The Flying Tigers

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by bamboo43, Aug 14, 2010.

  1. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Having a quiet day today, mean't to do some overdue housework!
    Saved by the John Wayne film 'Flying Tigers'. What an excellent portrayal of the AVG and their volunteer work in China prior Pearl Harbour.

    Yes, it had the Hollywood smattering of glamour, but it did get over the comradeship and closeness of a group such as the Tigers.

    Brilliant watch and saved me from the Hoover!

    Bamboo.
     
  2. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    I don't think I ever saw that one :)
     
  3. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Bamboo,

    I agree.
    Another classic that is worth watching.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  4. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Gotta love the Duke! (I got some 30 odd of his films on dvd and counting) Carl, over at WW2f would be proud of you :D
     
  5. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Thanks Gents,

    I feel another avenue of CBI research beginning. Bugger!!

    Bamboo.
     
  6. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Having a quiet day today, mean't to do some overdue housework!
    Saved by the John Wayne film 'Flying Tigers'. What an excellent portrayal of the AVG and their volunteer work in China prior Pearl Harbour.

    Yes, it had the Hollywood smattering of glamour, but it did get over the comradeship and closeness of a group such as the Tigers.

    Brilliant watch and saved me from the Hoover!

    Bamboo.

    Yup great film...I have a Chinese copy DVD version of it (which remarkably still works after half a dozen plays) which I bought, appropriately enough, in Chungking (now Chongqing) in 2006 for about 70p...:lol:

    The "Flying Tigers" are still remembered in modern China, see e.g. my report of this museum...

    http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-against-japan/24947-jianchuan-museum-cluster-near-chengdu.html

    PS Can't quite see you with a hoover, Bamboo ! :unsure:
     
  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Oh! yes China, dab hand all around the house, its the only way I can get away with spending most of the rest of my life chasing Chindits!!!:D

    Great photos by the way.

    Picked up a copy of the John Wayne film for £1.99! But not from such a glamourous location as you my friend!

    Bamboo.
     
  8. China Hand

    China Hand No Longer A Forum Member

    Oh! yes China, dab hand all around the house, its the only way I can get away with spending most of the rest of my life chasing Chindits!!!:D

    That sounds a fair exchange :)

    But not from such a glamourous location as you my friend! Bamboo.

    Chongqing/Chungking is many things - polluted, grey, crowded, far too hilly - but glamourous is not a word that immediately springs to mind !
     
  9. Groundhugger

    Groundhugger Senior Member

    Saw this Quite recently on cable TV [Sky] 'Movies 4 Men' what an iconic design the tiger mouth design is !
    one thing that puzzled me in the film was the Twin engined civil Airliner with the odd looking tail like a boxkite , was this just a 'Dodgy model ' or was it based on a real design ?

    John
     
  10. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Hi John,

    I am absolutely no expert on aircraft, but I thought that looked very much like a scale model, if we are talking about the plane that belly landed onto the flooded runway?

    Even here though, this answered a query I had from my research into the personnel of the first Chindit operation. I have a pilot named de Kantzow in my files who flew for CNAC. This was one of the passenger planes livery in the film, so I am now thinking it stands for Chinese National Airways, or something similar?

    Information comes from the strangest of places!!

    Bamboo.
     
  11. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Hot air manufacturer

    Don't know about the film, but I read Robert Scott's 'God is my Copilot' :)

    scott.jpg
     
  12. Groundhugger

    Groundhugger Senior Member

    Well using models in air sequences was 'de riguer'of the day , no CGI in them days , but effective good story telling , lots of close up scramble scenes , a possativelly P40 fest:) .
     
  13. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Don't know about the film, but I read Robert Scott's 'God is my Copilot' :)

    View attachment 34649
    Good show Za does that lessen the meaning Biggles had for me as a child:huh:
     
  14. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Thanks Rm. interesting info there. I picked up a good book on the subject back in 2010 after this thread awoke an interest in the Tigers.

    Flying Tigers, by Daniel Ford. Very good book.
     
  16. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    Thanks bamboo43,

    "Laszlo" seems like quite the expert on explaining China to an audience in an entertaining way and the Flying tigers looks like being an interesting series of episodes by him.

    He's also done a good job of talking about the Chinese/Japanese relations and conflict prior to and during what came to be the wider Second World War, generally one of the more obscure parts of that part of history to us here in the UK - despite the fact that Hong Kong was for quite long a lifeline to the Chinese.

    All the best,

    Rm.
     
  17. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Without a doubt the relationship between Japan and China during the 1930's and the build up to Japan attack on Pearl Harbor is a fascinating subject. I have flirted with British-American-Chinese relations prior to Japan's declaration of war in 1941, an incredibly complicated situation, with everyone suspicious of each other and huge amounts of counter-espionage between the three parties.

    As you say, a subject worthy of further investigation.

    Best wishes

    Steve
     
  18. Ramiles

    Ramiles Researching 9th Lancers, 24th L and SRY

    James Clavell's Asian Saga of books is an interesting take on the Occidental/Oriental split - albeit they might look a bit "dated" now.

    There is a series of about 10 episodes on Hong Kong that "Laszlo" made a while back, all really interesting and informative, if I have one niggle it's that as an American he knows the British as "colonialists" so it would be rather nice if once in a while he admitted that the US has sometimes behaved in its own way in a "colonial" way but maybe not often seen it as such - still it's always good to be open to criticism :) from across the pond! And reading history from the Chinese point of view for a change is a bit salutary, but helpful, to a westerner! Films about China these days seem to be going the opposite way to whatever the "Duke" might have made. Shame though that it's more often than not the Brits that end up as the bad guys these days :( still that's Hollywood!! :pipe:

    All the best,

    Rm.
     
  19. Charpoy Chindit

    Charpoy Chindit Junior Member

    "What an excellent portrayal of the AVG and their volunteer work in China prior Pearl Harbour."

    I know this is an old thread, but can I just point out that, despite what John Wayne would have you believe, the AVG did no work in China prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
     

Share This Page