Air Hawks (1935)

A mysterious ray that immobilizes all motors and engines threatens the security of the country.

Director:

Albert S. Rogell

Writers:

Griffin Jay (screenplay), Grace Neville (screenplay),

Stars:

Ralph Bellamy, Tala Birell, Wiley Post

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ralph Bellamy	...	Barry Eldon
Tala Birell	...	Renee Dupont
Wiley Post	...	Wiley Post
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Victor Arnold (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Robert Allen	...	Bill Lewis
Billie Seward	...	Mona Greenwood
Victor Kilian	...	Tiny Davis
Robert Middlemass	...	Martin Drewen
Geneva Mitchell	...	Gertie Dunlap
Wyrley Birch	...	Mr. Holden

Storyline

Filmed a few months before and playing in theatres when Wiley Post and Will Rogers were killed in a plane crash in Point Barrow, Alaska in August, 1935: Barry Eldon is the owner of an airline company that is competing with a rival company for a lucrative air-mail contract with the government. While the other company is bigger and more profitable than Barry's line, the rival owner has hired a scientist that has perfected a ray-machine that will cause airplanes that its ray is directed at to lose their engine power and crash. Thed government and the public are losing faith in Eldon's line before he, aided by Renee Dupont, can find out what is causing his airplanes to crash. (Wiley Post flys through on a cross-country stratosphere flight.)

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Plot Keywords:

airplane | stratosphere | ray gun | archive footage | mad scientist | 

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Taglines:

Super-flyer of the Stratsophere...defied the skies and made aviation history! (original ad)

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 1935 (USA)

Also Known As:

De stjålne dødsstråler

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the scene where Ralph Bellamy pushes the broken down taxi from the drive the shadow of the mic can be seen on the roof of the taxi in the dialogue which follows.

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Soundtracks

"Unidentified Song (When I Knew I Loved Him Dearly, I Told Him So)"
(uncredited)
Composer unknown
Sung by Tala Birell at the nightclub

User Reviews

An enjoyable low-budget escapist film.

"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?