Overrated

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Anyone assuming this film is about World War I aviation will be seriously disappointed. More than half the film is about Thad Walker (Tab Hunter) who deserts from the Lafayette Escadrille to be with his French girl friend. The only footage of a dogfight is almost at the end of the film and lasts about three minutes. Walker improbably is forgiven for his desertion and gets a commission (!) in the U.S. Army Air Corps. The film overlooks the little detail that while he was with his girl friend the other pilots were all undergoing training; no mention of how Walker learned to fly a plane during his desertion, though the film may have skipped over a time period for this to happen. The movie ends on a note so implausible that it fools no one, and issue other reviewers have noted was due to the studio putting in an ending that differed from William Wellman's version (he quit). I am in sympathy with Wellman who after all directed the Academy award-winning "Wings." "Lafayette Escadrille" is NOT the film Wellman really wanted to make, done in by a mediocre script and a low budget.

Tab Hunter is a big man who is smacked around by his much smaller father so runs away to join the French air force during World War 1. It is there that he is also smacked around by the much smaller French officer which prompts him to desert. The film is pretty typical of the period. The French are portrayed as bumbling, the French Officer barks instructions and orders in French seemingly unaware that the American recruits don't understand a word of it. The flying time is very limited, we also see few aircraft which was the one thing I was hoping to see more of. It could have been my interest waning at times but I also don't recall seeing any air to air combat. Clint Eastwood has a minor role and although it could be the benefit of hindsight you can feel his presence even when he is just in the background silent. I felt the same when I saw him in a Francis the talking mule film. It's not a bad film, it's just not an exciting one either.

Every scene between Thad and what's-her-name dragged the movie down. Sorry, the movie is called "Lafayette Escadrille", not "Thad and, Whomever Get Hitched." Yaaaaaaaaaawwn. David Janssen was terrific. Always a solid performance from him and the rest of the cast was also splendid to watch. Why William Wellman, Jr. didn't get better parts is beyond me. A great actor, nah, but did a nice job. Sure, Tab Hunter was used by the studio as the draw and I enjoyed his performance, and I guess having a love interest isn't a crime, but it took up way too much of the film and frankly ruined the whole experience for me. I'm not against love stories, I've enjoyed my share, but when it becomes a focal point of a movie that's supposed to be about the Lafayette Escadrille, well, let's put it this way; I watched it after recording it and ended up using the fast forward button.What I found truly sad was, this should have been a superior film about the directors personal experiences and featuring his own son playing him. How rare an opportunity is that? As I read in the 'trivia', I guess the studio is to blame. That sickens me. Movie executives can be block headed, simpleminded twerps just like TV executives. What should have been a brilliant and fascinating film, was a mediocre crapshoot. How very, very sad.

***CAUTION SPOILERS AHEAD***This film is a depiction of American Flyers flying for the French in World War I. Tab Hunter joins Clint Eastwood and David Jansen in their early roles. Eastwood has very few lines if he speaks at all in this film. The film is very silly to be a Wellman film. Tab Hunter goes to fly for the French after he's caught stealing cars in his neighborhood and damn near kills a man in doing so. So after a tense confrontation with his father, Hunter hops of a slow boat to France where he nor any other member of his group can speak a word of French. Somehow, Hunter get's mixed up with a French Girl and it's obvious that he has his mind on her throughout most of this film. Hunter then is imprisoned for striking his drill instructor. So to get him out, his buddies start a ruckus to distract the guards and they get him out to flee to the big city to hide with his girl. After pleading with an officer to get him back in the air after screwing up so many times, Hunter get's back in the war and shoots down a few German planes and then wins over his girl. That's about all to expect from this movie. Leonard Rosenman's score is very good and William Clothier cinematography isn't bad but that really all this film had going for it. Don't let the cover art fool you because it's meant to make this film look more interesting than it really is. **1/2 out of ****