prove himself in the end.Along the way, we are treated to a liberal dose of the nobility of our Chinese comrades in arms as well as the inherent decency of our volunteer pilots. While all basically true, it has all the expected touches of a WWII American propaganda film. For me, that's not really a bad thing, as this film and others like it succeed in being great entertainment. In fact, because of this, I have seen this film several times. It's not exactly deep or sophisticated, but sometimes we NEED a film we can just enjoy and not think too deeply about.

The "Flying Tigers" gets off the ground early as Commander Jim Gordon (John Wayne) leads his blue group fighters into exciting aerial battle against the Japanese. The film takes a look at an American band of mercenary fliers defending China just prior to our entry into World War II. For historical perspective, there's a scene right after Gordon chastises hot shot flier Woody Jason (John Carroll) for missing a night time reconnaissance flight; on Gordon's desk is a calendar with the date - Sunday December 7, 1941. President Truman's declaration of war is listened to intently by the squadron on the radio, and soon after the Tigers get orders to take out a railroad supply line.In between aerial dog fights, Gordon has his hands full managing the aforementioned loose cannon Jason, an old friend who thinks the war was made just for him. He sees each Japanese opponent as another five hundred dollar bounty, and is too impressed with himself to follow orders, even when it leads to disastrous results. The set up though allows Jason to lead the movie to it's predictable ending, in which he redeems himself by ramming a damaged transport plane into a Japanese rail car loaded with military supplies. This right after giving parachuted buddy Gordon the old Geronimo out the plane's door before disobeying orders one last time.John Wayne's romantic interest in the movie is suitably portrayed by Anna Lee, her character a nurse at the air base tending to Chinese children and wounded fliers when necessary. Other supporting players of note include Paul Kelly as Commander Gordon's Number #2 man Hap Smith, and Gordon Jones as Alabama, who has a fondness for saying "I'm getting that old feeling" whenever hot shot Jason makes an appearance. Jones looks a bit out of place in the film, perhaps I've seen him too many times playing the foil to Abbott and Costello in any number of their own movies and TV shows.Both as a war film and a John Wayne vehicle, "Flying Tigers" is generally adequate, taking some liberties from a historical viewpoint to be considered entirely accurate. For fans of the "Duke", it's the type of action adventure in which he excels, combining elements of courage and heroism on which his fame as an entertainer rests.