When the film begins, the airship Macon is in flight. Unfortunately, as in real life, the dirigible crashed. One of the crew, Bill (George Brent), loses a leg in the accident and because of this he's honorably discharged from the Navy. Now in the job market once again, he's having a hard time finding work. However, Bill is a real go-getter and when the boss of a corporation turns him down, he tries with several other folks at the same corporation. Finally, he meets with the retired boss, Cappy Ricks* (Charles Winninger), who takes a liking to him and pushes for the new President to give Bill a chance. Well, it turns out that Bill is amazing at his job--yet the President still seems to have it out for Bill. But Cappy sure likes him.
At this point in the film, I was enjoying the movie quite a bit. The plot was a bit like a Horatio Alger tale about hard work, determination and success. However, the plot and the personality of one of the main characters COMPLETELY CHANGED--so much so that it showed very bad writing. And, because I had been enjoying it so much, it really was frustrating to watch.
Although Cappy LOVED Bill through most of the film, suddenly Cappy hates him because Bill has asked Cappy's daughter (Anita Louise) to marry him. Now to make it even more confusing, Cappy had nothing against Bill initially, he just wants his daughter to NEVER marry! What?!?! What parent longs to have their daughter become an old maid?! And, if they do decide to marry, wouldn't you be happy that they are marrying someone you really, really like and respect?! This plot twist is just insane.
From this abrupt change, Cappy doesn't just behave irrationally but this nice old guy (Charles Winninger) becomes cruel and vicious and takes pleasure tormenting Bill. As for Bill, he just puts up with it! Late in the film, after Bill marries, the demands Cappy places on him are just insane...INSANE!! I almost wonder if the original writer died or was abducted by aliens midway through the film. This portion was intelligently written and inspiring. The second half is simply horrible--dumb, unlikable and silly. The other possibility is that the writer suffered a traumatic brain injury! All I know is that the film really, really lost my attention and all my good will when it abruptly changed.
*Cappy Ricks is NOT an original character to this film. There have been at least three other films with this character in it. However, the person playing him was never the same and exactly who Cappy was and his personality was not consistent either.
