Only Old Men Are Going to Battle

Only Old Men Are Going to Battle Russian , one of the meanings of the Russian idiom old man is most experienced person is an iconic 1973 Soviet war drama blackandwhite film produced in the Ukrainian SSR about World War II fighter pilots, written and directed by Leonid Bykov, who also played the lead role as the squadron commander.

The film combines two storylines the main war drama plot is paralled with vivid artistic performance the fighter squadron doubles as an amateur musical group during rest time, led by its enthusiastic commander turned conductor.The title comes from two scenes in the film, where the squadron is facing very hard dogfights with German fighter planes, so only old men are sent up, while those fresh from flying school have to wait on the ground together with the mechanics. Soon, of course, the newcomers have replaced most of those veterans and have become old men themselves, taking to the skies while a new group of newcomers wait on the ground with the mechanics. ........

Source: Wikipedia