John Ford- Air Mail (1932)

[ethanedwards]

AIR MAIL

DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD
PRODUCED BY CARL LAEMMLE Jr.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES

..
Ford on the Airmail set

Information from IMDb

Plot Summary
Level headed Mike Miller runs Desert Airport, an air mail base full of daring young pilots
risking their lives to get the mail through-regardless of the weather.
Following the death of one pilot in a horrific crash,
Miller is forced to engage the wild and arrogant, yet skillful, Duke Talbot.
When pilot Dizzy Wilkins crashes and dies in a storm,
Talbot runs off with the young Mrs.Wilkins, leaving Miller to complete
the last leg of Wilkins' mail run. Miller crashes on a mountain.
Alive but in an inaccessible location, Miller tries to endure his injuries
while futile attempts are made by air mail pilots to rescue him.
Hearing of the impossibility of reaching Miller's crash site in time to save him,
Talbot can't resist the challenge of trying an airborne rescue himself.
Written by Gary Jackson

Full Cast
Ralph Bellamy ... Mike Miller
Gloria Stuart ... Ruth Barnes
Pat O'Brien ... Duke Talbot
Slim Summerville ... 'Slim' McCune (as 'Slim' Summerville)
Lilian Bond ... Irene Wilkins
Russell Hopton ... 'Dizzy' Wilkins
David Landau ... 'Pop'
Leslie Fenton ... Tony Dressel
Frank Albertson ... Tommy Bogan
Hans Fuerberg ... 'Heinie' Kramer
Thomas Carrigan ... 'Sleepy' Collins (as Tom Carrigan)
William Daly ... 'Tex' Lane
Frank Beal ... Passenger to Kansas City (uncredited)
Ward Bond ... Joe Barnes (uncredited)
Wade Boteler ... Medical Examiner (uncredited)
Edmund Burns ... Radio Announcer (uncredited)
Alene Carroll ... (uncredited)
Enrico Caruso Jr. ... (uncredited)
Pat Davis ... Passenger Plane Pilot (uncredited)
Charles De La Motte ... Passenger Plane Pilot (uncredited)
James Donlan ... Passenger Passing Out Cigars (uncredited)
James Flavin ... Man with Radio Report (uncredited)
Francis Ford ... Passenger Who'll Die on a Train (uncredited)
George Irving ... John Montgomery (uncredited)
Lew Kelly ... Drunken Passenger (uncredited)
Louise Mackintosh ... Passenger Writing Postcard (uncredited)
Beth Milton ... Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Jack Pennick ... Airport Postal Worker (uncredited)
Katherine Perry ... Passenger (uncredited)
Harry Strang ... Bus Driver with Lantern (uncredited)
Harry Tenbrook ... Airport Worker Yelling 'Crash Wagon' (uncredited)
Billy Thorpe ... (uncredited)
Jim Thorpe ... Indian (uncredited)

Writing Credits
Dale Van Every story
Frank Wead story and screenplay

Cinematography
Karl Freund

Trivia
First movie to feature an airplane-flying-through-a-hangar stunt, performed by stunt pilot Paul Mantz.

At the time of the film's production, Universal built a special stage to film miniature scenes. A gantry was constructed above the stage so a model biplane could be 'flown' over a huge miniature set. The stage is still on the Universal lot and is numbered 27. The stage also contains a large water tank. At one time it was known as the John Fulton Stage since when the stage was built, Fulton was in charge of all visual effects for Universal.

Memorable Quote
Duke Talbot:
I'da made that flight to Paris but Lindy beat me to it.

Filming Locations
Bishop, California, USA
Stage 27, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

[ethanedwards]

Airmail released in 1931 and starring
Ralph Bellamy, Gloria Stuart, Ruth Barnes and
Pat O'Brien.

Air Mail like other Ford movies of the time,
was made after Duke's meeting with the director.
They featured Ward Bond,
and others of the emerging John Ford Stock Company.
so it is also possible therefore, that Duke may have been involved

User Review

17 March 2009 | by Douglas Gordon (United States)

The air-mail pilots who fly from a small airport in the Rocky Mountains are determined but not paid well, and there are occasional fatal crashes. It's a tradition of long standing that when this happens, chief pilot Mike Miller (Ralph Bellamy) makes the next flight himself. Daredevil Duke Talbot (Pat O'Brien) is hired; he starts an affair with Irene Wilkins (Lilian Bond), wife of pilot Dizzy (Russell Hopton). A fierce snowstorm rages when Dizzy next takes off. He crashes and is killed, so Mike makes the next flight. He crashes in an inaccessible valley, but survives. Although Duke has now run off with Irene, when he hears about Mike's crash, he decides to fly to the rescue.

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