Test Pilot (film)
| Test Pilot | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Victor Fleming |
| Written by | Howard Hawks John Lee Mahin |
| Produced by | Louis D. Lighton |
| Starring | Clark Gable Myrna Loy |
| Cinematography | Ray June |
| Music by | Franz Waxman |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | April 22, 1938 |
Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United States |
Test Pilot is a 1938 film directed by Victor Fleming and featuring Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Lionel Barrymore. The movie tells the story of a daredevil test pilot (Gable), his wife (Loy), and his best friend (Tracy). Although uncredited, real-life test-pilot Sammy Wroath did the flying sequences.
Test Pilot was written by Howard Hawks, Vincent Lawrence, John Lee Mahin, Frank Wead and Waldemar Young. The screenplay was largely based on an original story by former naval aviator Wead.
Plot
Reckless test pilot Jim Lane (Clark Gable) is forced to land on a Kansas farm in his aircraft, the "Drake Bullet" (SEV-S2 NR70Y, a modified civilian racer version of the U.S. Army Air Corps P-35), where he meets Ann Barton (Myrna Loy). They spend the day together and fall in love with each other. Once Jim's best friend and mechanic, Gunner Morris (Spencer Tracy), arrives reminding Jim about flying, he ignores Ann. To spur him, she gets engaged to her sweetheart. Jim leaves in the morning, but soon comes back for her. They quickly get married.
Jim loses his job with Drake (Lionel Barrymore) and takes a job with another outfit, flying a very experimental plane. Ann soon finds out how dangerous her husband's occupation is, but she promises Gunner that she will stick to her man. Jim wins the race, but the man Drake sends in Jim's place, Benson dies, leaving a wife and three children behind.
One day, Gunner accompanies Jim on a test flight of a new bomber (an early test model Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress). Something goes wrong; the bomber goes into a spin and sandbags (substituting for the weight of bombs) break loose, pinning Gunner. Unwilling to bail out without his buddy, Jim manages to land, but it is too late for Gunner. When Jim realizes the toll his job has taken on his wife, he gives it up.
Cast
- Clark Gable as Jim Lane
- Myrna Loy as Ann Barton
- Spencer Tracy as Gunner Morris
- Lionel Barrymore as Drake, the owner of the company that employs Jim and Gunner
- Samuel S. Hinds as General Ross
- Marjorie Main as Landlady
- Gloria Holden as Mrs. Benson
- Virginia Grey as Sarah
- Priscilla Lawson as Mable
- Arthur Aylesworth as Frank Barton
- Uncredited cast members include Hooper Atchley, James Donlan, Don Douglas, Billy Engle, Robert Fiske, James Flavin, Byron Foulger, Gregory Gaye, Fay Holden, Mary Howard, Gladden James, Cyril Ring, Henry Roquemore, Syd Saylor, Frank Sully, Phillip Terry and Richard Tucker.[1]
Production
Test Pilot utilized authentic United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) airfield settings and was able to obtain rights to film using Boeing's new Y1B-17, which was destined to become the progenitor of the wartime B-17 bomber series. Renowned movie "stunt" pilot Paul Mantz served as the second unit director in charge of the flying sequences.[2]
Reception
Proving to be an "audience-pleaser" in 1938, Test Pilot also found favor with critics with the New York Times review characterizing it as "...one of those irresistible MGM potboilers of the 1930s that coast along on sheer star power.[3] Today, it is considered a significant aviation film by historians due to the use of contemporary aircraft.[4] Even at the time of its release, Variety noted that the "story bespeaks authority in detail, obviously explained by the fact that Capt. Frank Wead, who authored the original, has had (a) practical aviation background."[5]
John Wayne played screenwriter Frank "Spig" Wead two decades later in the John Ford film The Wings of Eagles.
Gable and Tracy also made two other films together, the earlier San Francisco and the later Boom Town, before Tracy eventually insisted on the same top billing clause in his MGM contract that Gable had enjoyed, effectively ending the American cinema's most famous screen team.
Honors
Test Pilot was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Writing, Original Story for Wead and Best Film Editing for Tom Held. The film was unsuccessful at the 1939 Academy Awards.
References
- Notes
- ^ " 'Test Pilot' (1938): Full cast and crew." Internet Movie Database. Retrieved: February 3, 2010.
- ^ Orriss 1984, pp. 13–14.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. " 'Test Pilot'." nytimes.com. Retrieved: February 3, 2010.
- ^ Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, p. 61.
- ^ " 'Test Pilot.'" variety.com, January 1, 1938. Retrieved: February 3, 2010.
- Bibliography
- Dolan, Edward F. Jr. Hollywood Goes to War. London: Bison Books, 1985. ISBN 0-86124-229-7.
- Hardwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Buff's Guide to Aviation Movies". Air Progress Aviation Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 1983.
- Orriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-9613088-0-X.
External links
- Test Pilot at IMDb
