''Air Mail'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

adventure film directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, based on a story by

Dale Van Every Dale Van Every (July 23, 1896 in Van, Michigan – May 28, 1976 in Santa Barbara, California) was an American writer, film producer, and studio executive. Biography Van Every's parents were Wilbert and Estella (Palmer) Van Every from Petoskey, M ...

and Frank "Spig" Wead. The film stars

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

and

Gloria Stuart Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles in Pre-Code films, and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Rose ...

."Air Mail (John Ford, 1932)"
grunes.wordpress.com; retrieved September 1, 2014. A copy is preserved in the Library of Congress.

Plot

Pilot Mike Miller (Ralph Bellamy) owns and operates Desert Airport, an air mail base at the foot of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

. He leads a group of young pilots who risk their lives flying through dangerous weather and over treacherous terrain to deliver air mail. When Joe Barnes ( Ward Bond) crashes at the base, the other pilots attempt to retrieve the precious mail from the burning wreckage. Mike consoles his girlfriend Ruth (Gloria Stuart), who is also Joe's sister. Mike now realizes that he has to hire a replacement, the reckless "Duke" Talbot (Pat O'Brien). Duke is a good pilot, but his bravado and affair with Irene (

Lilian Bond Lilian Bond (January 18, 1908 – January 25, 1991) was an English-American actress based in the United States. Life and career Bond was born in London and made her first professional stage appearance at the age of 14 in the pantomime ''Dic ...

), wife of fellow pilot "Dizzy" Wilkins (

Russell Hopton Harry Russell Hopton (February 18, 1900 – April 7, 1945) was an American film actor and director. Biography Hopton was born in New York City, New York. He appeared in 110 films between 1926 and 1945, often playing streetwise characters f ...

), has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the tightly knit group of aviators. When Dizzy crashes and dies in a blinding snow storm, Mike chooses to take over the last leg of his flight in poor weather even though doctors have told him that his vision has deteriorated. When he also crashes during the blizzard, his distress call reveals that he is still alive, but trapped in an inaccessible mountain valley. Duke considers the rescue as a challenge, commandeering an aircraft and flying to the remote valley. He lands roughly, damaging his aircraft, but manages to fly out with Mike on board. As they reach Desert Airport, Duke knows he cannot land safely so he forces Mike to parachute before he crash-lands. As the ground crew pull him out of the wreck, Duke is badly injured, but alive.

Cast

as Mike Miller *

as Ruth Barnes *

as "Duke" Talbot *

Slim Summerville Slim Summerville (born George Joseph Somerville; July 10, 1892 – January 5, 1946), was an American film actor and director best known for his work in comedies. Early life Summerville was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his mother d ...

as "Slim" McCune (as "Slim" Summerville) *

as Irene Wilkins *

as "Dizzy" Wilkins * David Landau as "Pop" *

Leslie Fenton Leslie Fenton (12 March 1902 – 25 March 1978) was an English actor and film director. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1923 and 1945. Early life Fenton was born on 12 March 1902 in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. He emigrated to ...

as Tony Dressel *

Frank Albertson Francis Healey Albertson (February 2, 1909 – February 29, 1964) was an American actor who had supporting roles in films such as ''It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) and ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho'' (1960). Early life Albertson was a nat ...

as Tommy Bogan * Hans Fuerberg as "Heinie" Kramer *

Thomas Carrigan Thomas Carrigan (April 13, 1886 in Lapeer - October 2, 1941) was an actor who starred in silent films in the U.S. He appeared in early Selig films and played dime store novel detective character Nick Carter (literary character), Nick Carter i ...

as "Sleepy" Collins (as Tom Carrigan) * William Daly as "Tex" Lane

Production

''Air Mail'' was primarily filmed at Universal Studios stages and back lots. A special stage was built to film miniature scenes where a gantry was constructed above the stage to allow models to fly over a large miniature set. For ''Air Mail'', 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 ...

outbid other pilots from the

Associated Motion Picture Pilots Associated Motion Picture Pilots (AMPP) was a union of aviators who worked as stunt pilots in the Hollywood film industry. The group, one of the first unions in film work, was organized by Pancho Barnes in 1931Kelly, 2008, p. 8 and formally establ ...

, leading to a contract dispute that was taken to the American Federation of Labor. The decision to allow non-union member Mantz and his team of pilots to fly was dependent on an equal number of union pilots being hired for non-flying duties. Mantz flew a Curtiss-Wright Travel Air Model 16K in a spectacular stunt, flying through a hangar at the Bishop Airport,

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of . The city was ...

Reception

''Air Mail'' was well received in an era not far removed from a time when air mail pilots like

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

were idolized. Critical reviews praised the atmospheric settings and flying scenes, but had difficulties with the underlying personal dramas. In his review in ''

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 ...

'', Mourdant Hall noted, " 'Air Mail' is handicapped by sequences that are either too long or too melodramatic, but it atones partly for these shortcomings by interesting details of activities in a flying-station, which in this instance happens to be known as Desert Airport. This curious combination of compelling truths and incredible fiction has a group of characters who, as usual in similar tales, are either too noble or too shameful or callous." The review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' echoed similar concerns. "(The) Picture is a fund of interesting atmosphere about the air mail service. Radio exchanges are coming in and going out all the time, couched in technical language such as 'Visibility zero, ceiling zero. Caution to all planes.' It's interesting enough, but in essence the producer has dramatized the air mail service first and slipped in a human story as a second thought.""Review: 'Air Mail'."
''

'', December 31, 1931.

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Dwiggins, Don. ''Hollywood Pilot: The Biography of Paul Mantz''. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1967. * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links