Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

zardoz-13 "The Thief of Bagdad" director Raoul Walsh's "Desperate Journey" ranks as one of Errol Flynn's most entertaining but lightweight World War II propaganda war films. For the record, Flynn would make five wartime film for Warner Brothers: "Edge of Darkness," "Northern Pursuit," "Uncertain Glory," "Thank Your Luck Stars," and his best wartime epic "Objective, Burma," that made the world believe that Uncle Sam was winning the war single-handedly! Naturally, the British were not pleased with this ideology, and the film drew protests in the United Kingdom. In "Desperate Journey," Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Arthur Kennedy, Alan Hale, and Ronald Sinclair are cast as Allied fliers who survive the crash landing of their British bomber in enemy country. They have to bury their pilot, Squadron Leader Lane-Ferris (Patrick O'Moore) and then flee on foot through Nazi Germany. Our heroes do their best to dodge the Hun, but eventually they set out to commit sabotage in one of the most far-fetched, cliffhanger style plot. Quoting Forbes: "We're going to be the first invasion to hit Germany since Napoleon." Along the way, they lose two more of their own, and Flynn gets a moment or two of romance with pretty Nancy Coleman as a local who tries to help them. Of course, the Germans are ruthless in their pursuit. They manage to capture our heroes, but our guys don't loiter long before they escape them again. "Captains of the Clouds" scenarist Arthur T. Horman received screenplay credit, and Walsh and he keep our guys scrambling desperately with the Germans nipping at their heels the whole way. Indeed, the film lives up to its fast-paced title as Flynn and company make the Germans look like simple-minded goons. Their chief adversary, Major Otto Baumeister (Raymond Massey of "Santa Fe Trail") interrogates them, and one of the funniest scenes has Flying Officer Johnny Hammond (Ronald Reagan) telling them about the non-existent 'thermotrockle' on Allied planes. Hammond gleefully delivers enough double-talk to have your head spinning when he explains to Baumeister how a 'thermotrockle' works. "Thermotrockle amfilated through a daligonitor. Of course, this is made possible because the dernadyne has a franicoupling." Reportedly, Flynn wanted those lines for himself. The Government's Office of War Information didn't appreciate the way that Hollywood portrayed the enemy and made the war look like a lark. Ultimately, our guys steal a captured British bomber and fly back to England. In an appropriately heroic ending, Forbes vows next to take on the Japanese with the last line in the film: "Now for Australia and a crack at those Japs!" This Warner Brothers' nonsense painted an idealized picture of war when it wasn't slipping patriotic messages about the Allies down our collective throats. Naturally, Flynn is as gallant and foolhardy as ever as Flight Lieutenant Terrence Forbes who is tired of flying ice wagons (i.e. bombers) and wants to get into a Spitfire. Kennedy plays the level-head navigator who takes things seriously, while Alan Hale acts as their scrounger. "Desperate Journey" is a lot of rip-snorting fun.

utgard14 WW2 action movie has Errol Flynn leading a RAF bombing mission into Germany and being shot down by the Nazis. Flynn and his crew (including Alan Hale and Ronald Reagan) are taken prisoner but manage to escape with some valuable information. Now the men fight to get out of Germany alive, doing as much damage and killing as many Nazis as they can along the way.This one is just so much fun between the exciting action scenes and the zippy dialogue delivered by a great Warner Bros cast. There's never a dull moment! Raoul Walsh directs with style and a great pace. The always-reliable Errol Flynn leads a terrific lineup that includes the aforementioned Reagan and Hale plus Arthur Kennedy, Ronald Sinclair, Nancy Coleman, Sig Ruman, and Albert Basserman. Ronald Reagan has one of his most enjoyable roles here, snapping off quotable lines one after another. Raymond Massey plays the lead Nazi and makes for a fine villain. An interesting thing about this movie that may surprise some viewers is that, unlike most WW2 films that were understandably serious in tone, this one has such a light, humorous feel that it's almost jarring upon first viewing. You have protagonists killing and also dying, yet nobody stops for more than a minute to dwell on that before continuing with the quips and punches. It's fascinating to watch and so very entertaining but some won't care for the "whistling past the graveyard" approach the film takes. I definitely recommend you give it a shot, particularly if you're a fan of the many excellent movies Errol Flynn and WB made to help with the war effort. This is one of the best.

mark.waltz When the Warner Brothers send their boys over to Germany to fight the Nazis, the Axis will surely land on their behinds. Those boys are Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Arthur Kennedy, Alan Hale, among others, and they find that not all Germans are out to destroy the allies. The young men are sent over on a mission of sabotage, blowing up bridges, train tracks, factories and munitions plants, and while some obviously do not return, they all face that reality with determination to get the job done, and even with humor. Raymond Massey joins the list of Hollywood actors like Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone, John Carradine, Peter Lorre and George Sanders who played Nazi officers and is appropriately menacing, in addition to quite urbane and sophisticated, a fact that Hollywood producers promoted as a way of proving how dangerous these characters could seem behind their sometimes polite facade. Hale gets the funniest moments, shooting bee-bees at his cohorts and the Nazis as if they were spitballs. Flynn, being the only character who speaks German, leads the group after their commander is killed. There's much sentiment concerning the youngest member of the mission, the son of a World War I hero that even Nazi officer Massey remembers.The underground of each side is explored, whether being Germans who support the allies and welcome the English and British as their saviors, as well as others who are double agents, pretending to be on the sides of the allies while reporting everything to the Gestapo. Nancy Coleman is the only young female in the cast, showing up as one of the underground assisting Flynn. An exciting chase sequence features a funny moment when Reagen shows Flynn how the bootleggers of the prohibition era would deal with federal officers who were chasing them while being chased by the Nazi's. Flynn's closing line is a gem which gave hints of a sequel, but even though that never showed up, these actors would certainly repeat the same types of roles during the remainder of the war that still had three years to go.

MartinHafer Okay, this script was obviously NOT written by great intellects and will never be known as one of Errol Flynn's best films. This much is very obvious very soon into the movie. Yet despite a pretty stupid script, stupid dialog and a jingoism that is practically unmatched by any other film, it IS worth seeing because of the almost non-stop action and suspense--almost like a movie serial condensed into full-length movie form. That's because the four escaped prisoners (Flynn, Ronald Reagan, Alan Hale and Arthur Kennedy) make a monkey out of the entire German war machine and outwit millions of Nazis and they do it in a very fun and light-hearted way. Sure, it isn't deep and it's all a lot of twaddle, but you can't help but suspend disbelief and just enjoy the hokeyness of the whole thing. Plus, it's a good chance to see Reagan actually play in a watchable film! My advice is see it and don't think. Watch it and enjoy it on a totally brainless level or you're bound to be disappointed.