Loved the shots of airports -- Dallas, Phoenix, Fresno, etc., just single buildings with the name in block letters on the roof. And the tri-motors, and the well-dressed passengers. Fast-forward 75 years....
But what really got to me was the hammer and sickle emblem and what appeared to be a Chinese ideogram adjacent the logo, aft of the pilot's seat on the starboard side of the fuselage. Remember when the mutual acquaintance Neil and Jill encounter says that Jim'd become a general in a Chinese rebel army? That, based on the hammer and sickle, could only have been the People's Revolutionary Army of Mao Tse Dung!!! Never mind the undies and the unwed twosome in bed -- would that logo and that reference have survived during the Cold War?
Additional observation 12/27: This film of the 30's with the soviet emblem may/must also reflect the influence on and charm of communism in Hollywood and much of America during the Depression. Adds to the historical value of this terrific film.
Also I liked the American Dream aspects of two guys from Winnemucca taking at least part of the world by storm, Red-Blooded (literally and copiously in Jim's case)American Boys.
Others have commented more ably than I on the aerobatics, etc. I loved it all.
This gem deserved more than the mere 1.5 stars Osborne and Co. rated it on TCM, if only for recording parts of American history of the early 30s.
But what really got to me was the hammer and sickle emblem and what appeared to be a Chinese ideogram adjacent the logo, aft of the pilot's seat on the starboard side of the fuselage. Remember when the mutual acquaintance Neil and Jill encounter says that Jim'd become a general in a Chinese rebel army? That, based on the hammer and sickle, could only have been the People's Revolutionary Army of Mao Tse Dung!!! Never mind the undies and the unwed twosome in bed -- would that logo and that reference have survived during the Cold War?
Additional observation 12/27: This film of the 30's with the soviet emblem may/must also reflect the influence on and charm of communism in Hollywood and much of America during the Depression. Adds to the historical value of this terrific film.
Also I liked the American Dream aspects of two guys from Winnemucca taking at least part of the world by storm, Red-Blooded (literally and copiously in Jim's case)American Boys.
Others have commented more ably than I on the aerobatics, etc. I loved it all.
This gem deserved more than the mere 1.5 stars Osborne and Co. rated it on TCM, if only for recording parts of American history of the early 30s.