The Fighting Pilot

"The Fighting Pilot" is an insane sort of film. It packs an entire movie serial's 3 ½ hours of stunts into a film that is not even an hour long! So, while the acting isn't great, the film is so fast and full of insane action that it never is dull! An old man has constructed an airplane that is apparently quite important because a rich guy is intent on buying it from him. But the old guy won't sell. So, when a shady character offers to help the rich guy get the plane, he jumps at the chance. Whether he knew it or not, the shady guy is a ruthless gang leader who plans on stealing the plane as well as the blueprints. The only one who can stop him is a crazy knockabout guy named Al (Robert Talmadge)—a one-man army all wrapped up in an extremely ordinary looking fellow.

While Talmadge's fighting style is silly (with his wildly flailing arms), he undoubtedly makes up for this with energy and insane moves! During the course of the film, Al jumps from one building onto another (and they are NOT close together), he dives down a set of stairs onto three men, he jumps from one airplane onto another, jumps into a car full of men—beating them up and leaping from the car just before it crashes and much, much more. The insane stunt-work really made a simple B-movie worth seeing because you didn't have time to get bored or even breathe! The only quibble I have about this escapist film is Al's pal, Bertie. Like many sidekicks of the era, Bertie is annoying, stupid and about as helpful as a stripper at a Baptist barbecue! Still, for all its deficiencies the film more than makes up for it with energy!

The problem with some of the low end early sound films is that they feel like they are leadenly paced. Partly this was due to a lack of music and partly it was due to a lack of skill in putting together something special. In The Fighting Pilot its a combination of both, which proves almost deadly to a film thats suppose to be an action adventure flick.

The plot concerns the attempt to get the designs of a new plane by some bad guys. The boyfriend of the inventor's daughter finds that he has to run interference between the inventors and gangsters who are out to make a buck or two at the expense of everyone else. Its a proved story thats been done before both better and worse. The problem here is that the film was done on the cheap. Everything other than the planes look lack luster. There is an absence of music so the proceedings are slowed way down, even in the action scenes. The fights are more flailing affairs where the actors thrash about wildly in and attempt to look like they are really fighting, while attempting not to harm anyone or anything on the meager sets. It looks more silly then anything else. On the positive side the cast is mostly game with stalwart Richard Talmadge playing the pilot of the title. Talmadge was a solid actor who never really graduated to anything past the B movies, but was always good none the less.

Over all this is an okay movie that is overly creaky due to the passage of time and the lack of money in the budget. If it had been a tiny bit more engaging I'd say give it a shot, but there is something about the way the movie stands right now that is very likely to send you to Dreamland and not the "Wild Blue Yonder". Still if you're feeling adventurous and not too worried about possibly dozing off I'd give it a try. Somewhere between 4 and 5 out of 10.