FLYING TIGERS (1942) ** It was a great time to be making propaganda: I mean that with utter sincerity and the greatest respect. There was no way that the USA could avoid World War II, and how it might end up was far from a foregone conclusion. They weren't trying to make cinema for the ages, they were encouraging young men to get excited about jumping into a fight. To whatever extent that they managed to do that, it was a great service to mankind. It's not so much a service to art or cinema. The plot lines are largely lifted off the infinitely better Only Angels Have Wings , which is fine under the circumstances. John Wayne's the guy you want in your corner, but his performance is mainly of historical value. He spits out some good lines, and stands tall with a straight back, but it all feels a little distracted. It was a different America that they were defending; greater in some ways I'm certainly willing to believe, but fundamentally (I'm not saying wilfully, malevolently) racist: John Wayne & company are set up as heroes for defending the Chinese, but every single one in the film is depicted as an Oriental variation of Amos & Andy. Smart aleck history majors will delight in a piece of '40s propaganda celebrating the strong will of the Chinese peasantry, wasn't long before the McCarthyites took that one out of circulation, eh boys? Again, historical consistency wasn't the point and neither was long-term diplomacy. You fight a fight that big with who you got, but.yes, pieces of it in isolation do look a little silly now.
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