Night Flight (1933)

Polio breaks out in Rio de Janeiro, the serum is in Santiago and there's only one way to get the medicine where it's desperately needed: flown in by daring pilots who risk the treacherous weather and forbidding peaks of the Andes.

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (novel), Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay)

Stars:

John Barrymore, Helen Hayes, Clark Gable

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Barrymore	...	Riviere
Helen Hayes	...	Simone Fabian
Clark Gable	...	Jules Fabian
Lionel Barrymore	...	Insp. Robineau
Robert Montgomery	...	Auguste Pellerin
Myrna Loy	...	Wife of Brazilian Pilot
William Gargan	...	Brazilian Pilot
C. Henry Gordon	...	Daudet
Leslie Fenton	...	Jules' Radio Operator / Co-Pilot
Harry Beresford	...	Pierre Roblet
Frank Conroy	...	Radio Operator
Dorothy Burgess	...	Pellerin's Girlfriend
Irving Pichel	...	Dr. Decosta
Helen Jerome Eddy	...	Worried Mother
Buster Phelps	...	Sick Child

Storyline

Polio breaks out in Rio de Janeiro, the serum is in Santiago and there's only one way to get the medicine where it's desperately needed: flown in by daring pilots who risk the treacherous weather and forbidding peaks of the Andes.

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Plot Keywords:

rio de janeiro brazil | child's coffin | grieving mother | film starts with text | keep out sign | 

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Taglines:

So big and compelling, so filled with tense emotion, studded with stars. that no lover of motion pictures would want to miss it! (Print Ad-Leader-Post, Regina, Sask.)) 22 March 1934)

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

The aircraft flown in the movie are de Havilland DH-4s. They were actual air mail planes having been recently retired from the US Postal Service.

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Goofs

At about the 10-minute mark, the shadow of the Patagonia biplane (the one piloted by J. Fabian, played by Clark Gable) is shown over various parts of the pasture-lands of Argentina. The shadows cast over the horse and herd of cattle below are that of a biplane, but the shadow going over the flock of sheep is clearly that of a monoplane, not a biplane.

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Quotes

Wife of Brazilian Pilot: What's it all for? Just so somebody in Paris can get a postcard on Tuesday instead of Thursday?

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Crazy Credits

During opening credits, the film title is done as "sky writing" by an airplane, and the plane is just finishing the last "T" on "flight".

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Super 8 (2011)

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Soundtracks

How Dry I Am
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Robert Montgomery and Dorothy Burgess

User Reviews

Deservedly unknown even with such a cast

This is quite possibly the least known and seen all-star cast film in film history. But deservedly so. At the time it was made, films about airplanes and pilots were all the rage. Unfortunately, the source material (the Saint-Exupery 1931 novel of the same title) has been closely adapted; a rare thing for Hollywood, but not a good one in this case. As in the novel, much is made of the sensual thrill of being up there in the clouds, so we get lots of awestruck words and reactions from the Barrymores, Gargan and Montgomery. It's all very dated now, with a simple story of flyers delivering mail across South America at top speed, through treacherous conditions, whipped onward by company boss John Barrymore. Barrymore is strong, as usual, but his older brother Lionel, as a foreman, is so hunched-over and drab that he brings the picture down in every scene he's in. And the disconnectedness of the characters is noticeably bad for a major studio film. Gable and Loy are husband and wife, but they never have a scene together. In fact, Gable is never seen outside of his airplane's cockpit! Montgomery's part is even smaller. A shocking waste of talent. The only element not in the novel but added to the film is actually the best thing in it: A sick child's need for medicine that only the speed of an aircraft can bring in time.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Night Flight

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1