The last four

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Movie
German title The last four
Original title The Lost Squadron
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1932
length 80 minutes
Rod
Director George Archainbaud
script Herman J. Mankiewicz ,
Wallace Smith ,
Robert Presnell Sr.
production David O. Selznick for RKO
music Max Steiner
camera Edward Cronjager ,
Leo Tover
cut William Hamilton
occupation

The Last Four (Original: The Lost Squadron ) is an American film directed by George Archainbaud from 1932 with Erich von Stroheim in the role of a sadistic film director.

action

After the end of World War I , pilots friends Captain "Gibby" Gibson, Lieutenant Woody Kerwood and Red return to America, only to find that no one cares about their exploits. Gibson and Red are struggling to reintegrate into civil life. Over the years, the friends become impoverished and end up as tramps. One day they meet Woody in Los Angeles at the premiere of the spectacular war epic Sky Heroes , the latest hit from hit director Arthur von Fuerst. Woody worked on the film as a stunt pilot. Gibson also reunites with Follette Marsh, his former lover. She is now the wife of Arthur von Fuerst. To earn some money, Gibson and Red also hire for 50 US dollars a week as pilots in the autocratic director's next large-scale production.

The filming is overshadowed by the director's pathological jealousy of Gibson. At the same time, Gibson and Red fall out over Woody's pretty sister, who all only know by her nickname "the plague". In the end, the girl chooses Red. The situation finally escalates when von Fuerst tries to kill Gibson in a particularly dangerous stunt. The plan fails and instead of Gibson, Woody is killed. Arthur von Fuerst tries to escape, but is shot by Red. Gibson moves the body into the cockpit of his plane and then commits suicide so that Red and his girlfriend can have a carefree future.

background

Movies about the Air Force during World War I have been very popular since the startling success of Steel Wings . Howard Hughes invested a lot of money in his film Hellflieger . The box office success prompted a number of studios to produce comparable works, such as Howard Hawks ' highly acclaimed 1930 film Start Into Twilight . To appeal to the broadest possible audience, it was mostly a triangle with one of the pilots finds death so as not to stand in the way of the other's happiness. As recently as 1933, MGM director Howard Hawks had to weave a love affair between the pilot, played by Gary Cooper , and a bored society girl ( Joan Crawford ) in the film Today We Live, originally planned as a war film .

The Lost Squadron was an exception among these films , as the film also portrayed all kinds of love affairs, but the problems of those returning from the war were in the foreground. The idea that highly decorated World War II veterans fail in civilian life and end up having to desperately risk their lives as stunt pilots was original. At the same time, the story about the film-in-film combination allowed breathtaking dogfights to be incorporated into the plot.

Erich von Stroheim , whose career had been dwindling for several years, had to earn a living as an actor. Thanks to the help of Greta Garbo , he made a kind of comeback as her sadistic lover in How You Wish Me Mid-1932. He played a ruthless director in The Lost Squadron , and his portrayal often came to the brink of self-parody when, as Arthur von Fuerst, shouted with a microphone in hand:

Fools! Idiots! Nitwits! ATTENTION! I am speaking now. I don't want to hear another sound. This is a war picture, not a musical comedy.

During his active time as a director, von Stroheim was nicknamed The Man You Love to Hate and that's roughly how he puts the director in the film as an obsessed man who literally walks over corpses for his work and artistic success.

For Richard Dix , The Lost Squadron was one of the last financial successes. Dix was a well-known silent movie star at Paramount Pictures , but the studio let him go with the rise of talkies because his fee was now too high. At RKO , Dix had a comeback in the opulent western Cimarron from 1931 and was even nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his performance . Most of the subsequent films, including The Conquerors with Ann Harding , flopped.

Problems with the German censorship

The film had massive problems with the German censorship and was finally banned by decision 6937 of the Filmoberprüfstelle from October 12, 1933 because of "anti-German resentment". At the insistence of the Foreign Office, the studio had initially removed all scenes that were considered anti-German in the copies intended for Germany. In the end, however, the film head office decided that the film would retain its anti-German stance even after the cuts, and prohibited further showing.

Reviews

Most of the critics were impressed with the film. The New York Times wrote :

"The Lost Squadron" [..] is a story about aviators which can boast of a rich vein of originality and clever dialogue. It is an excellent melodrama, ably directed, with a background familiar to producers — for it is chiefly concerned with stunt flying before the cameras in Hollywood and a film director is the evil genius. [..] Erich von Stroheim [..] once again reveals himself to be a vigorous and compelling actor. He begets attention every instant he is on the screen and toward the close he does two remarkable falls down a flight of stairs. As a director Mr. Von Stroheim has always been noted for his desire for realism, and a death glimpse here is as real as anything he has himself guided in a picture. Even in James Cruze's picture, "The Great Gabbo," Mr. Von Stroheim did nothing better than he does here.

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