Hell Divers (1931)

Story of rivalry between 2 Navy aircrewmen on and off duty.

Director:

George W. Hill

Writers:

Frank Wead (story) (as Lt. Comdr. Frank Wead U.S.N. Ret.), Harvey Gates (screen play)

Stars:

Clark Gable, Wallace Beery, Conrad Nagel

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Wallace Beery	...	Windy Riker
Clark Gable	...	Steve Nelson
Conrad Nagel	...	Duke Johnson
Dorothy Jordan	...	Ann Mitchell
Marjorie Rambeau	...	Mame Kelsey
Marie Prevost	...	Lulu
Cliff Edwards	...	Baldy
John Miljan	...	Jack Griffin
Landers Stevens	...	Admiral
Reed Howes	...	Lt. Fisher
Alan Roscoe	...	Captain - U.S.S Saratoga
Frank Conroy	...	Chaplain
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Virginia Bruce	...	Girl (scenes deleted)
John Kelly	...	Sailor (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Story of rivalry between 2 Navy aircrewmen on and off duty.

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Plot Keywords:

male bonding | u.s. navy | male female relationship | dive bomber | rescue | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wolkenstürmer

Filming Locations:

USS Saratoga CV-3

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Flight operations were filmed aboard the USS Saratoga. Scenes of planes landing on the carrier deck were edited post-production to obscure the actual operation of the aircraft arresting gear.

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Goofs

The under-wing bombs appear and disappear in many shots. Often a plane will be shown taxiing with bombs under the wing, then taking off and flying with no bombs. When the bombing runs begin, the bombs are again visible.

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Quotes

CPO Steve Nelson: And if you want to know what this is, it's a bomb! And there's enough T.N.T. in it to blow us to Smithereens.
Ann Mitchell: I've always wanted to go to Smithereens.

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Connections

Featured in The Wings of Eagles (1957)

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Soundtracks

Mama Inez
(1931) (uncredited)
Written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Eliseo Grenet

User Reviews

completely formulaic and STILL worth seeing!

Okay, I know that most Wallace Beery films are pretty formulaic and superficial. However, this doesn't mean they were bad. Very few of his films were bad, though many fall in the average category. However, occasionally, his films rose above the mundane, such as DINNER AT EIGHT, GRAND HOTEL, MIN AND BILL and this film. While I will admit this movie isn't up to the standards of the three films I listed, it does approach them in quality and is a decent effort for him and new-comer Clark Gable. In particular, if you are a Gable or airplane buff, like me, you will love this film. It features a lot of great flying sequences you just won't see in many films of the era. Our aircraft carriers and dirigibles just weren't seen as being very important and weren't shown in many films during the Depression era. So, from a purely historic point of view, this is an important film. When you add good acting and dialog and an exciting script, you have an excellent film well worth your time.