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West Point of the Air More at IMDbPro »

7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
What Do We Do With The Next Generation, 10 July 2007

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Wallace Beery and Lewis Stone have both risen as far as they can in the Army, Stone's a general and Beery a top sergeant. Since Stone has a daughter who grows up to be Maureen O'Sullivan and girls did not aspire to such strictly male things as a military career back in the day, both old guys hope that Robert Young who is Beery's son succeeds.

Young as Beery's son gets a legacy appointment to West Point in West Point of the Air and upon graduation joins the Army Air Corps. Can he measure up is the burning question.

Wallace Beery adds to his repertoire of scene stealing old codgers again in this film. Imagine Judge Hardy in the military and you've got Lewis Stone's performance. Between the two of them they make West Point of the Air passably good entertainment.

Though Robert Young and Maureen O'Sullivan are the two young leads, MGM was giving some exposure to two of its younger contract players who went on to have bigger careers than the leads. Rosalind Russell plays the typical bad girl divorcée who seduces Young and move him from the straight and narrow path of duty. She's good, but no trace of the sparkling Roz of The Women or His Girl Friday.

And Robert Taylor has a small role as another of the young flying cadets with Young. One look at him and you knew that man was going to be a star and he has a death scene that I'm sure made a lot in the audience write to MGM and ask who this handsome devil was.

West Point of the Air was nice, but nothing terribly special except as a training ground for future stars.

9 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A story of manhood in the 1930's U.S. military., 4 June 2003

Author: MSF1146 from WASHINGTON D.C.

Wallace Beery's role as BIG MIKE inspired me to overcome a recent challenge.Robert Young as Little Mike, the son,played the very human young soldier facing life altering decisions.The propeller plane air force was very interesting in light of today's SSTS,Stealth bombers & the like.Rosalind Russell & Maureen O'Sullivan gave quality performances as women on the opposite ends of the moral scale.Wallace Berry's strength of character,& admirable rectitude dominated this film.Big Mike has become a hero of mine.

2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Cliché-ridden service drama of the men in the flying machines..., 14 April 2010

Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

Every aviation drama you've ever seen must have stemmed from films like WEST POINT OF THE AIR which has Robert Young declaring many times, "I'll never fly again!" after seeing his comrades crash their planes.

His father is a rough talking' U.S. Army Sgt. played in gruff and sentimental style by WALLACE BEERY, who keeps reminding his son that he's got to be a man and get back in that plane again before he loses his nerve.

From the sidelines, MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN and ROSALIND RUSSELL watch nervously as various young men appear to be losing the controls while flying those dangerous machines--and there are plenty of aerial scenes, all well staged, to keep viewers watching the painfully predictable story unfold. Before the final reel is over, Young saves his father from a crash scene by diving under water and dragging him to the surface. After that brave deed, he returns to the arms of Maureen O'Sullivan for a final clinch.

Have you seen this before? You 'betcha! But it's all done up in patriotic style with an Army band playing brassy marching tunes until the fadeout.

Trivia note: Young ROBERT TAYLOR looks handsome in uniform but has what amounts to a bit part, listed low in the credits, during a year when he went on to bigger roles almost immediately.

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