A pictorial history of flipping-the-bird

This old flick might be the first recorded instance of someone flipping the bird. And boy, did Robt Armstrong relish the act. Not content to only stick up his finger, he threw his whole arm into it, pointedly jabbing the hand up and down and smiling the whole time.
I had it on TiVo:
"Hey, honey, come here."
Bored and distracted, Mrs Swift-12 drags herself into the room, no doubt thinking, "What dopey old movie is this fool blabbering about now?"
"Lookit this."
[*flip*]
Mrs Swift-12: "HAHAHAHA!"

Previously I'd always thought the earliest instance was BATTLE CRY, a 1950's Van Heflin war movie where they inserted some real footage of troops. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047860/board/nest/24840318) The camera car filming them was passing by a long line of soldiers relaxing on the ground, and one of them stuck his finger up at the camera. Evidently the film-makers didn't notice THAT when they chose this stock footage.


Btw, I was hoping for more from LOST SQUADRON. More intensity in the flying sequences for instance. Those old open-cockpit biplanes should make for the most photogenic aerial footage, but I've seen better.
Meanwhile, the performances were laughably dated and stiff, except for Joel McCrea. Richard Dix and Robt Armstrong were particularly bad. (Except for that joyful bird-shot.)

There is one other plus -- the theme deals with how our heroes from WWI had difficulty adjusting to civilian life. One day they're the toast of the nation; soon they are misfits. The first half of the movie really felt like THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, which more successfully covered this theme for the WWII vets. Offhand, besides THE LOST SQUADRON I can think of no other film about WWI vets that closely approaches BEST YEARS.


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