Les bleus du ciel

The very first pictures remind us of Decoin's former glories as a fighter pilot from September 1917 onwards ; but it is brief ,for it's a comedy ,ponderous and derivative, and I can find little fault with the first reviewer's opinion .

Handsome Albert Préjean is cast against type as a bashful self-conscious guy whose work is to fill the planes tanks ;a thankless task ,for a man in love with a brilliant pilot (the film had a feminist side ,for this woman is a winner )this role was tailor made for Fernandel or Noel-Noel who would team up the following year in "Adémaï aviateur ",and who were genuine comic actors.

The fact that this man needs an "energy teacher" whose motto is "when there's a will,there's a way " is hard to swallow; besides, there's a dubious line in the teacher's encouragements :"you're my best student after Hitler".

I guess Decoin cast Préjean because he already knew him and because he was a singer : there're two or three ditties, including the peppy "Je suis quelqu'un "

Interesting for Decoin's fans ; but he was to make so many outstanding works that this one should be considered a footnote .

This is Henry Decoin's second movie, I'd like to see his first one, a crime drama. Don't expect much about Les Bleus du ciel, it's more a comedy than a serious airplane drama like, le Ciel est à vous or Horizons sans fin. And the gags are rather lousy, except the loopings scene. The most interesting thing about this movie are the airplanes scenes, lot of models are shown in the aeroclubs of Buc and Toussus, with interesting documentary scenes, there's even a short scene with Maryse Hilz (much more information on aeromovies.fr - aviation films on web). Maybe it was important for Decoin to make this airplane early movie as he was a war pilot during WWI, he could have a smash success as airplane was very popular as a rising entertainment. For airplanes fans mostly, it was maybe the first French movie about airplanes. Decoin became quickly an important director in the 30's with six movies with his wife Danièle Darrieux, then in films noirs, my favorite being Non Coupable, les Amants du Pont Saint Jean and of course the fabulous la Fille du Diable. In 1949, Decoin directed his second movie about airplanes, "Au Grand Balcon", saga of the Aéropostale, much more important than this one.