''Lost in the Stratosphere'' is a 1934 American

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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Melville W. Brown Melville W. Brown (March 10, 1887 – January 31, 1938) was an American film director, screenwriter and occasional actor. He began his career on the local stage in Oregon, in stock companies and vaudeville, before moving to California and wor ...

and starring

William Cagney William Jerome Cagney (March 26, 1905 – January 3, 1988) was an American film producer and actor, remembered for roles in the Monogram Pictures films '' Lost in the Stratosphere'' and '' Flirting with Danger'', both filmed in 1934. Career H ...

Edward J. Nugent Edward James Nugent (February 7, 1904 – January 3, 1995) was an American film and stage actor. Biography Born in 1904 in New York City, Nugent appeared in more than 80 films between 1928 and 1937. He subsequently had a second acting career o ...

, and

June Collyer June Collyer (born Dorothea Heermance, August 19, 1906 – March 16, 1968) was an American film actress of the 1920s and 1930s. Early life Born in New York City, Collyer chose to use her mother's maiden name when she decided to pursue acti ...

. In one of his few roles in front of the cameras, Cagney was the

lookalike A look-alike, double, or doppelgänger is a person who bears a strong physical resemblance to another person, excluding cases like twins and other instances of family resemblance. Some look-alikes have been notable individuals in their own right, ...

younger brother of

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

Plot

In the mid-1930s, in the early days of military aviation, an era of open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s and

biplanes A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

, two U.S. Army pilots, in a friendly rivalry, are always trying to get the best of each other. 2nd Lt. Tom Cooper (

) gets the nickname "Soapy", from his friend, 1st Lt. Richard "Dick" Wood, "Woody" (

). Tom's trademark gift to a female friend is an inscribed bar of soap. Tom finds out that "Ida Johnson", the girl he's been seeing while Dick has been off the base, is really Dick's fiancée, Evelyn Worthington (

). She introduced herself as Ida (

Hattie McDaniel Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893October 26, 1952) was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in ''Gone with the Wind'' (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African ...

), using her maid's name as a lark. When Dick finds the tell-tale bar of soap from Tom, it's no

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...

to him, and two friends are at odds. Dick breaks off the engagement while Evelyn is torn between two loves. The two pilots are picked to go on a dangerous balloon mission launched into the

stratosphere The stratosphere () is the second layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere. The stratosphere is an atmospheric layer composed of stratified temperature layers, with the warm layers of air ...

, to evaluate high altitude flight capability. Before they get off the ground, the tense relationship has caused friction between the former friends. The generals keep reminding them that the equipment on board is more important than they are. When a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

takes them thousands of miles off course, the two flyers are "lost in the

". It does not look like either of them will survive until Evelyn begs them to bail out. Dick, finally realizing Tom's innocence, knocks him out and throws him off the balloon, so he can come down safely by parachute, thereby jeopardizing his own chances of survival. After a crash landing in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, from his hospital bed, Dick gives his blessing to Tom and Evelyn.

Cast

as Lt. Tom "Soapy" Cooper *

as Lt. Richard "Woody" Wood (credited as Eddie Nugent) *

as Evelyn Worthington *

Edmund Breese Edmund Breese (June 18, 1871 – April 6, 1936) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Breese was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Renshaw Breese and Josephine Busby. The Opera House in Eureka Springs ...

as Col. Brooks *

Lona Andre Lona Andre (born Launa Anderson; March 2, 1915 – September 18, 1992) was an American film actress, golfer, and businesswoman. Biography Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Andre attracted attention with her first films in Hollywood and was named ...

as Sophie * Frank McGlynn Sr. as Col. Worthington (credited as Frank McGlynn) *

Pauline Garon Marie Pauline Garon (September 9, 1900 – August 30, 1965) was a Canadian American silent film, feature film, and stage actress. Early life Marie Pauline Garon was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 9, 1898, the daughter of Pierre-A ...

as Hilda Garon *

Matt McHugh Matthew O. McHugh (January 22, 1894 – February 22, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 200 films between 1931 and 1955, primarily in small cameo parts. Career McHugh came from a theatrical family. His parents ran a s ...

as Matt O'Toole * Russ Clark as Sgt. Enfield * John Mack as Sgt. Baker (credited as Jack Mack) *

June Gittelson June Gittelson (May 6, 1910November 28, 1993) was an American film actress. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1928 and 1945. Career Due to her rotund figure, Gittelson was often cast as a love interest who often intimidated her husband ...

as Gretchen *

as Ida Johnson

Production

Principal photography on ''Lost in the Stratosphere'' began August 10, 1934 at RKO Pathé Studios. Location shots also took place at

Mines Field Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the W ...

at Los Angeles playing the role of a military air base. Both stock and studio cinematography utilized a

Stearman M-2 Speedmail The Stearman M-2 Speedmail (nicknamed the Bull Stearman) was a mail-carrier aircraft produced by the Stearman Aircraft Company of Wichita, Kansas. It first flew in January 1929. The Speedmail was a single-seat biplane, with two large cargo compa ...

and

Alexander Eaglerock The Alexander Eaglerock was a biplane produced in the United States in the 1920s by Alexander Aircraft Company of Colorado Springs, Colorado.Payne, Stephen, ed. ''Canadian Wings'' (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.162. It was a fixed-gear th ...

biplane. ''Lost in the Stratosphere'' also uses news clips showing

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

inflation of a balloon and the flight of the first

Explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

USAAC balloon with the oversized spherical cabin reconstructed in the studio.Santoir, Christian
"Review: 'Lost in the Stratosphere'."
''Aeromovies''. Retrieved: February 17, 2017.

Reception

Aviation film historian Christian Santoir reviewed ''Lost in the Stratosphere'' as a "period piece". He noted: "At the beginning of the film, mention was made of the cancellation by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

of contracts for the carriage of mail by private companies in February 1934. This decision proved disastrous, 'Being unprepared to fly in all weather. After the death of 12 military pilots, in 78 days of operations, the mail was returned to private carriers. Three-quarters of the film is concentrated on the love affairs of the two pilots who constitute the background of this rather mediocre comedy. The balloon flight occupies only the last 10 minutes of the film."

Home media

''Lost in the Stratosphere'' is in the

Public Domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

and is available online at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

. Released on DVD on August 23, 2005, the film is in widespread release due to its status as a public domain film."Overview: 'Lost in the Stratosphere'."
''Turner Classic Movies''. Retrieved: February 17, 2107.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lost In The Stratosphere 1934 films American aviation films American comedy-drama films American black-and-white films Monogram Pictures films Films directed by Melville W. Brown 1934 comedy-drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films