''Murder in the Air'' (aka ''The Enemy Within'') is a 1940 American

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 ...

with science fiction elements directed by

Lewis Seiler Lewis Seiler (September 30, 1890 – January 8, 1964) was an American film director. He directed more than 80 films between 1923 and 1958. Seiler was born in New York City and died in Hollywood, California. Partial filmography *''A Bankru ...

and written by Raymond L. Schrock. The film stars Ronald Reagan,

John Litel John Beach Litel (December 30, 1892 – February 3, 1972) was an American film and television actor. Early life Litel was born in Albany, Wisconsin. During World War I, he enlisted in the French Army and was twice decorated for bravery. Ba ...

Lya Lys Lya Lys (born Nathalie Margoulis; May 18, 1908 – June 2, 1986) was a German-born American actress. Biography Lya Lys was born in Berlin on May 18, 1908U.S. Naturalization Records August 7, 1933 to a Russian banker and French pediatrician who ...

, James Stephenson, Eddie Foy, Jr., Robert Warwick and Victor Zimmerman. ''Murder in the Air'' was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on June 1, 1940.

Plot

Agent Saxby (

), the head of the

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

in the

U.S. Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

, assigns agent Lieutenant "Brass" Bancroft ( Ronald Reagan) to impersonate a deceased spy Steve Swenko. Gabby Watters ( Eddie Foy, Jr.), Brass's assistant, finds a letter in the dead spy's shoe, addressed to Joe Garvey ( James Stephenson), the leader of a group being investigated by the Rice Committee on Unamerican Activities. Swenko's wife, Hilda Riker (

) finds out her husband is dead and recognizes Bancroft as an imposter. Before she can alert Garvey that there is a federal agent about, Gabby, posing as a

taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...

, follows Brass to Hilda's apartment and comes to his rescue. An unwitting Garvey assigns Bancroft to board the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

dirigible ''U.S.S. Mason'' on which an "Inertia Projector," a death-ray/

laser gun A laser weapon is a directed-energy weapon based on lasers. After decades of R&D, directed-energy weapons including lasers are still at the experimental stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-perfo ...

, is mounted. Once aboard, Bancroft is to contact Rumford (Victor Zimmerman), a spy posing as an assistant to Dr. Finchley ( Robert Warwick), a member of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. While he steals the plans for the inertia projector, Rumford orders Bancroft to destroy the dirigible but Garvey and Rumford learn Bancroft is a government agent. When the dirigible crashes during a storm, Rumford steals the plans and leaves the unconscious Bancroft to die in the crash. After Brass is rescued and taken to a Navy hospital, Garvey plans to fly Rumford and the stolen documents across the border. Saxby is alerted, and in a spectacular air chase, Garvey's aircraft is shot down by the inertia projector, sending both spies to their death in a burst of flames.

Cast

* Ronald Reagan as "Brass" Bancroft/ Steve Swenko *

as Saxby *

as Hilda Riker * James Stephenson as Joe Garvey * Eddie Foy, Jr. as Gabby Watters * Robert Warwick as Doctor Finchley * Victor Zimmerman as Rumford * William Gould as Admiral Winfield *

Kenneth Harlan Kenneth Daniel Harlan (July 26, 1895 – March 6, 1967) was an American actor of the silent film era, playing mostly romantic leads or adventurer types. Early life Harlan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of George W. Harlan and ac ...

as Commander Wayne *

Frank Wilcox Frank Reppy Wilcox (March 13, 1907 – March 3, 1974) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as Broadway plays. Background Wilcox was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Roger V. Wilcox. He was born in De Soto ...

as Hotel Clerk * Owen King as George Hayden * Dick Rich as John Kramer * Charles Brokaw as Otto * Helen Lynd as Dolly

Production

The aircraft in ''Murder in the Air'' are: * Douglas DC-2 * Douglas DC-3 *

Boeing 247 The Boeing Model 247 is an early United States airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal ( anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.

c/n 1736, NC13354 * Travel Air 6000 *

Stearman C3 Stearman is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Lloyd Stearman (1898–1975), American aviation pioneer * Richard Stearman (born 1987), English footballer * William Stearman (1813–1846) English cricketer * William L. Stearman (b ...

R *

Buhl Airsedan The Buhl AirSedan was a family of American civil cabin sesquiplane aircraft developed and manufactured by the Buhl Aircraft Company in the late 1920s. One example completed the first transcontinental non-stop roundtrip flight, made in 1929 by ...

Santoir, Christian
"Review: 'Murder in the Air' (1940)."
''Aeromovies'', September 17, 2011. Retrieved: July 14, 2019.

Reception

Film reviewer

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, in his review for ''

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 ...

'', enjoyed 'Murder in the Air', "Ronald Reagan and the Warners' FBI agents have the situation well in hand. After some sixty minutes of highly incredible melodramatic incident, the government's prized 'inertia projector' is rescued from foreign hands and the saboteurs are either killed off or jailed. (The 'inertia projector' is an instrument which fouls electric current at the source; its amazing practicality is illustrated when it is focused on the plane in which the enemy agents attempt to flee the country.) Mr. Reagan, who had seen service previously with the Warners' FBI force, handles his role of counter-espionage agent with the customary daring. Eddie Foy Jr. has a few good comical moments, and Lya Lys of the golden tresses makes an attractive Mata Hari. The screen play by Raymond Schrock is compact, if not 'original', and the direction by Lewis Seiler is swiftly paced. All of which tends to make 'Murder in the Air' acceptable program fare."Crowther, Bosley
"Movie review: 'The Ghost Breakers', a comic thriller, at Paramount; Spy pictures at the Rialto and Palace."
''NYTimes.com'', July 4, 1940. Aviation film historian James H, Farmer in ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation'' (1984), described ''Murder in the Air'' as, "... an action-packed thriller."Farmer 1984, p. 321.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Farmer, James H. ''Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books Inc., 1984. . * Pendo, Stephen. ''Aviation in the Cinema''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1985. .

External links

* * {{Lewis Seiler 1940 films American aviation films Warner Bros. films American drama films 1940 drama films Films directed by Lewis Seiler American black-and-white films Films about the United States Secret Service 1940s English-language films 1940s American films