[2] Wellman, himself a former pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps, for whom aviation was a passion, directed the film, the last of his "unofficial trilogy" that included Wings (1927) and The Legion of the Condemned (1928).

[3] The director had hoped that the film would prove as popular as his acclaimed World War I aviation drama Wings, which had won the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1927.

In an air battle, Robert brings down and captures von Baden, nicknamed the "Grey Eagle", and takes him to Allied headquarters in Paris, to obtain intelligence on German plans.

[5] Wellman hired veteran film pilot Leo Norris as the aerial coordinator, responsible for assembling a small fleet of World War I aircraft that included a SPAD VII and Thomas-Morse Scout.

[9] A black-and-white mono (Western Electric Sound System) print with a running time 72 minutes was premiered at the Paramount Theater in New York.

[3] When unfavorable reviews began to come in, a distraught Wellman asked to be let out of his contract with Paramount, with the studio agreeing to sever ties with the acclaimed director.

[4] Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times was extremely critical of the film, calling it a "... highly incredible narrative with two good air-fighting episodes and a mass of wild and absurd incidents ..." and noted that the "... pivotal idea is a stab at subtlety, but in mapping it out a Teutonic prisoner of war has to be extraordinarily gullible."