Plot Summary

Manfred von Richthofen (John Phillip Law) arrives from the Cavalry, at a squadron in the German air force under the command of Oswald Boelcke. He quickly becomes an ace. Meanwhile, a Canadian pilot named Roy Brown arrives at a British squadron, where the top-scoring pilot is Victoria Cross winner, Major Lanoe Hawker. Brown ruffles the feathers of his squadron mates by refusing to drink a toast to von Richthofen. Von Richthofen and fellow squadron pilot, Hermann Goering clash when squadron commander Boelcke is killed after a mid air collision (Boelcke's upper left wing struck the undercarriage of Böhme's Albatros), and von Richthofen is given command of the squadron. Outraged when he is ordered to have his aircraft camouflaged, von Richthofen has the squadron's aircraft painted in bright conspicuous colors, claiming that gentlemen should not hide from their enemies. Later, von Richthofen is wounded during an aerial battle; meanwhile Lanoe Hawker is killed. Brown and his squadron decide to attack von Richthofen's airfield, destroying their aircraft on the ground. However, von Richthofen, with the help of a batch of new fighters from Anthony Fokker, the 'Richthofen Flying Circus' launches a counter-attack on the British airfield. Brown later kills von Richthofen during an aerial combat, and Hermann Goering takes over command of the 'Flying Circus'.—H W Thorn