Dirigible (1931)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Frank Capra

Writers:

Frank Wead (story) and
Dorothy Howell (continuity)

Release Date:

8 April 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Plot:

A French explorer enlists the help of the US Navy in an expedition to the South Pole. There is competition...

Plot Keywords:

Dirigible | Blimp | Actor Shares First Name With Character

Cast

Jack Holt	...	Cmdr. Jack Bradon
Ralph Graves	...	Lt. 'Frisky' Pierce
Fay Wray	...	Helen Pierce
Hobart Bosworth	...	Louis Rondelle
Roscoe Karns	...	Sock McGuire
Harold Goodwin	...	Hansen
Clarence Muse	...	Clarence
Emmett Corrigan	...	Rear Adm. John S. Martin (as Emmet Corrigan)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate not issued at release)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Originally planned by Paramount as a sensational follow-up to Wings (1927), but they couldn't get the production off the ground. The story was sold to Columbia Pictures, and its final "lighter than air" plot reached theaters in 1931.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

Easy To Watch and Enjoy

As we watch the Twentieth Century disappear in our wake, we're going to find films like this more and more precious. I mean, can you imagine? -- Here's a film that takes the airship absolutely seriously as an equal partner with the airplane. Here's a film that shows you basically how an airship was constructed and what it looked like inside, and all that as part of the plot! And if you're going to interrupt the main plot with a soap opera, who better to put in front of your eyes than the beautiful Fay Wray? And what a great way to get out of the romantic sub-plot's basic dilemma -- nice, clean, and fast. All things considered, a more than satisfying way to spend an evening.