Over time, Scott persuades General Claire Chennault (Raymond Massey), the commander of the Tigers, to let him fly with his experienced airmen, like "Tex" Hill (John Ridgely), who have been fighting the Japanese as mercenaries while technically being members of the Chinese Air Force.

A nighttime, torch-lit, gong-playing Chinese procession enters the Tigers' compound, carrying the injured Scott, who is bearing "Tokyo Joe"'s Samurai sword.

[7] The Warner Brothers' Ranch near Los Angeles was used as the airfield seen in the film's opening sequence at the American Volunteer Group (AVG) base Kunming.

There a trio of full-scale P-40 mock-ups, built several years earlier for the 1942 Republic film, Flying Tigers, are visible in the background, along with two P-40Es reclaimed from the AAF Reclamation Depot in San Diego.

[9] While most moviegoers may have regarded the film as typical of Hollywood, the scriptwriters were instructed to be faithful to Col. Robert Lee Scott Jr.'s original account of his exploits over China, and to provide backstory to enlarge his character.

The New York Times reviewer, Bosley Crowther noted that the "... pious injection of the spiritual in an otherwise noisy action film is patently ostentatious and results in a maudlin effect".

[10] Variety wrote that Florey's direction "manages authenticity and obtains excellent performances", though "undoubtedly commercial license has pointed up some incidents for better dramatic flavor".

[12] Wolcott Gibbs of The New Yorker did not find the film very authentic, writing that "I remain dubious about a flier who keeps turning around to talk to passengers in the back", and sarcastically noting that the Japanese were "clearly the most incompetent aviators in the world".