bkoganbing Errol Flynn had the sad misfortune to have this romp of a war film come out at the same time as the rape scandal was breaking in the press. His image of a bold adventurer was belied by the news stories and the general silliness of this film did the rest.There were a lot of self serving propagandistic war films showing clever allies versus incredibly stupid members of the Axis, but very few that would have been called an A picture. I have trouble believing Desperate Journey was even taken seriously in those dark days of 1942.The only Allied armed forces in Europe at the time Desperate Journey came out were the unfortunate crews of Allied planes who got shot down at the time. Our heroes in this film are a mixed bag of a five man crew of an RAF plane including an Australian: Errol Flynn, an American: Ronald Reagan, a Canadian: Arthur Kennedy, a Scotsman: Alan Hale, and a young English kid: Ronald Sinclair.The boys are shot down, but manage to pull off an incredible escape and go merrily on their way wreaking havoc on the Third Reich with an S.S. major Raymond Massey chasing them and just missing them at every turn. Massey's portrayal must have been the model for Wile E. Coyote in the roadrunner cartoons. Desperate Journey got an Oscar nomination for Special Effects, but lost that year to Cecil B. DeMille's Reap The Wild Wind. That was for the best for the Academy's future reputation.But the worst of it was the fact that Errol Flynn was arrested for rape and the story broke as Desperate Journey hit the theaters in previews. According to the Citadel film series book, The Films Of Errol Flynn, a line was deleted from the film when the house howled in laughter as Errol speaking of his men said, "they know but one command, attack."Now if a director's cut ever was issued for Desperate Journey how I'd love to hear that in the film.

Rindiana Predictably entertaining and simple-minded Warner Bros. war heroics with Flynn and his comrades crossing hostile Nazi Germany, behaving like a bunch of boy scouts on a scavenger hunt, while striking down lots and lots of stupid German soldiers.Way too much half-baked comedy relief and anthemic background music, not to mention the weak plot, prevent this from being one of the more watchable Flynn adventures. In fact, from here on Flynn's movies started to decline in quality.It's still a fun ride in its silly way.4 out of 10 spit pepper corns

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.

edwagreen 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.