Desperate Journey

With Errol Flynn, Nancy Coleman, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy in a picture, how bad can it be? Not at all. "Desperate Journey" is an exciting fast paced film about American and British soldiers inside Nazi Germany after their bombing plane crashes.

There is plenty of excitement as they try to evade their captors, the head being a very German-like Raymond Massey in another of his stellar performances. Alan Hale and Sig Ruman, the latter in one scene, bring comic relief.

Of course, there is the cliché speech of Nancy Coleman, a German helping the allies, who stays despite the fact that the Nazis know her whereabouts. Her speech about patriotism is familiar but keenly on target.

We have exciting chase scenes, and wonderful sabotage by our heroes inflicted upon Massey and his group of vultures.

A wonderful war-time journey that should be viewed by all.

I just love this picture. It was the first movie I ever saw and I keep coming back to it because it's pure escapism. Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan were never better than in this World War II saga of Royal Air Forcers downed behind enemy lines. They escape Nazi capture and take the audience on a rousing adventure as they make a high spirited bid to reach home. Never a dull moment, this is an obvious precursor to the Indiana Jones films. Raymond Massey is pure evil as the Nazi commandant who relentlessly pursues the fliers. Arthur Kennedy and Alan Hale provide able support and welcome humor as RAF comrades sharing in the robust flight across Germany. Not to be missed!

"Desperate Journey" comes down to Errol Flynn vs. the Nazis and I'll give you two guesses who wins this one! This film isn't about realism, just to entertain and boy, it certainly does! The pace never lets up as Errol and a small group of Allied soldiers find their way behind enemy lines in Germany. Their plane has crashed and they need to pool their resources in order to fly back to Headquarters in England. There is action aplenty and a very good supporting cast. An Errol Flynn movie wouldn't be complete without regular co- star Alan Hale. Raymond Massey is very good as a Nazi officer who is hot on the Allies trail. Unlike a lot of Flynn's films, "Desperate Journey" doesn't allow much room in the plot for a female leading lady. Nancy Coleman is cast in that role here but her screen time is restricted. The climax is an excellent one and there's also a bit of suspense. 1942 was the last year in which Errol Flynn was at his most popular at the box office. Not long after, his star gradually faded and his career didn't re-gain its former glory.

Of all the actors who made WWII adventure films, Errol Flynn was second only to John Wayne in being accused of 'winning the war single-handed'. His civilian status ridiculed (Flynn HAD attempted to enlist; despite his healthy appearance, it was discovered he had an 'athlete's heart', plus traces of malaria and TB he had contracted in his youth, and was turned down), and his wild lifestyle becoming impossible for WB publicists to cover up any longer (his arrest for trumped-up charges of statutory rape was about to explode into the nation's headlines), Flynn's unique status as an Australian who was also an American movie star would, nonetheless, make him an ideal leading man for war movies that would not only be morale boosters for American audiences, but international audiences, as well.

DESPERATE JOURNEY was the film Flynn's detractors most often ostracized, with it's 'over-the-top' action, and wildly improbable story (downed fliers reap havoc on moronic Nazis, then return to England in a stolen bomber). Certainly, Flynn's ease in both eluding and harassing the Germans, and the infamous tag line he delivers at film's end ("Now to Australia, and a crack at those Japs!") were comic book heroics, at best, and could not be taken seriously. But the same critics that lambasted him ignored the equally far-fetched WWII-themed ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT and ACROSS THE PACIFIC (with Bogart), THEY MET IN BOMBAY (with Gable), and ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON (with Cary Grant). The pity about all this was, when Flynn would appear in superior war pictures (EDGE OF DARKNESS and OBJECTIVE, BURMA!), the films would be 'lumped in' with his more cartoonish epics.

All this being said, as a 'tongue-in-cheek' adventure yarn, DESPERATE JOURNEY is fast-paced and very enjoyable! Directed by action film veteran Raoul Walsh, the story of British bomber 'D-for-Danny', shot down over occupied central Europe, offers a terrific cast, including Ronald Reagan and Arthur Kennedy (in their second teaming with Flynn), and Alan Hale (in his tenth of 12 Flynn films). The gifted Canadian actor, Raymond Massey, also making his second appearance with Flynn, is a thoroughly hiss-able Nazi Major (speaking the gobbly-gook Hollywood passed off as 'German' in these films) who 'loses' the captured fliers (after a brilliantly funny scene with Reagan, which Flynn, jealous of his co-star, attempted to cut, or have re-written for him), then pursues them, futilely, across the continent. The fliers receive aid from a sympathetic German doctor and his beautiful assistant (Nancy Coleman, providing a bit of romance for Flynn), lose Hale (a truly sad moment, in the film's most dramatic escape), and Flynn, Reagan, and Kennedy eventually discover a captured, fueled British bomber, about to be used to attack England, which provides a convenient means of returning home (so Flynn can have his 'crack' at the 'Japs').

At a running time of 108 minutes, the film seldom drags, provides Flynn a chance to give a "There'll always be an England" soliloquy, and has more one-liners than most screen comedies (Reagan's hilarious 'double-speak', describing allied bomber capabilities, leading to knocking Massey out, with the comment, "The Iron Fist has a Glass Jaw.")

The years have been far kinder to DESPERATE JOURNEY than many other war era films, and it holds it's own very well in the 'Indiana Jones' climate of today's action flicks.

It is certainly a 'must' for any Errol Flynn fan's collection!

When the mission begins and the crew is ready to take off, the captain says, "Start port outboard engine" (this would be the left side of the plane farthest away from the fuselage). Yet the camera flips to the inboard starboard side and the engine starts followed by the other engines.

The movie is a bit of a feel-good movie but it's also fun. Alan Hale Sr. (father of the "Skipper" on TV series "Gilligan's Island") often plays comic relief (e.g. with Mr. Flynn in "Robin Hood") and he does it well. Lots of quick one-liners you will enjoy.

There's a lot of German language without subtitles but the even though I don't know German it doesn't hurt the plot. In fact, the meaning is fairly obvious even if you don't know German and gives a better feel to the idea of being in a foreign country during war.