''Death Flies East'' is a 1935 American

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

directed by

Phil Rosen Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949. He was born in Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up in Ma ...

and starring

Conrad Nagel John Conrad Nagel (March 16, 1897 – February 24, 1970) was an American film, stage, television and radio actor. He was considered a famous matinée idol and leading man of the 1920s and 1930s. He was given an Academy Honorary Award in 1940 and ...

Florence Rice Florence Davenport Rice (February 14, 1907 – February 23, 1974) was an American film actress. Early years Florence Davenport Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the only child of the noted sportswriter Grantland Rice and Fannie Katherine ...

and

Raymond Walburn Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Born i ...

. The action takes place on an airline flight with a murderer aboard. The film was an early example 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 air ...

disaster film A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as ...

" genre.

Plot

On a transcontinental flight from California to New York, a police detective (

Fred Kelsey Frederick Alvin Kelsey (August 20, 1884 – September 2, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Kelsey directed one- and two-reel films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company. He appeared in more than 400 films be ...

), found slumped in his seat is, dead, poisoned. The passengers include Evelyn Vail (

), a nurse on parole for a murder she did not commit. The victim had also died of poisoning. The elderly doctor she worked for is still in prison. Evelyn is attempting to clear her name and bring the real killer to trial, a convict on death row at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

who can confess to the killing, if only she can get there in time. Another passenger is John Robinson Gordon (

), a college instructor who becomes involved in Evelyn's plight. He is carrying a secret armament formula to deliver to the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He protects the valuable secret formula, clutching a briefcase at all times. John begins to suspect Evelyn but other passengers appear suspicious; who, among the other passengers, is the real murderer?

Cast

as John Robinson Gordon *

as Evelyn Vail *

as Evans *

Geneva Mitchell Geneva Doris Mitchell (February 3, 1908 – March 10, 1949) was an American actress. After beginning her entertainment career as a chorus girl at the age of twelve, she became more well known for her roles in several Hollywood films. Earl ...

as Helen Gilbert * Robert Allen as Baker *

Oscar Apfel Oscar C. Apfel (January 17, 1878 – March 21, 1938) was an American film actor, director, screenwriter and producer. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1913 and 1939, and also directed 94 films between 1911 and 1927. Biography Apf ...

as Wallace P. Burroughs *

Miki Morita Mitsugi "Miki" Morita (sometimes credited as Mike Morita) was a Japanese character actor who worked in Hollywood from the 1920s through around 1940. He had worked as a stage actor before beginning his career onscreen. Partial filmography *''Sou ...

as Satu *

Purnell Pratt Purnell Pratt (October 20, 1885 – July 25, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1914 and 1941. He was born in Bethel, Illinois and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography * ''The Great D ...

as Dr. Landers *

Irene Franklin Irene Franklin (June 13, 1885 - June 16, 1941) was an American actress on stage and screen, vaudeville comedian, and singer. Biography Irene Franklin was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1885. While many sources have suggested her birth year as ...

as Mrs. Laura Madison * George Irving as Dr. Jim Moffat * Adrian Rosley as Pastoli *

as Police Lieutenant O'Brien *

George "Gabby" Hayes George Francis "Gabby" Hayes (7 May 1885 – 9 February 1969) was an American actor. He began as something of a leading man and a character player, but he was best known for his numerous appearances in B-Western film series as the bewhiskered, c ...

as Wotkyns

Production

Principal photography on ''Death Flies East'' took place from December 27, 1934 to January 15, 1935.

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

loaned a

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which b ...

airliner that was featured in . Interiors and flight-deck scenes, however, were shot in a studio using a

mock-up In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a ''prototype'' if it provides at lea ...

.Beck 2016, p. 73.

Reception

Aviation historian Michael Paris equated ''Death Flies East'' as a progenitor of the "disaster film". He wrote, "... the stereotyped collection of passengers, essential in the disaster movie, were first created in the 1930s in films such as ''

Thirteen Hours by Air ''13 Hours by Air'' (also known as ''20 Hours by Air'') is a 1936 drama film made by Paramount Pictures and directed by Mitchell Leisen. The film stars Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett. The screenplay was written by Kenyon Nicholson and Bogart Rog ...

'' and ''Death Flies East''.Paris 1995, p. 198.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Beck, Simon D. ''The Aircraft-Spotter's Film and Television Companion''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. . * Paris, Michael. ''From the Wright Brothers to Top Gun: Aviation, Nationalism, and Popular Cinema.'' Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 1995. . * Parish, James Robert. ''Hollywood Character Actors''. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1978. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * {{tcmdb title, 72616, Death Flies East 1935 films 1935 mystery films American aviation films American mystery films Films directed by Phil Rosen Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films