Richard Barthelmess plays Jim Blaine, an airplane pilot with over 4500 hours in the air when his plane crashes and he is unfairly held at fault for the incident. After he recovers from his injuries, he returns home where he finds his brother Neil (Tom Brown) has also gotten the flying bug. Jim voluntarily gives up flying knowing that no company will hire him after he has been branded as he has been. Later, working as a teller, he encounters stunt flyer Jill Collins (Sally Eilers) after her parachute lands her in a tree. Shortly thereafter her partner and brother is killed in a crash, and Jim asks for the job of piloting her plane in the air circus. She gives him that chance and soon sparks are flying between the two both in the air and on the ground. However, there is one problem. Jim has seen enough death in the air to dissuade him from the responsibility of a family given that he might not be around to support them. This is an opinion he voices often much to the disappointment of Jill. After an accident at the air circus that lays Jim up in the hospital for over a month, brother Neil offers to take over for Jim in the air circus. While recuperating, Jim has a change of heart and catches up to the air circus with a proposal ready for Jill. However, the dynamics between the three - Jill, Neil, and Jim - shift mightily when Jim surprises his brother and Jill and finds them snuggling close together - in bed.
Not only is this film daring sexually, it is still quite interesting and exciting today, especially the aerial sequences. Since director William Wellman was a flyer himself, this does not surprise me. What does surprise me is that Richard Barthelmess just never seemed to score a hit with 30's audiences in spite of some strong performances in some very good pictures of which this is one. Someone has already mentioned the other pre-code element of this film, but it's worth mentioning again particularly considering the red scares of the time. Late in the film Jim jumps into his plane which bears the marking of his mercenary wanderings as a pilot. The plane has several flags on it which I didn't recognize, but it had one symbol that is universally recognizable even today - the hammer and sickle. It is mentioned earlier in the film that Jim had been flying for a faction in a civil war in China, so apparently Jim was working for the Communist Chinese, who were fighting on the mainland as early as the 1920's. To me this was a daring piece of symbolism even for the pre-code early 30's. Highly recommended if you like good action films and precode cinema.
Not only is this film daring sexually, it is still quite interesting and exciting today, especially the aerial sequences. Since director William Wellman was a flyer himself, this does not surprise me. What does surprise me is that Richard Barthelmess just never seemed to score a hit with 30's audiences in spite of some strong performances in some very good pictures of which this is one. Someone has already mentioned the other pre-code element of this film, but it's worth mentioning again particularly considering the red scares of the time. Late in the film Jim jumps into his plane which bears the marking of his mercenary wanderings as a pilot. The plane has several flags on it which I didn't recognize, but it had one symbol that is universally recognizable even today - the hammer and sickle. It is mentioned earlier in the film that Jim had been flying for a faction in a civil war in China, so apparently Jim was working for the Communist Chinese, who were fighting on the mainland as early as the 1920's. To me this was a daring piece of symbolism even for the pre-code early 30's. Highly recommended if you like good action films and precode cinema.