Night Flight (1933)

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Siskoid
Night Flight's star-studded cast had me expecting them all trapped on the same plane, but those hopes were quickly dashed. For the most part, they don't interact with one another, and it's criminal to introduce Myrna Loy only in the third act. But leaving those expectations at the door, there's plenty I like. It's got great aerial action, for one thing, some of it real, some by way of models, but even the process shots of pilots sitting in biplanes look more real than usual. I also like that it's a procedural, showing what seems like the pretty authentic life of the fly-by-night mail-carrying pilots of South America, the challenges they lead, and what's at risk for them. And the movie makes heroes of these men without ever letting them know what's at stake. Characters muse about whether it's all worth it just so someone can get a postcard Tuesday instead of Wednesday, but the audience knows the truth of the ticking clock that is one particularly important package. And that ending, while like the introductory scroll rather overblown and melodramatic, is truly poignant and worth watching the movie to the end. During, I was sometimes a bit impatient, wanting more scenes like Helen Hayes and John Barrymore's, and feeling aggrieved that others seemed surplus to requirements, but as it turns out, Night Flight is sticking with me more than I thought it would. 4 years ago