Perdue sous les tropiques

Movies like these were typical of the time. You must put this movie in that context. Too many critics compare the old movies and their politics with today's views. Flight for Freedom like so many films in the 1940's had a purpose; to win the hearts and minds of the average American who may have had doubts about why we were fighting. Amelia Earhart was an icon of the American spirit and therefore, by demonizing the Japanese military who may or may not have killed her; the US government could whip up a frenzy of resolve to fight the war on to the finish. Ironically, espionage is a capital offense in most countries and it was typical to be awarded a long sentence or a possible death penalty. But it makes good drama, since the thought of killing a female for such a crime is yet another possible reason for FDR to get the US into the war.

Drama very loosely based on the tragic destiny of the American pioneer airplane pilot Amelia Earhart, first fiction about this historic character. The plot here is set during the prodromes of the Second World War in the Pacific to support during its 1943 release year the American war effort against the Japanese army.

Tonie Carter (Rosalind Russell, They met in Bombay, here thus featuring the real Earhart) is an intrepid plane pilot apprentice who trains at the air center managed by Paul (Herbert Marshall, Forever and a Day). When she makes her first landing alone, she hits by accident the plane of the famous and skilled pilot Randy (Fred MacMurray, Dive Bomber), who is disapproving against women's flying. However when they met at the speakeasy of the Italo-American Johnny (Eduardo Ciannelli, Sky Raiders), a romance occurs between them.

But as Randy is called to handle a line in South America, he seems to forget her. Tonie then devotes herself to pursue flight exploits against all prejudices, and she becomes too a famous "flyers' flyer". When Randy comes back at last, she seems to prefer the security offered by Paul, who proposes to marry her, to the adventurous style of Randy. But during a flight Randy spots a secret and illegal Japanese submarines base in their Pacific possessions, and the admiral Graves (Walter Kingsford, Bomber's Moon) calls Tonie to handle a very perilous mission: she has to fake a disappearance in the Pacific during her world tour attempt in order to allow the rescue team to take pictures of these Japanese hidden bases which could threat peace and the United States.

And like the real Amelia, Tonie arrives at Lae in the Australian mandated territory of New Guinea for her flight throughout the Pacific. The owner of her hotel, Yokohata (Richard Loo, Across the Pacific), seeming to spy upon her, will she be able to handle right her mission and hide herself as planned on a tiny remote island? And as Randy is sent to Lae to help her, shall she manage to choose between her passion for Randy and her engagement towards Paul? This love triangle melodrama set in New Guinea among daring pilots under Japanese threat will in some way remind us of the same year Fleming's Guy named Joe.

This is a fun movie of thirties aviation. The mid air between Randy and Tonie is laughable and fake. That aside I enjoy the tone and the simple enjoyment of the movie for what it was, a WWII war movie. Randy (Fred Mac Murry) and Tonie fall for each other with the background of thirties type air racing and breaking records as their goals. Then when a special assignment comes up to look for a "missing pilot" over the Japanese mandated islands, they both volunteer. Overall this is one of my favorite movies for this type. The Japanese hotel manager - as a Jap spy- is so typical as to be laughable. But this movie is not about realism or political correctness.

The film is badly directed and acted propaganda but all this is put in the shade by an extraordinary scene towards the end.

I don't want to spoil the plot, so I will just say:

The pilot heroine of the film Tonie Carter finds herself on a remote pacific island with a strange mission ahead of her, over the course of one night on the island, a lot changes in her life, both in considering her past and her present situation, and she decides on her course of action for when she leaves the island the next morning.

This scene is mysterious and evocative, there is very little detail and almost everything we see is significant so the island takes on the quality of a dream. The various characters which come her way seem like ghosts; their significance is in what they whisper to her, reminds her of her responsibilities and memories.

Now comes the ending of the film but with an unforseen direction born of the night on the island, this leads to some bitter sweet ironies which undercut in a way the propaganda of the film.

So this is another one to add to the class of awful films which emerge with the most imaginative visions, but by some who-knows-how accident, its certainly not due to the director or actors. In this respect its much like 'The Eye of the Beholder '(1999 )by Stephan Elliot.

If Lothar Mendes was aware of what he created I wonder how he felt, pleased but perhaps also a little guilty and frustrated.

This film is a rather creaky melodrama inspired by the Amelia Earhart story. Rosalind Russell plays Tonie Carter who has to put up with prejudice as she learns to fly but pretty soon is setting flight records.

Carter falls in love with ace pilot Randy Britton (Fred MacMurray) who is one of the people who is sexist to her at the beginning but they then drift apart. However she then plans to race around the world solo after she promises to marry her flight instructor Paul Turner (Herbert Marshall.)

As the film was made during the second world war, there are elements of propaganda weaved into the plot as Carter is agrees to undertake a secret mission on behalf of the navy where she would get lost in her flight and the rescue mission would allow reconnaissance pictures to betaken under the noses of the Japanese. This mission reunited her with Britton who declares to Carter what she means to him.

The film really did not start off well, rather plodding I thought but it does get better in the final segments and like the rather campy but sinister turn by the Japanese hotel manager, who seemed to have channelled the great Peter Lorre.

Poor Paul Turner he was so happy to have snagged Carter has his fiancé but it was never going to happen.