This B-film is a real surprise. It begins slowly, introducing its bevy of plane passengers conventionally, without generating interest in any one of them.
Things start to get interesting shortly after the Silver Queen takes to the air. Resembling a fancy tin can, the plane is no match for the weather over South America. Some rolling cannisters manage to knock a door open, and no sooner does the steward save a little boy on board (cutie-pie actor Casey Johnson), than he gets sucked out of the plane to his death.
This plane is going down, and somehow manages to land in dense jungle, far south of its Panama City destination, home turf to native peoples unfriendly to outsiders (bringing to mind the fascinating 1980 film "Cannibal Holocaust").
Interest builds as we see how a crisis brings out the passengers' true characters. Of particular note is Lucille Ball in her pre-"Lucy" days, dominating every scene in which she appears -- truly a beautiful actress with intelligence.
The next most compelling character is Vasquez (Joseph Calleia), an anarchist who was facing execution. He seizes control in a powerful way, and the movie ends in an unexpectedly moving crescendo.
"Funny -- things happen, and nobody can stop 'em," muses pilot/mechanic Bill (Chester Morris), whose wife had died in a barnstorming accident.
Indeed, sometimes that is the case, and we just gotta deal with it.
Things start to get interesting shortly after the Silver Queen takes to the air. Resembling a fancy tin can, the plane is no match for the weather over South America. Some rolling cannisters manage to knock a door open, and no sooner does the steward save a little boy on board (cutie-pie actor Casey Johnson), than he gets sucked out of the plane to his death.
This plane is going down, and somehow manages to land in dense jungle, far south of its Panama City destination, home turf to native peoples unfriendly to outsiders (bringing to mind the fascinating 1980 film "Cannibal Holocaust").
Interest builds as we see how a crisis brings out the passengers' true characters. Of particular note is Lucille Ball in her pre-"Lucy" days, dominating every scene in which she appears -- truly a beautiful actress with intelligence.
The next most compelling character is Vasquez (Joseph Calleia), an anarchist who was facing execution. He seizes control in a powerful way, and the movie ends in an unexpectedly moving crescendo.
"Funny -- things happen, and nobody can stop 'em," muses pilot/mechanic Bill (Chester Morris), whose wife had died in a barnstorming accident.
Indeed, sometimes that is the case, and we just gotta deal with it.