''20,000 Men a Year'' (aka ''Air Story'' and ''Aviation Story'') is a 1939 American

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include l ...

directed by Alfred E. Green and written by

Lou Breslow Lou Breslow (born Lewis Breslow; July 18, 1900 – November 10, 1987) was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 70 films between 1928 and 1955. He also directed seven films between 1932 and 1951 and wrote scripts for bot ...

and Owen Francis. The film stars Randolph Scott,

Preston Foster Preston Stratton Foster (August 24, 1900 – July 14, 1970), was an American actor of stage, film, radio, and television, whose career spanned nearly four decades. He also had a career as a vocalist. Early life Born in Ocean City, New Jersey ...

Margaret Lindsay Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s was particularly productive. She was noted for her supporting work in successf ...

, Mary Healy, Robert Shaw, George Ernest,

Jane Darwell Jane Darwell (born Patti Woodard; October 15, 1879 – August 13, 1967) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her p ...

Kane Richmond Kane Richmond (born Frederick William Bowditch, December 23, 1906 – March 22, 1973) was an American film actor of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly appearing in cliffhangers and serials. He is best known today for his portrayal of the character L ...

and

Maxie Rosenbloom Max Everitt Rosenbloom (November 6, 1906 – March 6, 1976) was an American professional boxer, actor, and television personality. Nicknamed "Slapsie Maxie", he was inducted into '' The Ring's'' Boxing Hall of Fame in 1972, the International Je ...

. It was the fourth and last film produced by

Cosmopolitan Pictures Cosmopolitan Productions, also often referred to as Cosmopolitan Pictures, was an American film company based in New York City from 1918 to 1923 and Hollywood until 1938. History Newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst formed Cosmopolitan in c ...

in its final year of operation. Long before the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, the U.S. government had encouraged Hollywood to produce films designed to encourage a buildup of the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

industry as well as the military. The release of ''20,000 Men a Year'' on October 27, 1939 by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

reflected the spirit of the times.

Plot

Brad Reynolds is a respected pilot for Pacific Airlines. On a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, his aircraft hits a thick bank of fog. Reynolds and his co-pilot, Al Williams, are told by their dispatcher to re-route to

Saugus, California Saugus is a neighborhood in Santa Clarita, California. It was one of four communities (with Valencia, Newhall and Canyon Country) that merged in 1987 to create the city of Santa Clarita. Saugus includes the central and north-central portions ...

, but Brad safely lands in Los Angeles, anyway. Jim Howell, the Southwestern representative for the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA), and Brad's old nemesis, suspends Brad for 60 days who angrily quits. Brad buys the Comet Airport in

Riverdale, California Riverdale (formerly, Liberty Settlement) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 3,153 at the 2010 census, up from 2,416 at the 2000 census. Riverdale is located south of Fresno, at an el ...

. The airport mechanic Walt Dorgan is its only asset. Ann Rogers tells Brad that her brother Skip, Brad's top student, is flying without his family's consent. Brad is forced to return Skip's deposit just when the bank is about to foreclose on the airport. Brad tries to return to Pacific Airlines to ask for his old job, but is told that he is too old. Meanwhile, the CAA begins a Civilian Pilot Training Program at selected universities, with local airports being used. Unknown to Brad, Jim Howell convinces Riverdale banker Crandall to back Brad's airport, as nearby Western Institute of Technology is chosen. Brad becomes an instructor and begins selecting and training his students. Transferring to Western from Texas State is Tommy Howell, Jim's little brother. Skip, unable to get his sister's permission to fly, becomes Tommy's roommate, and arranges a meeting between Brad and Ann. Skip is allowed to take a ground crew course. During flight training, Tommy admits to Brad that he is afraid to fly and does so only to please his older brother. Brad gives Tommy early morning lessons in secret. Jim thinks that Brad is unfair to his brother, but during one of Tommy's secret lessons, the aircraft's oil line breaks. Brad is forced to knock him out in order to release his hands on the throttle. Tommy, thinking the aircraft is crashing, parachutes out over a cavernous mountain range. Brad lands the aircraft safely and convinces a farmer to drive him back to the airport. He takes a second aircraft up to search for Tommy, with Skip joining him. Tommy is found hanging by his parachute from a tree over a cliff, and when Brad climbs the tree to release Tommy, a branch breaks, throwing Brad to the ground. With both legs injured, Brad is now unable to fly. When the group does not return, Walt is forced to tell Dean Norris all. Norris calls Jim, and a search begins. The next morning, however, Skip tells Brad he must fly the aircraft out himself if the two are to survive. Brad agrees, giving Skip strict instructions on how to fly the aircraft out of the canyon. Skip takes off, but knocks off his left landing gear, trying to clear a mountain top. At Comet Airport, Jim and his boss, Gerald Grant, await word from the search parties. Seeing Skip try to land, Walt blocks the runway with his jeep until Jim can take another aircraft up to warn Skip and Brad about their damaged aircraft. Learning about the problem, Brad instructs Skip how to execute a safe landing, even on only two wheels. On his second pass at the runway, Skip successfully lands the aircraft. Later, Tommy, Skip and the others finish their pilot training, as Brad and Ann are now together, planning their own futures.

Cast

* Randolph Scott as Brad Reynolds *

as Jim Howell *

as Ann Rogers * Mary Healy as Joan Marshall * Robert Shaw as Tommy Howell * George Ernest as Skip Rogers *

as Mrs. Allen *

as Al Williams *

as Walt Dorgan * Douglas Wood as Crandall * Sen Yung as Harold Chong * Paul Stanton as Gerald Grant * Tom Seidel as Wally Richards *

Edward Gargan Edward Gargan (July 17, 1902 – February 19, 1964) was an American film and television actor. Career He was born of Irish parents in Brooklyn, New York. He was the elder brother of actor William Gargan. As soon as he had left college, he wen ...

as Dunk * Harry Tyler as Joe Hungerford * Sidney Miller as Irving Glassman *

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...

as Dean Norris (uncredited)

Production

Based on a story by veteran pilot and screenwriter, Frank "Spud" Wead, ''20,000 Men a Year'' was the first film to document the Civilian Pilot Training Program. The sequences on both the ground and in the air serve as a semi-documentary of the program. The film was shot at various locations including, in

Zion National Park Zion National Park is an American national park located in southwestern Utah near the town of Springdale. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park has a unique geography and a variety of ...

, the Grand Canyon, Cedar City, Utah and at Occidental College, Los Angeles, as well as the

Monrovia Airport Roberts International Airport , informally also known as ''Robertsfield'', is an international airport in the West African nation of Liberia. Located near the town of Harbel in Margibi County, the single runway airport is about outside of ...

Monrovia, California Monrovia is a city in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 37,931 at the 2020 census. Monrovia has been used for filming TV shows, movies and co ...

. Principal photography for ''20,000 Men a Year'' took place on location from August 26 to October 1938. The aircraft used in ''20,000 Men a Year'' were provided by stunt pilot

Paul Mantz Albert Paul Mantz (August 2, 1903 – July 8, 1965) was a noted air racing pilot, movie stunt pilot and consultant from the late 1930s until his death in the mid-1960s. He gained fame on two stages: Hollywood and in air races. Early years Ma ...

, who acted as the "air boss" and coordinated aerial photography. The aircraft included his

Stearman C3 Stearman is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975), American aviation pioneer * Richard Stearman (born 1987), English footballer * William Stearman (1813–1846) English cricketer * William L. Stearman (b ...

as a camera platform.

Reception

Film reviewer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'',

Frank Nugent Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American screenwriter, journalist, and film reviewer, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director John Ford. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''The New York Times'' before lea ...

, described ''20,000 Men a Year'' as "Never more than a sleeper jump behind the times, the screen has hurried around to the Roxy with a melodramatic salute to the aviation training program instituted not so long ago by the Civil Aeronautics Authority. '20,000 Men a Year', which is a statistical reference to the number of civil pilots the CAA hopes to be turning out ..."Nugent, Frank S
"Movie Review; Fox Salutes the CAA in '20,000 Men a Year'."
''NYTimes.com'', October 28, 1939.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* D'Arc, James V. ''When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah''. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2010. . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema''. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:20000 Men A Year 1939 films American aviation films 20th Century Fox films American action adventure films 1930s action adventure films Films directed by Alfred E. Green American black-and-white films Films shot in Utah Films scored by Samuel Kaylin 1930s English-language films 1930s American films