Air Hawks

Air Hawks (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Really weird Columbia "B" picture about a small, independent airline company, ran by Ralph Bellamy, who are competing for a contract against a major company. The major company fears they're going to lose the contract so they hire a mad scientist (an uncredited Edward Van Sloan) to build a death ray so they can shoot down the rivals planes. The business and romance side of this film are certainly routine but the sci-fi/horror elements are what really makes this film unique. Bellamy is good in his role bringing his usual charm to the screen but Van Sloan is downright over the top as the mad scientist but this brings a few laughs. I'm somewhat shocked this film got past the code back in the day since some of the violence, which includes pilots burning and crashing their planes, is pretty strong. Another interesting note is that real life pilot Wiley Post has a role here and we would die in a real crash soon after with Will Rogers.

"Air Hawks" is a B-movie from Columbia Pictures. Yet, despite its very low budget and modest cast, it is entertaining--in a breezy and light way. In other words, as long as you aren't expecting magic, you'll probably be reasonably pleased with this one.

Ralph Bellamy stars as Barry Eldon--the head of a tiny air service. Yet, surprisingly, a much larger air transport company is afraid of the competition and try to buy him out. But, despite their very generous offer, Barry rejects it and has no intention of selling. Now here is were it gets very weird--his competitors find a goody mad scientist and pay him to create a death ray in order to knock Barry's planes out of the sky!! I saw a similar plot in several other low-budget films--perhaps influenced by Tesla's odd experiments with death rays and electricity.

Overall, this is a nice little adventure film--and makes a decent time-passer. However, it is also worth seeing for one odd reason--late in the film, Wiley Post plays himself! And, only three months later, this famous aviator would die in the same crash that killed Will Rogers. Fascinating coincidence, huh?

Ralph Bellamy runs a small fleet of mail planes but his company needs to land the big contract to outdo Consolidated, their powerful competitor. Some crooks from Consolidated want to buy out Bellamy's business--and when he refuses to sell, they turn to dirty work.

Douglass Dumbrille is enthusiastically nasty as the head bad guy. The plot of this aerial adventure veers into sci-fi when Dumbrille hires mad scientist Edward Van Sloan to build a working version of his experimental ray machine that can destroy bridges and airplanes. Van Sloan eagerly starts shooting down Bellamy's airplanes, jeopardizing the big contract.

Meanwhile, Bellamy finds time to exchange corny banter with beautiful Tala Birell, a club singer who is mixed up with the crooks. Bellamy explains to her how airplanes are like women: "They take you up in the skies and then without any warning they let you down with a crash." Birell's quick reply: "But aren't most of the crashes the cause of the men at the controls, who try to go too far or too fast?"

The plot has plenty of twists, some of which make little sense.... For example, when the beleaguered airline is about ready to fold under the mysterious attacks, Bellamy decides it's time for a publicity stunt: He will save his business by attempting a cross country speed record. This is baffling until a few minutes later, when famed pilot Wiley Post wanders into the picture and agrees to take the flight himself.

Bellamy looks uncomfortable during a couple of silly melodramatic scenes but he is generally easy to watch as the hero. Victor Kilian has a fun if predictable role as the newspaper reporter who has a hunch, sneaks into the crooks' hideout, and has a narrow escape. Douglass Dumbrille is just fine as the villain always ready with a dastardly scheme.

The story is kind of wild and sometimes it feels like it's just barely holding together...but the picture's second half is quite enjoyable and moves at a nice steady clip.

Pioneering airline runs up against competition that plays rough, using DEATH RAY to cut down the odds. Usual story told quickly (68 minutes) and well done by COLUMBIA (now thats a surprise). Ralph Bellamy (airline owner) leads competent cast that includes Douglas Dumbrille (sleazy villain) and Victor Kilian (reporter). Edward Van Sloan does his mad scientist act inventing what today would be called a Particle Beam Weapon. These airplane (or aeroplane) films done in the 1930's are usually very fun to watch because of the equipment which by todays standards seems ludicrous. You must admire after watching these films the early flight pioneers. One (1) featured in this film is Wiley Post who would die in a air crash soon after with Will Rodgers.

There is no doubt that "Air Hawks" moves at a rather quick pace, and I suppose it could be classified as a "B" movie by the standards of its day, but the rather formulaic pioneering-aviator plot is enlivened considerably. That's done by the engagement -- by the bad hombres in the competition to Ralph Bellamy's ITL transport company -- of a German accented scientist who has developed an invisible ray to set aircraft engines on fire. What could have been a really dim-witted "mad scientist" movie was short-circuited -- no pun intended -- by keeping the science-fiction element restrained, and by a focus on the personality of Bellamy's character. He's a "Tom Swift" kind of go-getter, but not a goody-goody, and this hero-type had no small appeal to the audiences of the mid-1930s. Love interest Tala Birell ( Natalie Bierl, also known as Talusha ), is also excellent.

Even as the Great Depression was continuing, people in this country continued to hunger for the heroics of air pioneers and other men ( and some women ), who seemed to stand for "can do" as an answer to any question or problem. In that regard, "Air Hawks" gains a large measure of Q or "likability", both for Bellamy and for his erstwhile ally in the newspaper business. In many ways this is more of "a yarn" than a really deep motion picture story, but that's OK, and it works well even now. Seventy-three years have passed since this film was released but the concept wrapped into this movie, that of there being a secret weapon which can bring down an aircraft from a distance without using a rocket or a missile, and without leaving any traces of its use, is an important and intriguing notion. One only has to look back at the destruction of TWA 800, and the controversy surrounding it, or the crash of Swissair 111, to know that the secret weapon concept is not something purely out of the realm of Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers.

Fast-paced, well-edited, and with lively performances by all concerned, this "Air Hawks" action / adventure production gets a vote of eight and would have notched a nine if Wiley Post had been given a little something more to do than to say "hello".