Too Hot to Handle (1938)



"You’re the best there is and that’s what’s the matter with you!"

            When Too Hot to Handle was made Clark Gable and Myrna Loy had just been crowned King and Queen of Hollywood in a nationwide poll in the fan magazines. Their crowning came just after they starred together and were perfectly paired in Test Pilot. So of course MGM capitalized on two of their most popular (and money making) stars’ new titles and their previous roles by pairing them yet again in another aviation themed film.

            Gable plays Chris Hunter a newsreel cameraman. He is widely known as the best newsreel cameraman in the business. He is not liked by too many other newsreel cameramen not because he is really good and captures all the action but because he often fakes his works. A rival of his Bill Dennis (Walter Pidgeon) decides to play a trick on Chris along with some other cameramen. The trick is there is supposed to be a cholera outbreak and that there was a shipment of serum sent into China (where they all happen to be to film a war between China and Japan). They are going to capture the flight coming in with the serum and Chris will be left out in the dust without the story.

            Chris somehow hears about a plane coming in and he is out on the landing field. He has the best shot from his car. As he follows the plane the driver gets clumsy and crashes into the plane. The plane catches fire, Chris races out to the plane and finds that the pilot is a woman. He saves the life of aviatrix Alma Harding (Myrna Loy). She tells Chris that there is no serum it was all a lie… unfortunately the camera picks this confession up.

            Alma tells Chris not to send the film back for people to see since it would shame her making her look bad and she would never get a job again. Chris likes Alma enough to destroy the film. Dennis has other tricks up his sleeve to get back at Chris… he manages to get his hands on the film Chris thought he destroyed and Dennis gives the real film to his boss.

            Dennis blackmails Chris and things between them with Alma start to go a little crazy. The film finds its way to Dennis’ boss and all three are left out of a job since they have all been disgraced. Alma is mad at both men especially Chris since they started to really fall in love with each other. Chris does get to redeem himself in the end and I am more than sure you know that Alma and Chris get together.

            I found this film to be excellently acted by everyone there was not one performance I felt was over the top or not well done. Gable and Loy together are so fantastic.

            Loy wrote in her autobiography that she knew how to play against Gable she always played to his tough side and you can clearly see her do so. Alma is an edgy fast talking character but you can see where Loy brings in a little bit more to play against Gable. This was Loy’s third time playing an aviatrix with guts and it never gets old she was perfect. One of the many reasons why I adore Loy as an actress comes up in this film: Chris and Alma are talking and to kind of not fall in love with her he tells her the two of them as a newsreel team are pals like the comic strip Mutt and Jeff. Something comes up a few minutes later and Chris says it may be too dangerous for them to do. Alma is not afraid and she perfectly, sarcastically, coldly says to Chris “What’s the matter Mr. Mutt? Lost your nerve?” Just the way she said that line and her expression was acting perfection. When Loy says “nerve” she gives her lip a curl that even if she tried to do it again she probably could not it was like a real genuine reaction.

            I really enjoyed Gable. The last half hour of the film he was so great in. The ending is where the film gets silly but it gets silly in a good way. I will not give away what happens but I was laughing and it was Gable who was making me laugh. Chris is a character who was not the greatest guy ever he used people to get a good story he even used Alma but I liked him. I guess Gable really did have such charm that you could not help but like him even if he was a jerk.      

      Walter Pidgeon I have never seen in a film before but I really did not like Dennis at all which I guess was the point since we are supposed to be cheering for Loy and Gable to get together. I do look forward to viewing more films Pidgeon has been in I have heard he is a fabulous actor. Marjorie Main plays a secretary in Chris’s office. If anyone has seen her in The Women, Meet Me in St. Louis, or any of the Ma and Pa Kettle films you know this woman is hilarious and she does not let up here. Her humor and delivery is quick and sarcastic and perfect.

            Too Hot to Handle is a great film. There are a lot of funny moments along with some heart stopping action moments. The writing is excellent with plenty of bite and humor which the cast acts out to perfection. The back of the cover declares “Action meets adventure. A Golden Era treasure”; this declaration could not be any more true. Too Hot to Handle is one of the many films which defines 1930s comedy as well as action and drama and why so many people look to the Golden Age of cinema. It is a classic film too good not to be viewed.  

Wings in the Dark (1935)



So my fascination with classic aviation films continues. Again what can be better than an aviation film starring Myrna Loy and this time Cary Grant as her leading man? Wings in the Dark is one of four aviation themed films Myrna Loy would make in the 1930s and her first film with Cary Grant.

            Grant plays arrogant flyer Ken Gordon. Ken is an aeronautical engineer who has been trying new instruments that will help flyers fly blind in bad weather. Sheila Mason (Loy) is a famous stunt aviatrix; she flies stunts only because other things are closed to women. Ken lands at the field Sheila flies from. He has just successfully tested his instruments for flying blind. Sheila is very taken with him for all he has done.

            Sheila’s agent has come up with an idea to fly with Ken when he flies blind across the Atlantic to Paris. When the day comes for Ken to fly he is unable to get a permit because the flight is too dangerous and he also had no idea that Sheila would have been flying with him. He tells her she never would have been allowed to fly with him. After everyone has left Sheila and Ken begin to talk. She talks him into going ahead with the flight to forget about the permit and just go. Ken goes to light the gas for the stove, the fire blows back in his face and blinds him.

            Ken is upset; he feels all his hard work with his instruments has come to nothing. Sheila takes on dangerous stunts to help him with money and also helps to boost his moral. Ken starts to work on his instruments again and has almost perfected it when the company who owns his plane takes the plane away from him. To top everything all off he starts to begin Sheila is just doing everything for him out of charity and pity; he does not realize she really does love him and truly wants to help him.

            Sheila takes on a very dangerous flight from Moscow to New York for $10,000. Almost close to landing she comes into trouble with the weather she cannot find the landing field. The only person that can help is Ken.

            Myrna Loy said in her autobiography that she did not really like working on this film. She and Cary Grant did not work too well together she said he was a little difficult to deal with. Funny because they did have good chemistry and they would go on to work very well together in The Bachelor and the Bobby- Soxer and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Cary Grant was not Cary Grant yet he's just like any other actor nothing really too special to write about. He was very handsome though and I went a little silly seeing him in an aviator's uniform. Myrna Loy was good with what she was given. You can believe her to be a spunky but sweet aviatrix.  Loy made the film on loan at Paramount from MGM. At the time Loy was seeing the film’s producer Arthur Hornblow so she got top billing.

            Amelia Earhart is credited with being a technical consultant. Loy commented how Earhart being a consultant was just a publicity stunt there was no reason for her to be. Sheila is apparently based off the famous aviatrix. 

            Wings in the Dark was fun to watch because it is an early Cary Grant film. It was just fun to watch as an early aviation film. Unfortunately the film has a very B- movie feel to it which is most likely why it has been largely forgotten and is a shame considering its two stars. At this time though Cary Grant was not a major star so it does not have his leading man power behind it you can kind of feel he was just thrown into making it. The very ending is bad I totally predicted it right from the beginning but the rest of the film is good. If any other actors had played Shelia and Ken it would have been plenty alright to be forgotten about, Grant and Loy save the film from complete obscurity (hell, it is even in a pack of Cary Grant movies that no one has heard of). I say watch the film if you like both Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. Wings in the Dark is definitely worth seeing once.

            Currently on Youtube so head on over ASAP before it might possibly get taken off.

 

Test Pilot

Fueling my love for any kind of aviation themed film I had to see Test Pilot. And nothing could get better for me than an aviation film starring Myrna Loy. Loy’s character is only a passenger and a spectator in the film with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy being the masculine, over confident flyers.

            Gable plays a daredevil pilot named Jim Lane. On a flying record from California to New York his plane malfunctions and he has to land on a farm in Kansas. The farm Jim lands on belongs to Ann Barton (Loy) and her family. Ann comes running out to Jim. Immediately there is a spark between them. They both tease and banter with each other. Ann tells Jim he is like a dream that has fallen out of the sky to her. After some talking Ann takes Jim back to her house where he can wash up and eat. She takes him into town following breakfast where they go to a baseball game and a movie. That night Jim tells Ann he loves her and how he has never felt what he feels for her for a woman before. Ann feels the same way but she knows he has some wild tendencies and feels she needs to play things safe.

            The next day Jim’s friend Gunner (Tracy) comes with some mechanics to fix his plane. Ann has thought things over and does not want Jim to leave. She even wants to go with him but he says no. Once in the air he realizes he how much really does love Ann and goes back for her. On the way to New York Jim and Ann get married.

            Drake, the man who owns the plane Jim flies, lets him go. Jim has to borrow money from Gunner for a while until he gets a job. Eventually he gets a job as a test pilot flying new planes for the Army. The job is very dangerous. All three have had their nerves shaken after a friend of theirs died when his plane crashed. Ann feels like she is tortured every minute that Jim spends up in the air not knowing if he will come home at night. She confides in Gunner how she feels and he feels the same way at times but they cannot tell Jim how they truly feel they have to keep up a happy and supportive appearance. She tells Gunner she has packed her bags to the point where they are worn out and has a ticket back home in her bag at all times.

            Gunner and Jim take on a dangerous test flight. Ann is more of a wreck than ever because she cares deeply for both men.

            Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and Spencer Tracy were amazing together you can see they all had such great chemistry. They all fed off of each other so nicely. Loy wrote in her autobiography that she knew how to play against Gable’s tough side she said all she had to do was play tough with him. In the scene where Ann and Jim first meet and the scene where they say they love each other you can see her playing to his attitude and toughness. Before watching Test Pilot I was on the fence with really liking Gable as an actor but after this I saw his range and what little more he could do besides being the tough guy all the ladies want. There was a scene where he was talking to Lionel Barrymore’s character Drake at the end and he played the emotions of sadness and guilt so well it was such a fantastic scene. After that I became a fan of Gable. Loy was of course fabulous. She was so funny with Gable in the scene where Jim and Ann meet. I laughed so hard when they were at the baseball game and she was yelling at the players and all into the game. At the movies she was mouthing the lines. As usual she did extremely well with playing emotional scenes, all Ann wanted to hear was Jim tell her he really loved her and you can see that emotion on her face. All Loy’s scenes with Tracy were the best. Tracy is an actor I am not too fond of but I enjoyed him very much here. I liked how Gunner had a superstition where he would blow a kiss and then stick chewed gun on the back of the wing for good luck.

            If I had not started watching Test Pilot at 11:30pm as soon as the film was over I would have watched it again. Everything about this film was amazing. The story was very well written and acted. The love story aspect was not overdone mostly because of Gable and Loy not overacting and the fact that Tracy’s character loved Jim like a brother as well. The dialogue is great it never fails to keep your attention. When Test Pilot was originally released it was reviewed favorably and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing and Editing but as with everything else at the Awards in 1939 it most likely had no chance and lost out to Gone with the Wind. Today the film is considered a significant aviation film because it showed contemporary planes. Myrna Loy said that this was one of her personal favorite films she made in her long career. You can clearly see her enjoyment watching the film.

            As of this writing Test Pilot can be viewed on youtube, it is not available on DVD only VHS (which is a total crime). If you are any kind of classic movie fan or like aviation movies get over to youtube as soon as possible and watch Test Pilot. There are so many good elements and moments throughout the whole film that cannot be missed.

Women in the Wind (1939)





Recently I finished reading a biography on the British female aviatrix Amy Johnson called Queen of the Air. Before I read about Amy Johnson I read a fantastic biography on Amelia Earhart called East to the Dawn. Both biographies were so incredible and so inspiring. Amelia Earhart was so much more than the women who disappeared on her last flight and her solo flight across the Atlantic. She inspired women all over the world to step out of their comfort zone and what was expected of them in the time to become adventurous and daring. Amy Johnson flew across treacherous terrain and the elements to become the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia.

            Both aviatrixes pushed the limits of women’s roles in society in the late 1920s and 1930s. Each flyer earned the love of their home countries and the world endorsing products and planes and wanting to make flying more accessible to women and safer.

            My admiration for Earhart and Johnson led me to record the film Women in the Wind off of TCM a few weeks ago. Women in the Wind is not a well known film today even though it did very well for a Warner Brothers B- movie. The plot is very clichéd and from the moment of its set up you know what will happen. Kay Francis plays pilot Janet Steele. Her brother was once a famous pilot but an accident has left him paralyzed and he desperately needs an operation to save his life. She sees an ad for a race for women pilots worth $15,000.

            You can pretty much guess that Janet wins the race. There’s a not too great love story/triangle going on between Janet, a record breaking pilot named Ace and his wife Frieda who he thought he got a Mexican divorce with. Ace let Janet use his plane which was the fastest around to fly in the race but Frieda decides to take it and there is nothing Ace can do about. Janet gets a plane from someone else who has just broken a flying record.

            Women in the Wind is not a bad film especially if you like to learn about early aviation and how people hero worshipped pilots. This is not a film that is a must see but it is fun. I will say thank God this was not long it is only an hour and fifteen minutes and if it had been any longer it would have been too long. The plot with Janet and Ace was a bit bothersome to begin with. Eve Arden plays another aviatrix who is friends with Janet named Kit. Kit is the type of character I could see how a lot of the women pilots were back in the day: spunky and full of attitude.

            Women in the Wind is predictable but enjoyable. The film gives a great view into aviation at the time and how much of a novelty it once was.