''Fly-Away Baby'' (a.k.a. ''Fly Away Baby'') is a 1937 American crime-mystery film starring

Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell (June 30, 1904 – May 1, 1971) was an American actress. Farrell personified the smart and sassy, wisecracking blonde of the Classical Hollywood films. Farrell's career spanned more than 50 years, appearing in numerous Broadwa ...

as reporter

Torchy Blane Torchy Blane is a fictional female reporter, the main character of nine films produced by Warner Bros. between 1937 and 1939. The Torchy Blane series were popular second features during the later 1930s and were mixtures of mystery, action, adve ...

, along with her detective boyfriend, Steve McBride (

Barton MacLane Barton MacLane (December 25, 1902 – January 1, 1969) was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. He appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, including his role as General Martin Peterson on the 1960s NBC ...

) solving a murder and smuggling case during around-the-world flight. After the success of the first film ''

Smart Blonde ''Smart Blonde'' is a 1937 American mystery film directed by Frank McDonald. Starring Glenda Farrell as Torchy Blane, a fast-talking wisecracking female reporter, teaming up with her boyfriend detective Steve McBride, to solve the killing of an ...

'' (1937), Warner Bros. quickly produced a second film based on the Torchy Blane / Steve McBride crime-fighting duo, where Torchy once again beat the police and solved the crime all on her own.Ferrara, Greg
"Articles: 'Fly-Away Baby' (1937)."
''TCM'', 2019. Retrieved: July 3, 2019. Released on June 19, 1937, the film is followed by ''

The Adventurous Blonde ''The Adventurous Blonde'' is a 1937 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Robertson White and David Diamond. The film stars Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane. It was released on November 13, 1937. This is the ...

'' (1937).

Plot

When jeweler Milton Devereux is murdered and his collection of diamonds is stolen, crime reporter Torchy Blane (

) is assigned to the case. Her police detective boyfriend Steve McBride (

) is investigating the case, but Torchy tags along as he hunts for the murder weapon. She finds a gun hidden in a drainpipe in the alley behind the store. Torchy also learns that Milton had a confrontation with Sonny Croy (

Gordon Oliver Gordon Oliver (April 27, 1910 – January 26, 1995) was an American actor and film producer. He appeared in more than 40 films and television shows between 1933 and 1972. Biography Oliver began working in films in 1936, eventually working ...

). Croy is a reporter for the rival ''Star-Telegram'', and the son of the newspaper's owner, constantly in trouble over gambling debts and an outstanding loan. Sonny becomes a prime suspect, but he has an alibi from the victim's business partner Guy Allister ( Joe King) that they were having lunch at the time of the murder. Torchy and Steve question the waiter in the restaurant and find a clue on a menu. They trace Sonny to the apartment of nightclub dancer Ila Sayre ( Marcia Ralston) who insists that Sonny was on the phone with her at the time of the murder. Sonny explains the notes on the menu, saying that he is taking an aircraft and

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

flight around the world as a publicity stunt. Torchy decides to follow him and talks her newspaper into sending her around the world in a race with Sonny and another reporter for the ''Daily Journal'', Hughie Sprague (

Hugh O'Connell Hugh O'Connell (August 4, 1898 – January 19, 1943) was an American film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in ...

). The journey ahead takes Torchy and her rivals across the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, Asia, and Europe with stops at Honolulu, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and

Stuttgart, Germany Stuttgart (; Swabian German, Swabian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fe ...

. When the airship lands in Hawaii, Torchy searches Sonny's room and finds a message indicating that some items will be exchanged in Stuttgart. Sonny discovers her investigation after finding a lipstick Torchy accidentally dropped in his room. Later, Ila admits that she did not talk to Sonny on the phone. Steve, who has joined Torchy on board the airship, decides to arrest Sonny after Torchy points out that the restaurant's back door is opposite to the back door of the jewelry store. Sonny, however, is found dead himself and it is discovered that the diamonds hidden in the false bottom of his suitcase are not real. Torchy puts the various clues together and determines that Guy Allister was the real murderer, and Sonny was working for him to pay off his debt. After further investigation, they learn that Allister boarded the airship using a false name. When he tries to parachute out of the airship, he falls to his death when his parachute fails to open.

Cast

as "Torchy" Blane *

as Steve McBride *

as Lucien "Sonny" Croy *

as Hughie Sprague * Marcia Ralston as Ila Sayre *

Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to: Politics *Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21 * Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...

as Gahagan * Joe King as Mr. Guy Allister

Production

According to contemporary sources, Dorothy Kilgallen's idea for ''Fly-Away Baby'' was based on her own real-life participation in a race around the world by air with two male reporters. The race was featured in her book, ''Girl Around the World''. ''Fly-Away Baby'' was shot in part at the

Grand Central Air Terminal Grand Central Airport is a former airport in Glendale, California. Also known as Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT), the airport was an important facility for the growing Los Angeles suburb of Glendale in the 1920s and a key element in the devel ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

with the participation of

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 ...

. The aircraft seen in the film include the America Airlines Douglas DST-144 and

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 ...

and

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

Martin 130 "China Clipper". Although mainly seen in stock footage from newsreels, the German passenger airship LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' departs its hangar in Friedrichshafen, and is later seen in the sky over

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Other scenes of an airship are actually the American dirigible or above the orchards of California. Interior sets depicting staterooms, lounge and corridors of the ''Hindenburg'' were accurate studio

mockup 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 leas ...

s,Santoir, Christian
"Review: 'Fly Away Baby'."
''Aeromovies'', November 15, 2013. Retrieved: July 3, 2019.

Reception

Aviation film historian James M. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984), noted that despite a meager budget for ''Fly-Away Baby'', the film (featured) "Modest production values."

Home media

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte ...

released a boxed set DVD collection featuring all nine Torchy Blane films on March 29, 2011.Kehr, Dave
"The Torchy Blane Collection."
''The New York Times'', May 7, 2010. Retrieved: October 1, 2016.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Backer, Ron. ''Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood''. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2012. . * Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * * {{Torchy Blane 1937 films 1937 mystery films American aviation films American black-and-white films American detective films Films about journalists Films directed by Frank McDonald Warner Bros. films American mystery films 1930s crime films American crime films Publicity stunts in fiction Torchy Blane films 1930s American films