The Eagle and the Hawk

Dir. Stuart Walker

73 Minutes

USA

1933

Starring: Fredric March, Cary Grant, Jack Oakie, Carole Lombard, Guy Standing

***/***** Stuart Walker's The Eagle and the Hawk is generally well-intentioned, though leans into didactic tendencies in expressing its overtly anti-war message at the expense of any impactful narrative. Following a group of air pilots in World War I, the film has whispers of an ensemble piece but primarily focuses on Frederic March and Cary Grant, both bringing a nice balance of external patriotic pride and internal turmoil at the permanent costs their actions have. The relationship between the two gives much of the film its emotional weight, and the narrative works when it is simply exploring these long term effects their decisions have on the world around them even as they rack up several accolades and rewards. The aerial scenes have quite the spectacle for what seems to be a relatively cheaper production, and Walker (who directed only 12 pictures during a four year period in the early 30s) is efficient at keeping at narrative going at a nice momentum. But as the film veers towards sentiment and explicit denouncement of its subject matter, any subtlety is removed from the equation and it concludes are a relatively sour note. Still, there remains much to like about the film and its interest certainly goes beyond curiosity and/or for completists. October 15th, 2019