''Air Devils'' is a 1938 American

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

film directed by John Rawlins, based on an original story, "The Fighting Marines" by

Harold Buckley Captain Harold Robert Buckley (4 April 1896 – 13 June 1958) was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories. World War I service Buckley was one of the American pilots who came to aviation via an ambulance service. Once in Fran ...

. The film stars

Larry J. Blake Larry J. Blake (April 24, 1914 – May 25, 1982) was an American actor. Career A native of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, he started his career in vaudeville as an impersonator, working his way to a headliner. After appearing at the Roxy Theatr ...

Dick Purcell Richard Gerold Purcell Jr. (August 6, 1905 – April 10, 1944) was an American actor best known for playing Marvel Comics' Captain America in the 1943 film serial, co-starring with Lorna Gray and Lionel Atwill. Purcell also appeared in fil ...

and

Beryl Wallace Beryl Wallace (born Beatrice Heischuber, September 29, 1912 – June 17, 1948) was an American singer, dancer and actress. Biography Wallace was born in Brooklyn, New York, the second of nine children of working class Jewish immigrants from ...

Plot

Set in the island of Taro Pago in the years before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, two former Marine pilots, John P. "Horseshoe" Donovan (Larry J. Blake) and Percy "Slats" Harrington (Dick Purcell), are hired as air "constables" (constabularies) to keep order on the remote Pacific island. Both friends vie for the attentions of Marcia Bradford (Beryl Wallace) and, through a series of misadventures, find that neither will win out. The two pilots find that local tavern owner, Tom Mordant (Charles Brokaw), has been stirring up the natives and a civil war is brewing. The two rivals have to combine forces to stop violence and bring the island back to peaceful times.

Cast

as John P. "Horseshoe" Donovan *

as Percy "Slats" Harrington *

as Marcia Bradford *

Mamo Clark Mamo or woowoo is a common name for two species of extinct birds. Together with the extant ʻIʻiwi they make up the genus ''Drepanis''. These nectarivorous finches were endemic to Hawaii but are now extinct. The Hawaiian name may be relat ...

as Lolano * Charles Brokaw as Tom Mordant *

Minerva Urecal Minerva Urecal (born Florence Minerva Dunnuck; September 22, 1894 – February 26, 1966) was an American stage and radio performer as well as a character actress in Hollywood films and on various television series from the early 1950s to 19 ...

as Margaret Price * Forbes Murray as Capt. Hawthorne *

Paul Sutton Paul Sutton (May 14, 1910 – January 31, 1970) was an American radio writer and actor who also acted in film. Biography He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is perhaps best known as one of the actors who portrayed Sergeant William ...

as Holo *

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fir ...

as Robert Walker *

Al Kikume Al Kikume (9 October 1894 – 27 March 1972), born Elmer Kikume Gozier, was an American actor and stuntman of Hawaiian descent. He was born in Topeka, Kansas and died in Los Angeles. Beginning with his first credited role, in the indepen ...

as Don Kahano *

Michael Visaroff Michael Simeon Visaroff (December 18, 1889 – February 27, 1951) was a Russian American film character actor. Biography Visaroff was born Mikhail Semenonovich Vizarov (Russian: Михаил Семёнович Визаров) in Moscow, R ...

* Billy Wayne as Sgt. Jennings

Production

''Air Devils'' begins with this prologue: "The Pacific Ocean is strewn with tropical islands, large and small, to which drift adventuring souls. The island are policed and protected by constabularies which function under the local governments. These constabularies are well disciplined military organizations, splendidly equipped and officered by men who have completed enlistments in, and been honorably discharged from, the Army, Navy or Marine Corps, but who have succumbed to the magic spell of the South Seas." Despite the presence of

as Lolano, who had made her film debut in a featured role in ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

'' (1935) and the illusion of an exotic locale embodied by lush sets, ''Air Devils'' was a studio property.

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

began principal photography late March 1938 at Talisman Studios. ''Air Devils'' has an aviation-oriented title that is belied by there being very few scenes with an aircraft. Only one

Waco Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the st ...

biplane is seen in the film.

Reception

''Air Devils'' premiered at 70 minutes, but was subsequently re-edited down to a running time of 57–61 minutes."Notes: Air Devils (1938)".
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: August 13, 2014. Typical of many of the low-budget

B film A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

of the period, later reviews were not complimentary. "A generic action movie with limited means support. Be it budget or actors. Had a couple of half-decent action scenes, but otherwise a very lackluster storyline which was forgotten as soon as the movie ended.""Air Devils (1938)"
''letterboxd.com''. Retrieved: August 13, 2014. Producer Trem Carr had been behind the numerous

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

B films of the same period.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Air Devils 1938 films 1938 adventure films American adventure films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films set in Oceania Universal Pictures films American action comedy films 1930s action comedy films 1938 comedy films Films directed by John Rawlins 1930s English-language films 1930s American films