''Storm Over the Andes'' (aka ''Alas sobre El Chaco'') is a 1935 American adventure film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Jack Holt,

Antonio Moreno Antonio Garrido Monteagudo (September 26, 1887 – February 15, 1967), better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s. Early life and silent fil ...

and

Mona Barrie Mona Barrie (born Mona Barlee Smith; 18 December 1909 – 27 June 1964) was an English-born actress, active on stage in Australia before establishing a career in the US, and in Hollywood films. Career Born Mona Barlee Smith in London to comedi ...

. The low-budget programmer is set against the backdrop of the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõParaguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

and Bolivia. A separate Spanish-language version, titled ''Alas Sobre El Chaco'', also directed by Cabanne, was made. "Alas sobre El Chaco."
''American Film Institute'', 2019. Retrieved: July 29, 2019.

Plot

Cynical pilot Captain Robert Kent ( Jack Holt has been hired on as a mercenary for Bolivia in their war with Paraguay. Major Manuel Tovar (

) in charge of the men at Entre Rios where Kent is assigned, grounds Kent for dangerous flying. Kent also makes an enemy of Mitchell (

Grant Withers Granville Gustavus Withers (January 17, 1905 – March 27, 1959) was an American film actor who acted under the screen name Grant Withers. With early beginnings in the silent era, Withers moved into sound films, establishing himself with a lis ...

), another flyer, when he flirts with Mitchell's girl Juanita (Anita Camargo), giving her a distinctive snake ring, one of many he has cynically given out. Tovar says nothing is more wonderful than giving your love to one woman forever. When Paraguayan bombers fly over Entre Rios, everyone except Kent prepares to attack. Determined to fly, Kent knocks out Mitchell and takes his place. Kent is slightly wounded in the attack, and he is sent to the hospital in La Paz to recuperate. Tovar forgives him for disobeying orders. Against his nurse's orders, Kent leaves the hospital to take part in a fiesta, where he meets a beautiful and mysterious woman named Teresa (

). He gives her one of his snake rings. This time, Kent has fallen in love, he tries to take back the ring, but Teresa begs to keep it as a memento. She slips off before he can learn where she lives. The next day, Tovar arrives in La Paz to celebrate his wedding anniversary and bring Kent back to Entre Rios. Kent learns that Teresa is Tovar's wife. Tovar finds the snake ring that Kent gave Teresa, then overhears the two of them talking on the balcony and assumes that they had an affair. Tovar refuses to listen to Teresa's explanations Flying back to the front, Tovar tries to kill himself and Kent diving their aircraft toward earth before Kent wrestles the controls away from him. After landing, Kent tries to convince Tovar that nothing happened between him and Teresa. Remaining unconvinced, Tovar flies a suicide mission and is shot down behind enemy lines. Teresa flies to Entre Rios to try to save her marriage and begs Kent to rescue her husband. Kent parachutes into the jungle and brings Tovar to safety. At a Paraguayan airstrip, they see flying ace El Zorro (José Rubio) who is called "the fox who flies like an eagle". Catching El Zorro warming up his bomber, the pair take control. Tovar bombs the Paraguayan ammunition warehouse, but when the warehouse is destroyed, and they turn the aircraft toward home, Mitchell, who has vowed to destroy El Zorro, attacks. Not knowing his own men are inside the aircraft, Mitchell wounds Kent in the attack. Tovar and Teresa, now reconciled, rush Kent to a hospital in La Paz where it appears that he will recover.

Cast

* Jack Holt as Bob Kent *

as Maj. Tovar Rojas *

as Theresa *

Gene Lockhart Edwin Eugene Lockhart (July 18, 1891 – March 31, 1957)"Gene Lockhart"
''The ...

as Cracker *

as Mitchell * Barry Norton as Diaz * George J. Lewis as Garcia * Juanita Garfias as Pepita * Luis Díaz Flores as Silvera * Juan Torena as Milano *

Hans Heinrich von Twardowski Hans Heinrich von Twardowski (5 May 1898 – 19 November 1958) was a German film actor. Career in Germany Twardowski was born in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin in Poland). He made his first film appearance in the 1920 Robert Wiene-directed horr ...

as Oberto * José A. Caraballo as Cabello * Francisco Moreno as Leon * Alma Real as Nurse * Francisco Mará as General * Anita Camargo as Juanita * José Rubio as El Zorro *

Max Wagner Max Wagner (November 28, 1901 – November 16, 1975) was a Mexican-born American film actor who specialized in playing small parts such as thugs, gangsters, sailors, henchmen, bodyguards, cab drivers and moving men, appearing more than 400 ...

as Sentry * Carlos Albert as Dancer * Greta Albert as Dancer * Ted Billings as Little Man * Hector De Saa as Mechanic * Juan Duval as Assistant * Charles Fallon as Cafe Proprietor * Eugenia Fause as Waitress * June Gittelson as Big Woman * Ruth Gonzales as Barmaid * Isabel La Mal as Mrs. Livingston * Victor Lewisas Officer * Alberto Morin as Intern * Alfonso Pedroza as El Diablo * Lucio Villegas as Doctor

Production

Principal photography on ''Storm Over the Andes'' took place from June 9 to July 19, 1935. Stunt pilot Garland Lincoln was hired by

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 ...

to fly in ''Storm Over the Andes'', using Lincoln's hangar at the Metropolitan Airport, which served as the Bolivian air base. He also provided a number of aircraft for the film including his Garland-Lincoln LF-1.

Spanish-language version

The Spanish-language version, titled ''Alas sobre El Chaco'' (en: ''Wings Over the Chaco''), was also directed by Cabanne, and stars José Crespo,

Lupita Tovar Guadalupe Natalia Tovar (27 July 1910 – 12 November 2016), known professionally as Lupita Tovar, was a Mexican-born American actress best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish-language version of '' Drácula'', filmed in Los Angeles b ...

and

. ''Alas sobre El Chaco'' was released in November 1935.

Reception

Aviation film historian James H. Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984) described ''Storm Over the Andes'' as an "above-average Jack Holt air adventure." Reviewer Hal Erickson noted, "For a man who was reportedly deathly afraid of flying, Jack Holt certainly made more than his share of aviation pictures." Erickson, Hal
"Review: 'Storm Over the Andes' (1935)."
''Allmovie.com'', 2019. Retrieved: July 29, 2019.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Jarvinen, Lisa. ''The Rise of Spanish-language Filmmaking: Out from Hollywood's Shadow, 1929-1939''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutger's University Press, 2012. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. . * Wynne, H. Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots and Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies''. Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. .

External links

* * {{Christy Cabanne 1935 films 1935 adventure films American adventure films Films directed by Christy Cabanne Universal Pictures films Films set in South America Films shot in California American multilingual films American black-and-white films Films scored by Heinz Roemheld 1935 multilingual films American aviation films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films