Test Pilot (1938)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Victor Fleming

Writers:

Howard Hawks (writer)
Vincent Lawrence (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

I Can't Quit . . . I'm a Test Pilot

Plot:

Jim is a test pilot. His wife Ann and best friend Gunner try their best to keep him sober. But the life of a test pilot is anything but safe. |

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Bomber | Aviation | Danger | Loss Of Friend

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars.

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Jim Lane
Myrna Loy	...	Ann Barton
Spencer Tracy	...	Gunner Morris
Lionel Barrymore	...	Howard B. Drake
Samuel S. Hinds	...	General Ross
Marjorie Main	...	Landlady
Ted Pearson	...	Joe
Gloria Holden	...	Mrs. Benson
Louis Jean Heydt	...	Benson
Virginia Grey	...	Sarah
Priscilla Lawson	...	Mable
Claudia Coleman	...	Mrs. Barton
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Frank Barton

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:K-16

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Reportedly Myrna Loy's personal favorite movie of all her films.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jim Lane sits the landlady down to talk to her about rent arrangements, he reaches out and holds her with his arms outstretched. On his left arm (closest to the camera), his wristwatch is alternately covered with his shirt cuff, then uncovered and visible, then covered, between shots.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Another Romance of Celluloid (1938)

Soundtrack:

The Prisoner's Song

Stylized film doing what it can with thirties audiences

Howard Hawks was a formidable talent with the typewriter and the movie crew. His other work, "His Girl Friday" and "Bringing Up Baby" are now considered classics of the thirties and of the genre,(screwball comedy), yet had the problem of not connecting with any significant success at the time.

"Test Pilot" involves people who must choose not to be emotional because their very work involves cheating death with every job. So it becomes interesting to observe how a couple might handle their attraction for each other balanced by their need to deny fear at all times. One plot line here is similar to later pictures where the newly minted bride must turn to the local Army general with one question: how do I keep my man alive long enough to begin the marriage?

Gable is not just a louse, but the biggest louse on the runway. Here louse would mean egomaniac: concerned only with himself and the job. He's got a best friend, Spencer Tracy, but they don't talk much about anything important. They signal instead with "well, you know what I mean..." and "yeah, sure, sure I do. Uh-huh" However the refreshingly good acting of Tracy underlines every scene that has him. Around this time, he took home the best actor Oscar for Captain's Courageous, a Metro picture directed by Victor Fleming, the Director of this film as well.

Gable on the other hand, is so overstating everything, especially when his love interest Myrna Loy in on camera, that you wonder if he'll simply explode in all directions. She's just as bad matching him in near swoons and arms to the face movements. However the situations are sharp, multi-purpose affairs where you see the character learning if she can handle it or not. What's great is that watching it, you're not sure how things will turn out either.

The psychology of the piece is complex and a bit dysfunctional, perfect for today's noir audience expectations, but probably unsettling for late-thirties audiences. The triangle is complicated by Gable's fascination with wrestling and controlling his rogue airplanes, something that Tracy and Loy only watch in equal amazement and attempt to reconcile with.