Bruce Cabot's brother comes to work for the same flying circus during the age of barnstormers. Cabot really wants better for his brother, but the younger brother soon falls in love with the boss' wife and doesn't want to find a better job. Where all this goes is rather predictable, though the way the confrontation occurs near the end of the film is pretty dandy and woke me up...a bit.
There were also a few problems with some of the characters in the film. Ralph Bellamy plays the boss who loses his wife. During the 1930s, Bellamy was about the most typecast man in Hollywood (other than perhaps Johnny Weismuller). His signature, so to speak, was losing the girl in dozens of films! Because of that, as soon as I saw that he was married, I knew she would ultimately leave him--creating little, if any, suspense. Also, Cliff Edwards' character just made no sense and was a real detriment to the film. I think he was intended as "comic relief" but his character wasn't funny--just a very hard-core alcoholic. If watching people hurt themselves and being drunk during 90% of the film is supposed to be funny, then you know this can't be a very good film.
This was a B-picture and so it was never intended to be much of a film--having been given second-tier actors, a rather lame script and only 62 minutes to tell the story. A few B-films actually manage to rise above their humble origins to become great films, while most are in the poor to mediocre range--and this is one very mediocre film. The biggest problem is that the film all seems to contrived as well as derivative. In the early to mid-1930s, there were quite a few airplane/barnstormer films and the problem for me is that this all looks terribly familiar. In fact, the same year this film was made, Richard Barthelmess made a movie with a lot of similar plot points (both films were about brothers who were barnstormers as well as rivals). If it had all somehow played out less melodramatically and had something different to offer, then I might suggest you see it. As is, it's at best a time-passer.
There were also a few problems with some of the characters in the film. Ralph Bellamy plays the boss who loses his wife. During the 1930s, Bellamy was about the most typecast man in Hollywood (other than perhaps Johnny Weismuller). His signature, so to speak, was losing the girl in dozens of films! Because of that, as soon as I saw that he was married, I knew she would ultimately leave him--creating little, if any, suspense. Also, Cliff Edwards' character just made no sense and was a real detriment to the film. I think he was intended as "comic relief" but his character wasn't funny--just a very hard-core alcoholic. If watching people hurt themselves and being drunk during 90% of the film is supposed to be funny, then you know this can't be a very good film.
This was a B-picture and so it was never intended to be much of a film--having been given second-tier actors, a rather lame script and only 62 minutes to tell the story. A few B-films actually manage to rise above their humble origins to become great films, while most are in the poor to mediocre range--and this is one very mediocre film. The biggest problem is that the film all seems to contrived as well as derivative. In the early to mid-1930s, there were quite a few airplane/barnstormer films and the problem for me is that this all looks terribly familiar. In fact, the same year this film was made, Richard Barthelmess made a movie with a lot of similar plot points (both films were about brothers who were barnstormers as well as rivals). If it had all somehow played out less melodramatically and had something different to offer, then I might suggest you see it. As is, it's at best a time-passer.