Mystery Plane (1939)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

George Waggner

Writers:

Hal Forrest (comic strip "Tailspin Tommy") and
Paul Schofield (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 March 1939 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Romance

Tagline:

AMERICA'S FAVORITE COMIC STRIP IS ON THE SCREEN! (original one-sheet poster)

Plot:

A pilot invents a revolutionary new bomb-targeting system. However, just before he is to deliver it to the Air Force...

Plot Keywords:

Pilot | Criminal | Stunt Flying | Series | Boy

Cast

John Trent	...	Tailspin Tommy Tompkins
Marjorie Reynolds	...	Betty Lou Barnes
Milburn Stone	...	'Skeeter' Milligan
Jason Robards Sr.	...	Paul Smith (as Jason Robards)
George Lynn	...	'Brandy' Rand (as Peter George Lynn)
Lucien Littlefield	...	Winslow
Polly Ann Young	...	Anita
Tommy Bupp	...	Tommy as a boy
Betsy Gay	...	Betty Lou as a girl
William P. Carleton	...	Navy Commander (as William Carleton)
John Elliott	...	Army Colonel
Hans Joby	...	Henchman Carl (as John Peters)
Sayre Dearing	...	Henchman Fred
Bruce Mitchell	...	Detective Captain Walker
Mickey Martin	...	Boy with boil

Also Known As:

Sky Pilot (USA) (working title)
Tailspin Tommy in Mystery Plane (USA) (original script title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (PCA #5041)

Company:

Monogram Pictures Corporation

Movie Connections:

Followed by Sky Patrol (1939)

Glacial

Monogram made a lot of movies, but some are just plain slow. This one seems to take longer than Titanic.

In the beginning, we see a young Tommy rescuing an aviator he idolized who'd landed in a lake after a barnstorming parachute jump. He brings the aviator, "Brandy" Rand, home, and shows him a crude aviation simulator, which "Brandy" "flies." From this, "Brandy" somehow determines that young Tommy might make a good pilot.

Flash forward. Tommy is a pilot, with friends, and he's developed a new bombing mechanism, which he's trying to interest the Government in. But he needs $300 to finish the project. Fortunately, a lady decides to take flying lessons, and that, plus some other "stashed away" money, and they're ready to demonstrate their gadget.

A protracted demonstration flight takes place, with the monoplane modified as a bomber drops its load at 30,000 feet. Given the extreme height, the bombing device astonishingly works, but both pilots in the aircraft lose their oxygen supply and are unconscious when the bombs let go. They recover in time to pull the aircraft out of a spin, and everybody's happy.

But the test is being observed by others, who want the invention to sell on the international market. One member of this group is the lady who signed up to take flying lessons. Another is "Brandy"! By a ruse that wouldn't fool a ten-year-old, they capture Tommy, his pilot buddy, and his girlfriend. They use threat of harm to the girl to force Tommy to replicate the blueprints for his invention.

While doing so, he and his friends overpower their guards and make a break for it! In a better film, all the above might take 45 minutes, but this film drags. I cannot recommend it, unless you just want to look at a few old aircraft, or to puzzle out why the film has the title it does.