Pirates modernes

Robert Bradbury takes a break from directing B westerns to wrangle this chestnut for Paul Malvern. Ray Walker is the son of passenger liner captain Noah Beery. He's in love with Jacqueline Wells (long before she changed her name to Julie Bishop), who's the daughter of Border Patrol colonel William Farnum -- Walker's boss; he's a pilot for the service. The first half of this 61-minute quickie has him going through the usual hijinks, taking his plane larking about with fellow pilot Hyram Hoover and replicating Keaton's losing-his-pants-at-a-dance routine from COLLEGE..

The plot kicks in about halfway through. Some bank robbers hijack Walker's plane at gunpoint, have him fly over the border, knock him out and flee in a car. When he's back at base, he can't satisfactorily explain what happened, and Farnum allows him to resign.

20-year-old Wells never looked prettier, and the stunt flying is well shot by Archie Stout. There are a few plot holes that the more forgiving viewer will accept in the more exciting sequences, but I found the rhythms more suited to a horse opera than an aviation picture. Even so, it's a pleasure to watch Mr. Beery in a more sympathetic role, and Farnum gives a far more naturalistic performance than he usually offered in the early talkies. It's certainly no classic, but it has its moments.