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The Last Flight
Cary, Shep, Bill, and Francis are pilots during World War I. The four friends, haunted by the devastation of the war, head to Paris instead of home, where they meet Nikki, an eccentric and wealthy young woman. Nikki is drawn to Cary, and the five friends, tagged by the boorish reporter, Frink, drink their way from Paris to Lisbon.
1931 · Directed by William Dieterle · 76 min · Drama · Screenplay in the scene database · 1 frames
Tagline
IMPORTANT! "The Last Flight," excepting for the few opening scenes, IS NOT A WAR PICTURE!
Plot
After World War I, pilots Cary Lockwood, Shep Lambert, Bill Talbot and Francis band together in Paris. Feeling they have no future, the men are constantly drunk. One night, as they make the rounds of nightclubs, they meet Nikki, a wealthy but aimless woman, who they invite into their group. Later, when an American reporter named Frink makes a pass at Nikki, she shows no interest in him.
The ex-flyers move to Nikki's hotel where they continue drinking. Nikki is attracted to Cary and she tags along when Cary goes to the Père Lachaise Cemetery where he tells her the story of Héloïse and Abelard, star-crossed lovers who are buried there. When Nikki starts to cry, Cary is sympathetic until she announces that she now has names for her two turtles. With that, Cary suddenly gets angry and decides to leave for Portugal.
After learning of his plans, Nikki and the others, including Frink, follow him. On the train, Frink tries to force himself on Nikki but the other men come to her rescue. At a bullfight in Lisbon, Bill rashly leaps into the ring and is fatally gored. With Bill at the hospital, the others visit a carnival where outside a shooting gallery, Cary and Frink quarrel and Frink threatens to shoot Cary.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: John Monk Saunders
- Cinematography: Sidney Hickox
- Edited by: Alexander Hall
Cast
- Richard Barthelmess as Cary Lockwood
- David Manners as Shep Lambert
- Johnny Mack Brown as Bill Talbot
- Helen Chandler as Nikki
- Elliott Nugent as Francis
- Yola d'Avril as French Party Girl at Cafe
- Walter Byron as Frink
- Luis Alberni as Spectator at Bullfight
- Herbert Bunston as Man on Train
- Jay Eaton as Extra in Claridge Bar
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, French
- Studios: First National Pictures
- Themes: paris, france, lisbon, portugal, pilot, male friendship, post world war i, pre-code, veteran, drunkenness, comradeship, war trauma
More by William Dieterle
On this film
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