Sky Giant

JOAN FONTAINE struggled through some pretty dismal roles during her starlet days at RKO, but at least SKY GIANT gives us a look at Fontaine as an attractive heroine with the capability of making us sit up and take notice in a strictly ingenue role that is not particularly well written or original. However, she is blond and pretty and makes the most of it.

Like her sister, she had to make do with the kind of role that supplied the romantic interest while the men (RICHARD DIX, CHESTER MORRIS) move the plot forward. And while they do move forward, it's still a rather plodding aviation story that had been done many times before with a bigger cast and budget.

Dix and Morris do well enough as the male buddies who antagonize each other with practical jokes (think Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy in TEST PILOT or Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray in DIVE BOMBER). The flying scenes are fun to watch and provide a modicum of suspense, especially for the finale where their plane crash lands in the Arctic. The only other matter to be cleared up is whether Joan will end up with Dix or Morris as a suitable mate. For that, you have to watch the film.

Sister Olivia de Havilland was starring in the same sort of film the following year when she did WINGS OF THE NAVY at Warner Bros. with George Brent and John Payne as rivals for her affection. But in 1938, while Joan was playing this kind of starlet role at RKO, Olivia was already riding a horse in Sherwood Forest for what became one of her most famous roles opposite a charmer called Errol Flynn in a little gem called THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

As programmers go, SKY GIANT is above average in appeal, clearly a film made on a small budget but showing that Joan Fontaine was an ingenue who had promise.

You have to love the acting and dialog in these old films. The men are right out of the ideal "man's man" book and the plucky love interests are so demure and accepting. In this case the plot revolves around a tough pilot school, training only the best men for flying new and growing routes. It is 1938, after all, and aviation is still in it's pre-war baby stage. Airline service is still a thing of adventure and unknown. The school is run by a rough-and-tumble (and frequently over-acting) ex-military man, Colonel Stockton (Harry Carrey). The head pilot is debonair Stag Cahill (Richard Dix). Trouble ensues when Stockton's devil-may-care son, Ken (Chester Morris) arrives at the school and Stag has to tame him a bit. The men strike up a 1938-type friendship bond but fall in love with the same perky and fetching Meg (Joan Fontaine). The plot thickens when the two men and a third pilot from the school crash in the arctic during a mapping run for a new travel route. They say "swell" a lot and each man asks Meg to marry him after knowing her for only days (typical 1930's I suppose). A fun movie with a very pre-war feel and some great old airplanes and aerial footage. Lots of, "awww Ken...ya know I love ya but don't go back into the air..." kind of lines. A simple, formulaic, B&W pre-war love/action movie.

The most interesting thing about this film is that Stag, Ken, and Fergie all have the exact same head, with slight variations. Stag has a swollen jaw, Ken has swollen face cheeks, and Fergie has an unfortunate swollen forehead and the most ridiculous pair of eyebrows I've ever seen outside of an animated creature.

This is a study in 1930s male beauty. Richard Dix is an absolute profile slut, whoring his chiseled nose left and right, scene after scene after scene. Do you like that? Can you take it? Faster? Faster?

His left side was apparently the most photogenic and it's absolutely fascinating to watch how he twists it into every scene, even when the scene isn't designed around him talking to someone to his right, or looking off camera right.

About halfway through I started to imagine George C. Scott (jaw), Don Rickles (face cheeks), and Agent Smith from the Matrix (unfortunate swollen forehead) as the principles instead of the actual principles because it was much more entertaining. I recommend you do the same.

The story? You'll get to see some planes fly around and Don Rickles has daddy issues and is forced to outprofile George C. Scott to see who gets to marry Elrond's cousin.

*Sigh*

The story begins with a hard as nails man, Colonel Stockton (Harry Carey) being placed in charge of an airline training program. His second in command is Captain Cahill (Richard Dix) and they work hard to prepare folks to work in the industry. When Stockton's son (Chester Morris) arrives, sparks fly. First, the Colonel doesn't think his son is suited for the job and he tries to get him to quit. Second, the young man and Cahill soon fall for the same lady (Joan Fontaine) and you know that somehow this will come to a head...and sparks will fly.

This is a mildly entertaining film. As you'd expect, Dix and Morris are just fine. The only quibbles are the special effects (in some cases, the planes are obviously models) and the way the rivalry over the girl worked itself out....rather predictably. Other than that, it's a decent time-passer.

Had Sky Giant been made at Warner Brothers this would have been a property done by James Cagney and Pat O'Brien in the roles played by Chester Morris and Richard Dix respectively.

Morris is the son of the head of the civilian pilot school Harry Carey and Richard Dix is the number two at the place. Morris is the cocky sort like Cagney and Dix is the instructor that has to take some of the deviltry out of him before he makes a good and steady pilot. Some of this ground was already covered in Devil Dogs of the Air.

Of course they both fall for the same girl who in this case is Joan Fontaine who is the sister of another pilot, Paul Guilfoyle.

From Devil Dogs of the Air the plot shifts rather dramatically to something like Island in the Sky as Dix, Morris and Guilfoyle crash somewhere in the Yukon Territory while mapping an Arctic air route. Of course the difference between Sky Giant and Island in the Sky is the difference between RKO's back lot version of the Arctic and Warner Brothers in the early fifties shooting Island in the Sky on location. The production values of the latter film are light years in comparison to Sky Giant.

But the cast in Sky Giant give good and sincere performances, it wasn't work that anyone had to be ashamed of.

Joan Fontaine's career was working out something like her sister Olivia DeHavilland over at Warner Brothers. A whole stream of good girl heroines. Both would break out of that mold in the forties roughly around the same time.

Sky Giant is a good product from a studio that mostly did B films of this nature. Not their fault that they didn't have the facilities for the production values of the bigger studios.