Ace of Aces
When the United States enters World War I, Nancy Adams (Elizabeth Allen) becomes a Red Cross nurse, while her fiancé, Rex "Rocky" Thorne (Richard Dix), registered as a conscientious objector, pursues his sculpting career. She mocks his pacifism and accuses him of cowardice. Thorne, in retaliation for her rejection and determined to prove his bravery, enlists and trains to become a fighter pilot. As part of the American Expeditionary Forces, he is, at first, a hesitant combat pilot until he encounters his first enemy aircraft and shoots it down. Renouncing his past, Thorne becomes completely committed to the war in the air, vowing to become the "ace-of-aces".
While on furlough in Paris, Thorne, now the leading ace, runs into his former love, who is a nurse on the front lines. She has been impacted by her experiences and torn by guilt, agrees to spend the night with her former fiancé. Returning to his squadron, Thorne suffers a head wound in a skirmish and as he reaches his base, he shoots down a German cadet on a mercy mission to drop a note over the airfield, telling the squadron of the whereabouts of one of their downed airmen.
Thorne lands in the hospital, next to the German cadet who is dying, and gives in to the young man's pleas for a drink, giving him some wine, knowing it will speed his death. When he recuperates, unable to bear his guilt for killing an innocent flyer, Thorne asks to be relieved from combat to become an instructor. Before leaving his squadron, the realization that a young pilot has bettered his record of victories, leads him to one last mission, albeit unauthorized. Encountering the new German fighter aircraft that are the match for his fighter, he prepares to close in for a "kill", but sees the face of the German cadet that he had needlessly shot down, and is unable to fire. In the fight, Thorne is wounded and crashes, but lives to return home and marry his sweetheart.
melodrama