IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.4K
YOUR RATING
World War I veterans roam Paris, drinking and admiring a woman they recently met.World War I veterans roam Paris, drinking and admiring a woman they recently met.World War I veterans roam Paris, drinking and admiring a woman they recently met.
Johnny Mack Brown
- Bill Talbot
- (as John Mack Brown)
Elliott Nugent
- Francis
- (as Elliot Nugent)
Luis Alberni
- Spectator at Bullfight
- (uncredited)
Herbert Bunston
- Man on Train
- (uncredited)
Yola d'Avril
- French Party Girl at Cafe
- (uncredited)
Jay Eaton
- Extra in Claridge Bar
- (uncredited)
George Irving
- Military Doctor
- (uncredited)
Wallace MacDonald
- Officer at Hospital
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOn 21 October 1931 (after the film's release) a musical adaptation called "Nikki," by John Monk Saunders, opened on Broadway in New York City, New York, USA, and had 39 performances. The opening night cast included Fay Wray as Nikki, Cary Grant as Cary Lockwood and Douglass Montgomery as Shep Lambert.
- GoofsDuring the sequence in the bullfight ring in Lisbon, the footage of the actual bullfight is stock filmed during the silent era at the then-standard speed of 16 frames per second. Spliced into a sound film and projected at the sound-standard 24 frames per second, it looks unnaturally fast.
- Quotes
Military Doctor: Well, there they go. Out to face life. And their whole training was in preparation for death.
- ConnectionsFeatured in TCM Guest Programmer: U.S. Critics (2010)
Featured review
Party Animals
The Last Flight is one of the more unique movies to come out of 1930's Hollywood (possibly in part due to the film being directed by German newcomer to Hollywood, William Dieterle). It didn't hold my attention on first viewing with its surprising plotless structure but the odd nature of the movie made me want to give it another try. The Hemingway like Lost Generation film follows a group of Great War veterans leading a shallow and hopeless existence as they spend their nights drinking and partying in Paris while making no attempt to properly readjust to civilian life ("Well there they go, out to face life, and their whole training was in preparation for death") - A tale which would be repeated throughout cinema with various wars.
The film is entirely driven by the rapport between the characters and the listlessness that covers their lives. Along the way, they met a metaphorical representation of their damaged states in the form of Niki (Helen Chandler). The first scene with this character really confused me on first viewing as it sounds like she's saying she is holding a man's "tea" rather than his "teeth". Why the men would get so excited over this? It's not clear if Nikki is a ditsy dame, constantly inebriated or just nuts. She doesn't mind just standing and holding the teeth of a stranger who wants to go out back and fight and even keeps turtles in a hotel bathroom.
I do love the exquisite Paris nightlife circa 1919 as presented in the film with the suits and the drinks, you really get a sense of the all the good (if pathetic on a deeper level) times they have (even if it's never explained how they fund their drinking adventures). Allow me to express my inner grumpy old man when compared to modern nightlife.
Richard Barthelmess gave some of the most memorable performances of the pre-code era, having the ability to convey the look of a damaged man as seen in the role of Cary Lockwood, the most sensible one of the ecliptic group. Likewise, there's also Frink (Walter Byron) and his sexual misconduct ("He is a member of the wandering hands society and has a grouping good time"), in which the men are shockingly tolerant of his behaviour as they call him out and criticise his actions but never expelling him from the group. Even after an attempted rape on a train the men only tell him to apologise and to never get out of line again.
The Last Flight reuses footage at the beginning from Barthelmess' previous war film, The Dawn Patrol; both are based on stories from John Monk Sanders and make for a great double feature. - The Last Flight is a film for a patient viewer but one which holds many nihilistic rewards.
The film is entirely driven by the rapport between the characters and the listlessness that covers their lives. Along the way, they met a metaphorical representation of their damaged states in the form of Niki (Helen Chandler). The first scene with this character really confused me on first viewing as it sounds like she's saying she is holding a man's "tea" rather than his "teeth". Why the men would get so excited over this? It's not clear if Nikki is a ditsy dame, constantly inebriated or just nuts. She doesn't mind just standing and holding the teeth of a stranger who wants to go out back and fight and even keeps turtles in a hotel bathroom.
I do love the exquisite Paris nightlife circa 1919 as presented in the film with the suits and the drinks, you really get a sense of the all the good (if pathetic on a deeper level) times they have (even if it's never explained how they fund their drinking adventures). Allow me to express my inner grumpy old man when compared to modern nightlife.
Richard Barthelmess gave some of the most memorable performances of the pre-code era, having the ability to convey the look of a damaged man as seen in the role of Cary Lockwood, the most sensible one of the ecliptic group. Likewise, there's also Frink (Walter Byron) and his sexual misconduct ("He is a member of the wandering hands society and has a grouping good time"), in which the men are shockingly tolerant of his behaviour as they call him out and criticise his actions but never expelling him from the group. Even after an attempted rape on a train the men only tell him to apologise and to never get out of line again.
The Last Flight reuses footage at the beginning from Barthelmess' previous war film, The Dawn Patrol; both are based on stories from John Monk Sanders and make for a great double feature. - The Last Flight is a film for a patient viewer but one which holds many nihilistic rewards.
helpful•61
- mmallon4
- Jan 12, 2020
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Single Lady
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
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