Blaze of Noon (1947)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

Ernest K. Gann (novel)
Arthur Sheekman (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 May 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

ALL THE THRILLS...THE ROMANCE...THE DARING OF A SENSATIONAL BEST-SELLER BLAZES TO THE SCREEN!...S0 MAGNIFICENT...IT TOOK 6 GREAT STARS TO FILM IT!

Plot:

In the 1920s, four brothers fly for the fledgling U.S. Air Mail Service.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Aviation | Time For Title | Based On Novel

Cast

Anne Baxter	...	Lucille Stewart
William Holden	...	Colin McDonald
Sonny Tufts	...	Roland McDonald
William Bendix	...	Porkie Scott
Sterling Hayden	...	Tad McDonald
Howard Da Silva	...	Mike Gafferty
Johnny Sands	...	Keith McDonald
Jean Wallace	...	Poppy
Edith King	...	Mrs. Murphy
Lloyd Corrigan	...	Reverend Polly
Dick Hogan	...	Sidney
Don Beddoe	...	Mr. Fell
Will Wright	...	Mr. Thomas

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12233, General Audience) | Sweden:15

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Soundtrack:

Old MacDonald Had a Farm

Pioneers

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

With the arrival of the airplane in the last century a new era for progress began. Not only did it open air routes, but the need to move the mail faster became a reality. The first impact was the possibility to take the mail to places, that up to then, went only by surface transport. Thus, a letter took much less to reach its destination than before. The only problem was the aircraft used for the operation, which made those trips quite dangerous because the lack of radio and the way the pilots flew using visual aids.

The four McDonald brothers were daredevils that worked a lot of air shows doing their amazing stunts to the delight of the spectators. When the opportunity to get steady work flying for a new outfit in Newark, N.J., the four brothers get hired. Colin, gets the eye of Lucille, a nurse, who ends up marrying him, but due to having to share living quarters, never got to live a normal life. The four brothers were inseparable. The tragic death of the younger brother, Keith, has a terrible impact on the McDonalds. Tad and Colin will also suffer accidents. Only Roland escapes unharmed when he switched aviation for a safer job.

"Blaze at Noon" is a movie rarely seen. It's worth a look because of John Farrow's direction and the cast. Anne Baxter, William Holden, Sterling Hayden, William Bendix, Howard Da Silva, Sonny Tufts, and the rest do compelling work for Mr. Farrow, and although this is not a great film, it has a lot of aerial stunts that for the year when it came out must have looked outstanding.