Silly, make that downright goofy, programmer from prolific hack Lew Landers follows the unlikely career path of John Beal, a resentful doctor/risk-taking sky pilot who loses a plane, the life of a lady passenger and his engagement to a society dame when he goes down in a storm and wakes up to scandal. Tramping his way west, he lands in Cali, meets old flying bud Philip Huston* and gets a fresh start as plane mechanic, pilot and, before long, resentful doctor (again) of a flying ambulance. Toss in a last minute train wreck for some heroic action in the field, alongside reconciliation with Dad, and you’ve got your big, corny wrap. It wouldn’t be worth half a look if not for new leading lady Joan Fontaine getting a star-making push from RKO after a handful of pics. You can really see how the studio system takes charge here: a star’s delayed entrance for Joan after a reel & a half; an eye-catching title card after the final credits telling us she’s someone to watch; a complete facial makeup change from her intro (all harsh angles & hard lines) to something much softer thereafter. Too bad they didn't give the same attention to her acting! Even with that lovely, cultured voice, she's pretty bad up there. A couple of years on, the one-two punch of George Cukor (THE WOMEN/’39) and Alfred Hitchcock (REBECCA/’40) would fix that, too.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: *Solidly built, handsome, charming, little known Philip Huston as John Beal's aviator pal was a regular on B’way for decades, but only worked on and off in Hollywood. Whatever happened to the guy? He seems as likely a discovery as Fontaine.
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