This was made for an audience in 1933 for whom airplanes were incredible amazing things to behold. Unless you're a massive fan of 1930s engineering or aeronautics then this picture is not for you. Being made by Wild Bill Wellman, who like his friend Howard Hawks was an ex-aviator, he considered a film about his beloved aeroplanes was far too reverential and exciting to inject any humour into it making this about as much fun as watching a plane crash...or in this case, two plane crashes.
The much maligned PARACHUTE JUMPER was at least fun....and wasn't just a half hour story padded out with an hour of aeroplanes flying around. For the time the aeronautics are admittedly impressive but it's hardly TOP GUN! At times it feels like you're watching a filmed air show rather than a motion picture which in 1933 must have been fascinating enough to draw the crowds into the cinemas. The big wigs at Warners clearly saw that the dare devil flying stunts would be all that was needed for this to bring in a healthy profit but that meant that everything else which makes a picture a picture was sacrificed.
Richard Barthelmess was exceptional in HEROES FOR SALE - he really could act so as to why he's so atrocious and affected in this beggars belief. Was it bad direction? This was directed by William Wellman, one of THE greats. William Wellman made HEROES FOR SALE with Richard Barthelmess! The only explanation I can think of is that the story was considered so secondary to all that tiresome flying around stuff, that nobody was too bothered about directing, acting or indeed being entertaining.
OK, there was one interesting thing in this film - they called planes 'ships' back then - how odd that sounds!
The much maligned PARACHUTE JUMPER was at least fun....and wasn't just a half hour story padded out with an hour of aeroplanes flying around. For the time the aeronautics are admittedly impressive but it's hardly TOP GUN! At times it feels like you're watching a filmed air show rather than a motion picture which in 1933 must have been fascinating enough to draw the crowds into the cinemas. The big wigs at Warners clearly saw that the dare devil flying stunts would be all that was needed for this to bring in a healthy profit but that meant that everything else which makes a picture a picture was sacrificed.
Richard Barthelmess was exceptional in HEROES FOR SALE - he really could act so as to why he's so atrocious and affected in this beggars belief. Was it bad direction? This was directed by William Wellman, one of THE greats. William Wellman made HEROES FOR SALE with Richard Barthelmess! The only explanation I can think of is that the story was considered so secondary to all that tiresome flying around stuff, that nobody was too bothered about directing, acting or indeed being entertaining.
OK, there was one interesting thing in this film - they called planes 'ships' back then - how odd that sounds!