Death in the Air

The thing that I noticed first was that there was a GOERING named character in a movie involving planes, and before WW2. But Herman Goering was already wide known around the world as the German Air Force 6 - LUFTWAFFE - chief. Anyway, it is always amusing, even decades later, to notice such detail; and no user seems to have noticed it. So, back to this small feature typical of the thirties, the mystery scheme is not new at all. There were hundreds of them in those days, concerning, old mansions, closed rooms, Pacific liners.... A murder is commited and the murderer is one of the characters, whom we'll find only at the end. Irepeat, always the same topic, more or less, some less interesting than others, and always very talkative; the early talkies !!!! This one directed by Elm Clifton is not the worst of them all; Clifton was not Wellman either.

A series of planes have been mysteriously shot down by a rogue pilot in a black plane with an X painted on the wing. Three of the planes were manufactured by Henry Goering and the government sends a pilot (Jerry Blackwood) to check if the planes malfunctioned due to construction, but after a survivor names a Pilot X as the murderer, Dr. Norris (psychologist) suggests a former WWI ace pilot would be the culprit due to the skill and mentality for such crimes. Goering invites 5 former WWI aces to his home to weed out the killer, while making them believe they are actually hunting for Pilot X, who kills two of the pilots and dupes Blackwood into killing the third. After that murder (and Dr. Norris after he discovers the killer's identity), Blackwood dares Pilot X to challenge him solo in the air, while the authorities are led to believe Blackwood is the culprit. Interesting premise, but this movie lies in the turkey category by the ridiculous and implausible script, really really bad acting, and horrendous directing. The climax of the final aerial battle with Blackwood and Pilot X is decent at best considering it drags on a bit longer than it should have. Avoid this one. Rating, 2.

When planes are crashing from an unknown cause the government at first suspects mechanical trouble. However when a survivor of one of the crashes mentions that a mysterious plane with large X's on the wing was spotted just as the plane exploded its realized that something more is afoot. Its quickly deduced that the murderous pilot is an ex-airmen from the great war, so all of the airmen in the area are rounded up both to help hunt down the killer and to allow for all the suspects to be in one place.

This is a breezy little mystery with planes engaging in dogfights, secret panels, secret rooms, murder on the ground (in addition to in the air), romance and various other mystery standbys. Its a great deal of fun to try and guess who Pilot X is from among all of the possible suspects, though you'll probably have it narrowed down to one or two possibilities from the get go. It moves along at a nice clip and keeps you engaged for its just over an hour running time. Think of it as a aerial version of Ten Little Indians.

Worth a bag of popcorn, a soda and an hour of your time.

Don't be fooled by the hype- this is not an "old dark house" movie as some sources (including the liner notes on the video box) claim. It's more like a "new light house" movie. Yes, there is a secret room, a hidden door, hidden motion detectors, a lurking figure, a thunderstorm, & plenty of murders, but the main ingredient, a gloomy atmosphere, is sorely missing here. And there's no comedy at all, which is another important ingredient of the Old Dark House genre. There's way too much light & outdoor scenes to qualify. And the house looks quite modern (for 1936, which is the copyright date). John Carroll is very handsome to look at. Lona Andre is very pretty to look at. And the acting is fair to middling or worse (there are even a couple of muffed lines that were left as is). And the plot is muddled, & all the deaths occur in World War I fighter planes. If aerial photography & biplane mounted machine gun battles are your thing, then by all means this is the movie for you. But if you're looking for a good mystery or Old Dark House, look elsewhere. I rate it 5/10.