''West Point of the Air'' is a 1935 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-g ...

directed by

Richard Rosson Richard Rosson (April 4, 1893 – May 31, 1953) was an American film director and actor. As an actor, he was known for the nearly 100 films he was in during the silent era. As a director, he directed the logging sequences in the 1936 film '' C ...

and starring Wallace Beery, Robert Young,

Lewis Stone Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular '' Andy ...

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...

, Rosalind Russell, and Robert Taylor. The screenplay concerns pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the early 1930s.Nixon, Rob
"Articles: West Point of the Air".
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: August 12, 2013.

Plot

At Randolph Field, Texas, Master Sergeant "Big Mike" Stone (Wallace Beery) has aspirations for his son, "Little Mike" (Robert Young) to follow in his footsteps as an aviator. Following graduation from West Point, Little Mike, along with his best friend, Phil Carter (Russell Hardie), enter pilot training at Randolph Field, commanded by Phil's father, General Carter (Lewis Stone), but complications soon arise. Little Mike has a childhood sweetheart, Phil's sister, "Skip" (Maureen O'Sullivan) but is also being pursued by divorcee Dare Marshall (Rosalind Russell). Returning from a late date with Dare the next morning, Little Mike's car causes Phil to crash during his solo flight, which ends with Phil losing a leg. Seeing what may happen after a crash, General Carter orders all the flying cadets into the air so they won't lose their nerve. Little Mike, blaming himself for his friend's accident, loses control during a flight check while landing in a cross-wind, destroying his landing gear and causing another aircraft flown by his friend "Jasky" Jaskarelli (Robert Taylor) to crash in flames. Big Mike takes to the sky to bring his son back safely but strikes him when Little Mike breaks down in hysterics. Big Mike is court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the service. Having lost his nerve and planning to resign from the army, Little Mike comes upon his father, now a drunk and toiling as a mechanic. Trying to help his son once again, Big Mike takes his place on a flare dropping mission flying his own aircraft, a beat up old war surplus airplane. The plane breaks up under the stress of a diving maneuver. Big Mike crashes into the water, and his son comes to his aid in a daring underwater rescue and proves his mettle. The Secretary of War recognizes both men's valor, reinstates Big Mike to his former rank, and allows Little Mike to graduate. Dare disapproves of Little Mike staying in the army, but he rejects her, realizing that Skip is his true love.

Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified): * Wallace Beery as "Big Mike" Stone * Robert Young as "Little Mike" Stone *

as General Carter *

as "his daughter Skip" *

Russell Hardie William Russell Hardie (May 20, 1904 – July 21, 1973) was an American film actor. He appeared in ''The Costello Case'', '' Broadway to Hollywood'', '' Stage Mother'', ''Christopher Bean'', '' As the Earth Turns'', '' Men in White'', ''Opera ...

as "her brother Phil" * Rosalind Russell as Dare Marshall * James Gleason as "Bags" * Henry Wadsworth as Lieutenant Pettis * Robert Taylor as Jaskarelli * Robert Livingston as Pippinger * Frank Conroy as Captain Cannon *

Adrian Morris Adrian Grant Morris (18 May 1929 – 6 December 2004) was an England, English painter. Early life Morris was born in London, England. He spent his childhood in rural Somerset before the family moved to the United States, where he attended the ...

as Randolph Air Field Instructor (uncredited)

Production

''West Point of the Air'' was filmed on location at Randolph Field near

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

in the spring of 1934. The film's aerial shots were a combination of live action footage, models, and

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 ...

mock-ups of Consolidated PT-3 flight trainers, and aircraft of an earlier vintage, Curtiss Model D (replica), Curtiss JN-4 and

Fokker D.VII The Fokker D.VII was a German World War I fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz of the Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. Germany produced around 3,300 D.VII aircraft in the second half of 1918. In service with the ''Luftstreitkräfte'', the D.VII qu ...

. Aerial photography was shot by noted aerial

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

Elmer Dyer Elmer Dyer, A.S.C. (August 24, 1892 – February 8, 1970) was an American cinematographer, the first film cameraman to specialize in aerial photography. Dyer was born in Lawrence, Kansas and died in Hollywood. During World War II Dyer was assig ...

with Hollywood film pilot Paul Mantz (uncredited) performing some of the aerial stunts. Although Mantz was in charge of the aerial portion of the film, Frank Clarke did the majority of the flying in his Travel Air Speedwing. As aviation films in the 1930s were increasingly finding it difficult to create the spectacular crashes that were often a feature of earlier periods, not only was safety a factor but also the number of war-weary aircraft that had been the staple of the time, were becoming harder to find. A Fokker D. VII that had flown in '' Hell's Angels'' (1930), was refurbished by Mantz and appeared in ''West Point of the Air''.

Reception

Produced in an era of an America unprepared for war, and in the wake of the Air Corps' loss of prestige in the "Air Mail Fiasco" of the year before, ''West Point of the Air'' was recognized for its value as a "recruiting poster" for the military. The 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 ...

'', emphasized that aspect of the film, "The Hollywood cinema continues its arguments on behalf of preparedness in "West Point of the Air," which chants the glories of the military service and the importance of iron discipline." In a more recent review, Leonard Maltin remarked that, "Master Sergeant Beery pushes reluctant son Young through army air training for his own satisfaction. Good cast enlivens standard drama."Maltin, Leonard
"Leonard Matin Review: West Point of the Air".
''Turner Classic Movies.'' Retrieved: August 12, 2013.

Box office

According to MGM records the film earned $677,000 in the US and Canada and $640,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $262,000.

References

Notes Citations Bibliography * Carlson, Mark. ''Flying on Film: A Century of Aviation in the Movies, 1912–2012''. Duncan, Oklahoma: BearManor Media, 2012. . * Farmer, James H. ''Broken Wings: Hollywood's Air Crashes.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Pub Co., 1984. . * Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". ''The Making of the Great Aviation Films'', General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989. * Wynne, Hugh. ''The Motion Picture Stunt Pilots & Hollywood's Classic Aviation Movies.'' Missoula, Montana: Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1987. .

External links

* * {{Richard Rosson 1935 films American romantic drama films American aviation films American black-and-white films Films shot in San Antonio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1935 romantic drama films Films directed by Richard Rosson 1930s English-language films 1930s American films